International Phone Number Lookup Results May Include
Phone number search results vary by country, phone type, and data availability.
Country name based on international calling code
City or region associated with the number prefix
Mobile, landline, or VoIP classification
Original assigned telecommunications carrier
Confirms the number follows a real format
Links to phone directories in the caller's country
Full name of the person or business
Street, city, state, and ZIP from public records
FTC Do Not Call and robocall complaint history
Social media profiles, or photos
Phone owner age or email addresses
Phone Number Lookup by Country
Search phone numbers from around the world to identify the caller's country of origin and other available information. Select a country below to access local white and yellow pages, local phone number directories, carrier information, numbering plans, formatting and more.
United States Phone Lookup +1
Canada Phone Lookup +1
Australia Phone Lookup +61
United Kingdom Phone Lookup +44
Ireland Phone Lookup +353
Germany Phone Lookup +49
Italy Phone Lookup +39
Norway Phone Lookup +47
Sweden Phone Lookup +46
Israel Phone Lookup +972
New Zealand Phone Lookup +64
South Africa Phone Lookup +27
Looking for a different country? Visit our phone number country checker page to browse our complete list of all 200+ supported countries.
United States Phone Number Lookup
For U.S. numbers, the lookup goes further than carrier and line type. We search more than 28 million name and address records built from public records, along with over 27 million Do Not Call and robocall complaints from the FTC. Select any state below to find available phone number owner name, address, and other information.
US Phone Lookup by State
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
D.C.
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
How Our International Phone Lookup Works
When you look up a foreign or overseas phone number, the tool runs two separate processes depending on where that number originates.
International Numbers
When you enter a non-U.S. phone number, the system relies on a phone number intelligence engine built on the same technology that handles number processing across billions of devices.
Parsing and country detection
The system reads whatever you've typed or pasted, whether it includes the "+" prefix, dashes, spaces, or some other format. It figures out the country from the calling code and the national numbering plan. A number starting with +44 gets tagged as United Kingdom, +91 as India, +61 as Australia phone number.
Validation
An international phone number check runs against each country's official numbering rules: length, prefix structure, and whether it matches patterns assigned by the national telecom authority. If it doesn't match anything valid, the system flags it. This catches fake or badly formatted numbers early.
Line type classification
The system determines what kind of line the number belongs to. It can tell apart landlines, mobile phones, toll-free lines, premium rate numbers, and VoIP lines. How much detail you get here depends on whether the country's numbering plan actually distinguishes between these types.
Geographic mapping
For numbers that carry location data (mostly landlines and certain mobile ranges), the system maps them to a city or region. A UK number with a 020 prefix, for instance, gets identified as London. This works across hundreds of countries.
Carrier identification
The system identifies the telecom carrier originally assigned to that number's range. A German mobile number might come back as Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, or O2. Important: number portability means people can switch carriers and keep their number, so the original carrier and the current one aren't always the same.
Time zone detection
Based on the country and region, the system also returns the applicable time zone and local time. It's very useful if you're deciding whether to call back and want to know what time it is on the other end.
United States Numbers
For United States phone numbers with a +1 country code, the lookup goes further.
U.S. numbers get searched against a database built from publicly available government records. This database pulls records from millions of federal, state, county, and city level public filings: business registrations, professional licenses, contractor permits, and other documents where phone numbers are legally required to appear.
So while an international lookup on a number from, say, the Philippines or Germany will give you country, region, carrier, line type, and time zone, a U.S. lookup can surface the actual name and address tied to the number.
5 Types of International Phone Numbers You Can Look Up
Mobile / Cellular
Standard mobile phone numbers used worldwide
Landline / Fixed Line
Traditional wired telephone numbers tied to a physical address
VoIP / Virtual
Voice over IP services such as Google Voice, Skype, or similar platforms
Toll-Free
Numbers free for the caller, such as 1-800 or 0800 numbers
Premium Rate
High-cost numbers used for information or entertainment services
Common Reasons to Look Up an International Phone Number
Identify Who's Behind an Unknown International Number
If you need to find an international phone number's owner or look up foreign phone numbers from unfamiliar calling codes, the country of origin and carrier data are usually enough to decide whether a callback makes sense.
Verify a Business or Contact Before Calling Back
Not every number that looks legitimate is. Before returning a call from someone who claims to represent a foreign company, a phone number lookup can confirm the number is tied to a real, active carrier in the stated country. It can also flag discrepancies, like a number registered in one country but supposedly calling from another.
Detect Scam, Spam, and Robocalls
International scam calls are a real and growing problem. Common tactics include "wangiri" (one-ring) fraud, impersonation of foreign government agencies, and advance-fee schemes using spoofed country codes. Running an unknown number through a lookup tool can show whether it's been flagged in community databases, whether it's routed through a non-fixed VoIP service (a frequent red flag), or whether the carrier data simply doesn't match what the caller claims.
Reconnect with Lost Contacts Abroad
People change numbers, move countries, and switch carriers. If you're trying to confirm whether an old number still belongs to a friend or former colleague, or just figure out what country they're now based in, a carrier and line-type lookup can tell you whether the number is still active and which network currently holds it.
Verify Customer or Lead Data
For sales and marketing teams, bad phone data means wasted outreach and unreliable analytics. Looking up international numbers before loading them into a CRM helps identify disconnected or invalid entries and separates mobile from landline lines, which matters when deciding whether to call or send an SMS.
International Phone Number Lookup FAQs
Is international phone number search legal?
Generally, yes. But the answer gets complicated fast, because legality depends on where the number is registered, where you are, what data sources the lookup service uses, and what you plan to do with the information. The EU's privacy rules are among the strictest in the world, and plenty of other countries have their own restrictions on how subscriber data can be collected and shared. The purpose matters too: using a lookup to harass someone, or for any purpose prohibited under the FCRA, is illegal regardless of which country is involved.
Can I find out who owns an international phone number for free?
Yes. Searching an international cell phone number or overseas landline is free on ThisNumber.com, with no account required. For US numbers, we show available name and address information at no cost, with no account required. For numbers elsewhere (200-plus countries), you won't get owner details, but you can still find out the country of origin, carrier, line type, region, and time zone, along with links to relevant local directories. All of that is free, where the data is available.
How do I know which country an unknown number is from?
Check the digits at the front. International numbers in standard format start with "+" followed by a country code: +44 is the UK, +1 is the US and Canada, +49 is Germany. If you don't recognize the prefix, search "country code [number]" and you'll find it quickly. The ITU publishes the complete list. Depending on your carrier, your phone may have already flagged the country on the missed call screen.
Why can't I find information on an international number?
Most reverse-lookup databases are built from local directory data and don't extend across borders. On top of that, many countries legally restrict how subscriber information can be published. Numbers tied to VoIP services or prepaid SIMs frequently have no registered owner on record at all. Coming up empty is common, not a sign that something went wrong. It's also worth treating an untraceable number with some caution.
Is it safe to call back an unknown international number?
Probably not worth the risk. There's a well-documented scam called "Wangiri" (the word is Japanese, roughly meaning "one ring and cut") where callers hang up after a single ring, counting on you to call back out of curiosity. When you do, the line connects to a premium-rate number and charges accumulate by the minute. If you weren't expecting an international call, let it go to voicemail. Someone with a real reason to reach you will leave a message. If they don't, search the full number online before doing anything else. Enough people share these numbers in scam-reporting forums that a quick search often turns up answers.
Why do some overseas numbers show up as unknown?
A few things can cause this. Carriers sometimes strip international prefixes when displaying numbers locally, so the calling number arrives incomplete and can't be matched to anything. Calls that travel through VoIP services or across several different networks can lose caller ID data along the way. Some callers actively block their number. And some devices don't fully support the E.164 format that international numbers require to display correctly.
What does the "+" mean at the start of a phone number?
It's a placeholder for whatever international dialing code your country uses (00 in much of Europe, 011 in the US, and so on). Instead of hardcoding a specific exit code that would only work in one country, the "+" tells your phone to substitute the correct local prefix automatically. What follows is the country code and then the local number, so the whole thing works regardless of where you're dialing from.
Why do U.S. lookups show more information than international ones?
The difference comes down to data availability. The U.S. has extensive public records that make owner identification possible. Most other countries, particularly those in the EU under GDPR, restrict what personal data can be linked to a phone number in any public database. That's why international lookups are limited to technical and geographic details, while U.S. lookups can include more detailed information.
Why does my phone number lookup keep returning an error?
Nine times out of ten, the problem is a trunk prefix. Most countries use a leading "0" for domestic dialing that gets dropped in international format. A UK number like 07911 123456 looks complete, but a lookup tool needs it as +447911123456. If the tool can't identify your country and strip that leading digit automatically, it'll query something that doesn't exist in the global numbering plan. The fix is simple: enter the number yourself in full international format, starting with "+" and the country code.
What is E.164 and why does it matter for lookups?
It's the ITU standard that gives every phone number a single, global form: a "+" followed by the country code, then the area code, then the subscriber number, 15 digits maximum, no punctuation. Lookup tools convert whatever you type into this format before querying anything. If the conversion fails because the input is ambiguous or malformed, the query either errors out or pulls data for the wrong number.