Mobile Phone Number And Data Are More Widely Available Than You Might Think

Phone calls in the middle of the night are never good.

My smart phone rang at 3:10 am the other morning. Yes, it woke me up. I glanced at the number and it wasn't from anyone I know. I went back to sleep concluding that if the call was really important, they would call again.

The next morning, my curiosity got the better of me. I paused work to look up the mystery phone number at the AT&T Anywho website. If the phone number is listed and isn't a cellular line, I have found that Anywho usually has it.

The Anywho Reverse Number feature didn't find the mystery phone number, but it suggested that the Intelius website might:

I followed the link to the Intelius website which identified the mystery caller from a number registered in North Dakota, plus some juicy details:

Who knew that Intelius captured and displayed the caller's GPS coordinates? I have not test how dynamic the GPS coordinates are; if they are static are updated real-time.

If I wanted to know more, I could have paid for an Intelius report; or searched Pipl or Spokeo. I didn't since my curiosity was satisfied. I don't know anyone from North Dakota. Plus, the call could have been an accidental butt-dial or drunk dial.

Where did Intelius get this mobile phone data? Who knows. The phone's owner could have included their mobile number on property ownership or other public documents. My guess: this person's mobile number was listed on a publicly-available social networking website page, or obtained via retailer or website that resold the data to an information broker.

The point: there is more data available online about you than you realize. Safeguard your personal details, and share them only with people/companies you trust.