How to Trace a Phone Number

Lily Evans - March 14, 2025

Tracing a phone number might be something that sounds difficult, but it is actually easy to find basic location information with the use of a phone number. Figuring out where a phone call is coming from can be especially helpful if you are trying to protect your information or screen scam calls, and tracing a phone number can help you do this. Our article gives you the best methods for how to trace a phone number.

Why Trace a Phone Number?

There are a few different reasons why you may want to trace a phone number. For many people, tracing a phone number is a matter of safety – when you have the location of where a phone call is originating, you can better protect yourself from scams. Additionally, if you are being harassed by someone who keeps calling you from the same number, you may want to trace that number to see if you can find the identity and location of the caller.

Others may want to trace a phone number out of curiosity or to figure out the name and additional contact information of the person who is calling them. This may be done if you keep receiving calls that you suspect are from a family member or friend, but you are having trouble getting in contact with them.

Is It Legal to Trace a Phone Number?

It is legal to trace a phone number and try to find out who is calling you, as long as you are not planning to use the information you learn to harass someone else or plan an illegal activity. You should also keep in mind that while tracing a phone number can be legal, attempting to track someone’s location or using their phone number to track their location without their notice can actually be illegal in some states.

Never install spyware on someone’s device, and always have a conversation with a person you are trying to keep a location on, such as your child as they leave for school, to let them know you will need their location data. 

Attempting a phone number trace simply to try and track someone or stalk their location can be considered a crime in some areas and should be avoided.

Is It Free to Trace a Phone Number?

There are both free and paid methods available to help you trace a phone number, and we recommend starting with free methods to find what you need. Most of the time, paid services that offer phone call tracing will not have many more benefits than if you just search by yourself for free, and some of these services or apps may even be scams. It’s important to do your research on specific apps or websites offering phone number tracing services to ensure your own information and personal details are protected.

How to Trace a Phone Number: Easy Methods to Try

The following methods are some of the easiest ways to trace a phone number and find out the location or name of the caller.

Call Return

After you receive a phone call from an unknown caller, you may be able to enter a call return code to quickly dial back the caller and figure out their identity; this is particularly helpful when you are dealing with a caller that has no caller ID or otherwise blocked their exact number from you.

In most places within the United States, you can dial *69 to return a call that was just received; you may need to verify this call return code with your cell service provider. Once your call goes through, you can figure out identity information or look at the phone number to try and figure out their location.

Call Trace

Call trace or call trap services may be available for your phone, depending on your cell service provider and specific location within the United States. For a call trap to work, you will need to take note of the phone numbers that call you and write them down, along with the times of days when you receive the calls. You can provide these details to your cell service provider, and they will turn the number over to law enforcement.

Alternatively, a call trace involves dialing *57 immediately after a phone call is received to send that number to law enforcement. You will need to verify that this is the correct code and speak to your cell phone provider if you plan to do this.

The call trace or call trap methods are especially helpful if you are receiving harassing phone calls, and you may also need to make a police report with the details of this harassment.

Phone Number Lookup Tool

A phone number lookup tool is very helpful when you are trying to figure out who a caller is, as you can easily type the number into an online tool and press search. The tool will give you details of all of the contact information associated with that phone number, including the potential name of the caller, their address, or other contact information. You can then use this information to protect your data or decide if you want to block the caller.

Social Media Search

Sometimes, social media websites let you search for certain profiles using only a phone number. You can type the phone number into the search bar, and the website will pull up profiles that might be related to that number. You can then figure out who the caller is and their location from this point. However, you should keep in mind that only some social media websites allow this feature and that some websites do show profile owners that you are searching for them, which may be a negative if you want to keep your search subtle.

Check Phone Area Codes

One of the easiest ways to trace where a phone number is coming from is to check the area code and country code. These codes are location indicators, and they can give you the general area that a phone number is calling from. For example, a country code of +1 indicates the call is coming from inside the United States, while an area code of 208 indicates that a call is coming from the state of Idaho.

You should also note that there are certain area codes you will not want to answer calls from, as they are generally associated with spam or scam callers.

Phone Number Red Flags to Look Out For

Many of us may want to trace a phone number because we are curious about who the caller is or because we are concerned that the caller is a scammer. However, by calling back or researching a questionable phone number, we may put ourselves at risk for further scams or loss of personal information. 

The following phone number red flags help you determine when a phone number is safe to trace, and whether or not you should simply block a suspicious phone number instead of attempting to trace it.

• If you are receiving phone calls from phone numbers with a variety of country codes, and you do not have family in these areas, you are likely receiving spam or scam calls. Even if you do have family outside of the country, you should contact them directly at their known number to verify if they have been calling you.
• If phone numbers are constantly calling you without leaving voicemails, or you receive multiple calls from the same number, you are likely receiving spam calls.
• If a phone number has no caller ID or if your phone marks it as ‘spam,’ you likely don’t need to try and trace the caller – it is probably a robocaller or another type of phone call scam.

Additionally, if you are interested in purchasing a service that claims to help you trace a phone number, you should be wary of services that make outrageous claims, like giving you someone’s exact address, contact details, and personal record using just a phone number. This is usually not possible and is a way for the service to entice you into giving them a large amount of money, your banking information, or your personal details.

Will Tracing a Phone Number Give Me Someone’s Address?

Tracing someone’s phone number is unlikely to give you their specific address, and these details aren’t typically connected directly to a phone number. In terms of location information, you are much more likely to figure out the country, state, or city that a person is calling from.

Once you have a phone number you are interested in, however, you can use a phone number lookup tool to discover any potentially connected names and addresses. This allows you to verify the location information from your traced call with details that may be publicly available about the phone number.

Can I Use Someone’s Phone Number to Find Them?

It is possible to use someone’s phone number to find them, but this process can be a little time-consuming, and you will need to make sure that you adhere to all laws as necessary. In order to use someone’s phone number to find them, you can trace the number and find their location information, or you can complete phone lookup searches to discover their name and potential contact information.

From there, you can use this information to search social media websites or speak with mutual friends and family until you have found what you need to know about a person and their whereabouts.

Tracing the Phone Number Information You Need

Tracing a phone number might seem like a complicated task, but this process is fairly straightforward. However, when you trace a phone number, it is important to have realistic expectations of the information you will find, and to be sure that you are aware of potential scams that may prey on your need for information about a caller. You should also be sure that by tracing a phone number or finding out the location of where a caller is, you are not violating any of your state’s laws.