You can Google a phone number or use a directory search-style website, but the results are often hit-or-miss. The same goes for Number lookup websites. There’s no one reliable directory for looking up a phone number. But sometimes, I’ll research a phone number, not to find its owner, but to know what kind of number it is and where it came from.
Finding a Number’s Carrier Info
Consider websites below. If you visit one and input a phone number, or just the area code and exchange, you can learn about the pedigree of said number.
Toll-Free Numbers
Somos – Find a Toll-Free Number
Regular Telephone Numbers
Note: some of these websites work better than others. Some give you more info that you ever asked for. Be prepared to sift through a page or two of raw data for info you can understand.
These tools won’t answer all of your questions, but they can help manage your assumptions and/or detective work. If you meet someone online and they give you a phone number to call, it might help to find out that it is a local number vs. a number from the other coast. Also, if you research a number and see it is with Sinch/Onvoy or some other VoIP company, then you should keep in mind that the person on the other side could be anywhere in the world, taking calls on their computer. VoIP numbers can be cheap and disposable.
If a given number is being used for scams or crime, you could also find the carrier in order to file a complaint. But I couldn’t say if that would be productive or not. I’ve sent in a few reports to Sinch and other companies and not heard anything back.