Alternatively, you can also perform the reverse search using the app. The free app from “dasoertliche.de”, for example, is suitable for this. The application is available for iOS and Android.
- Download the app and install it on your smartphone.
- When you open the app, the entry field “Who or what are you looking for?” appears on the start screen.
- When you tap on it, the default search opens first. In the field to the right you will find the “Reverse search” tab.
- Simply enter the cell phone or landline number whose owner you want to find out. If the number is stored, the owner will now be displayed.
(Source: Screenshot)
However, the chances of success when looking up cell phone numbers backwards are rather low, since only a few are entered in the telephone book. If you haven’t had any luck that way, maybe Google can help.
Find out who owns a cell phone number with Google
There are a few things to keep in mind when searching on Google.
- Enter the landline number or cell phone number on Google.
- Make sure you put the number in quotation marks – for example “0170 123456789”. In this way, Google only searches specifically for this sequence of numbers.
- With a bit of luck, the search engine will spit out a company that you can assign the number to.
Alternatively, you can also search for the number on portals such as “Tellows”. In these databases, in which a number of numbers are stored, you can, for example, check whether other users have already complained about advertising calls.
Quiz: How well do you know your smartphones?
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Phone number lookup using mailbox
The mailbox can also help to find out who owns the mobile phone. You can listen to the cell phone owner’s announcement if you dial directly to their voice mail. Depending on the provider, you have to insert two specific digits between the area code and the telephone number.
Remember that the person you are calling sees your call even if you do not leave voicemail. So you might want to hide your phone number for this call. Read here how to do this on your smartphone.
Mobile phone area codes assigned in Germany and their mailbox code:
| Offerer | Phone prefix | code |
|---|---|---|
| Deutsche Telekom | 01511, 01512, 01514, 01515, 01516, 01517, 0151, 0160, 0170, 0171, 0175 | -13- |
| Vodafone | 01520, 01522, 01523, 01525, 01526, 01529, 0162, 0172, 0173, 0174 | -50- |
| O2 | 01573, 01575, 01577, 01578, 01579, 01590, 0163, 0176, 0177, 0178, 0179 | -33- |
- For example, if the number displayed is “0170-123456789”, the area code 0170 shows that the number was assigned by Deutsche Telekom.
- Their mailbox code is 13, so you need to insert 13 between the 0170 area code and the number 123456789 – so you dial “0170-13-123456789”.
- The codes remain valid even if you change providers.
By the way: If the area code of your own phone number belongs to a different mobile operator than that specified in the table, this may be due to a previous phone number portability. Because if a customer takes his phone number with him to another provider, he naturally also keeps the area code.
Suppress phone number
With a practical key combination, you can suppress your own phone number for a call with any smartphone. Open the dialer/number pad on your smartphone. Enter the key combination #31# and add the number to be dialed. Your call is shown as unknown on the called party’s display.
The WhatsApp trick
A search via the messenger service WhatsApp can also be very promising.
- To do this, you must save the unknown number in the address book of your smartphone.
- Then open WhatsApp and tap the icon to compose a new message.
- In the address book that now opens, select the unknown number. The chat window then opens.
- Here in the window you can read a suitable name for the number if the person is registered with WhatsApp and has assigned a name there.
This trick doesn’t only work on WhatsApp. Users also enter their phone number on other messengers or social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or TikTok to verify the account.
For example, if you too have entered a number in your TikTok account, you should remember that other users can of course also find you. If you do not want this, you can deactivate a corresponding option in the privacy settings.
So there are four ways how to find out cell phone numbers for free
- Use the reverse phone book search on the Internet or via the app.
- Try finding phone numbers using Google or portals like Tellows.
- Go directly to the caller’s voicemail to listen to their voicemail and learn their name. To do this, add the following digits to the phone number after the area code: 13 for Deutsche Telekom, 50 for Vodafone and 33 for O2.
- Use the WhatsApp trick: save the unknown number in the address book and view the contact information for the number in WhatsApp.
If a repeated call is about stalking, harassment or even a threat, you should definitely call the police and ask them to find the caller for you as soon as possible so that the harassment can be stopped.
