How Does the Carrier Lookup Service Work?
Many countries maintain an organization designed to organize phone numbers. In the US, this is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). These institutions create phone numbers and input them into a centralized database.
Phone carriers are given phone numbers in 1000-unit blocks within an area. Whenever a carrier signs up a client, the carrier assigns an available number from these blocks or ports over the client's existing number from their previous carrier.
These processes require each phone carrier to keep records of which numbers are in use, available, or unassigned by the overseeing institution. Our lookup service checks these databases to match the searched phone number to its latest carrier instantly.
How To Use Our Carrier Lookup Service
Like all our tools, the lookup service is very user-friendly. You enter the phone number, and we scour the most reliable databases for information on the carrier and the number's owner.
The report will also show what type of phone the number is associated with, including mobile, landline, pager, or voice over internet protocol (VoIP). These perks are not restricted to the US like many other search options, working in various countries without delay.
Why Use a Carrier Lookup?
It may seem strange to check the carrier servicing a phone number, but it is an important safety consideration against fraud.
VoIP is strongly associated with business use. However, scammers also love it because it is easy to manipulate caller IDs and introduce security threats. Fraudsters often utilize non-fixed VoIP numbers to run their schemes.
This reliance on VoIP doesn't mean that the big carriers are safe, either. AT&T and T-Mobile both carried over 8 percent of the scams tracked between 2021 and 2023. Knowing that a number is calling from one of these carriers may increase your caution.
Businesses can use a carrier lookup to find discrepancies in their marketing lists, especially if these lists are automated. A number with a mismatched carrier indicates a non-human entry, and deleting these numbers saves resources.
What Information Does Carrier Lookup Provide?
Using only a phone number, our carrier lookup report includes the following information:
- Carrier name
- Phone type (mobile, landline, VoIP)
- Country and area of origin
- Number owner information (email addresses, relations, etc.)
Additionally, you can use this information to check whether the number is currently active. This will tell you whether the subject switched or ported the number to a different service.