However, don't give up hope yet. While mobile phone numbers are notoriously tricky to look up, there are a couple of tricks you can try:
Try a search engine. If you know the mobile phone number, try entering it into your favorite search engine and see what comes up. If the cell phone number you are looking for has ever been entered somewhere on the Web - a blog, social networking sites, a public job profile - it will show up and you'll be able to track to whom it belongs to, or vice versa.
Try a cell phone directory. These directories will give you VERY limited information, and that's if you're lucky. Still, they are worth a try (see a list of cell phone directories).
Use a search engine to do a reverse lookup. You can do a free reverse phone lookup with your favorite search engine - it's fast and pretty simple. I've outlined how to do it with three different search engines in my article Free Reverse Phone Lookup.
Should I pay for this information? After years of receiving literally hundreds of emails from frustrated readers that have paid so-called "legit" services that promise to do a mobile phone number search, I can say confidently that no, you should not pay for this information. Not one of these folks has ever had success with these sites that offer to find this information for you. They have access to the same information you do on the Web - if you can't find it, they probably can't either.
What if I can't find the mobile phone number I'm looking for? Unfortunately, that's going to be the norm and not the exception. Mobile phone numbers are kept very private by most people, and since they are not in any kind of published directory (yet), they are next to impossible to track down. However, don't give up - try the tips I've mentioned in this article to help you in your free mobile phone number search, and you just might hit pay dirt.
