Unlisted Phone Number vs. Non-Published or Unpublished Number

We sometimes get people that are confused by all the terms for phone numbers. Unpublished, Unlisted and non-published are pretty much all the same thing. These are usually land line numbers that are not listed in the white pages or by calling directory assistance because the owner has requested to be removed from such listings.

There is typically a fee to have your phone number “unlisted” but if you have ever had the number listed and a few years later pay to have it unlisted it was most likely already listed and is therefor out in cyberspace in someone’s database some place. That’s where you either start looking in old historical or archived databases or hire a private investigator to try and locate unlisted numbers.

If you review our FAQ section on this subject you will see that the difference is really nothing. The expressions, “unlisted number”, “unpublished number” and “non-published number” (also known as “non-pub”) really mean the same thing. Unlisted usually means it’s not listed with directory assistance, non-published means it’s not in the phone book. But basically it means these numbers are not listed in the local Telephone Directory and not normally available through Directory Assistance (411) or telephone operators (0 or 00). It usually means you can’t get the name and address thru normal means and you need a private investigator to get accurate up-to-date information.

Often times people will hire our investigator and then use our database or another database like searchbug or intelius and receive conflicting information. The problem is that often the information is conflicting because the database got the older info and the investigator got the most current info.

Sometimes you can get lucky with a database search. There are many reliable private databases used by many companies with great success. However, when you know you need accurate reverse phone number information and you want a human to speak with and do the work, most professionals turn to us.