This one is for readers in the US and Canada.
When I’m not teaching IT to older learners, troubleshooting someone’s computer or designing websites, I dabble in internet marketing.
Through a forum I belong to I was challenged by a fellow member. The challenge was for us both to set up websites on the same topic and see if we could make sales. The challenger has a head start – he chose the topic and he’s made websites on that topic before.
The subject is reverse cell phone lookup. I didn’t even know you could do that. Apparently you can if you live in the USA or Canada.
As I understand it, many organisations compile lists of cell phone data from their customers. These lists are opt-in – meaning the customer has ticked (or at least, not unticked) the box allowing their details to be added to a database. These databases are sold to companies who specialise in reverse phone lookup websites.
Subscribers to these sites can enter a cell phone number and find out not only who the phone belongs to and where they live, but they can also find out their age and, in some cases, details such as criminal records. This is possible because these details are a matter of public record. All the reverse phone companies do is match up the cell phone data to these public records – which means the purchaser of the reverse lookup can find out a range of information about a caller.
This could be helpful if you find a lost phone, or more importantly if you are receiving unwanted calls or texts.
My contribution to this challenge is here – Reverse Number Trace.