Easton Secure Solutions

Can a Private Investigator Locate Someone With Just a Phone Number?

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Jun 06, 2025By Easton Secure Solutions

When all you have is a phone number and a lot of unanswered questions, it’s easy to feel stuck. Maybe someone ghosted you after a financial agreement, maybe a witness stopped returning calls, or maybe you just want to reconnect with someone who’s disappeared from your life. Either way, you're wondering:
Can a private investigator really find someone with just their phone number?

The answer: Yes, in many cases—we can.

At Easton Secure Solutions LLC, we specialize in legally and ethically locating individuals, even when our starting point is minimal. A single phone number—especially a mobile one—can often unlock a web of data that leads us directly to the subject.

 
What a Phone Number Can Reveal


Most people don’t realize how much can be tied to a phone number. With the right access to proprietary data sources, investigators can:

  1. Identify the name and address linked to the number
  2. Detect carrier information (landline, VoIP, or mobile)
  3. See if the number is associated with online accounts
  4. Discover related individuals and connected devices
  5. Track changes in ownership or usage over time

This type of information is not available through free lookup tools or public websites. While those can give surface-level data, they’re rarely accurate or up to date. At Easton Secure Solutions, we use Tier 1 skip tracing data and legal credit header searches that go much deeper.

 
Can You Find Someone With Only a Burner Phone?


It depends. Disposable phones, burner apps, and VoIP numbers present more of a challenge. But even those can leave behind a digital trail—especially if they’ve ever been tied to:

  • A financial transaction
  • Social media
  • Delivery services (like Uber, DoorDash, Amazon)
  • Wi-Fi login locations
  • Online forms or job applications

In these situations, our OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) tools become key. We dig through public records, online activity, and behavioral patterns to connect the dots and verify identities.

 
What We Need From You to Begin


Even if the phone number is all you have, we’ll ask a few quick questions to help guide the search:

  1. Is the number still active?
  2. How did you get the number (e.g., call logs, message history)?
  3. Do you have any idea where the person was located when you last had contact?
  4. Any context about your relationship to the individual or reason for the search?
  5. And if you have any additional details—like a first name, email, city, or photo—it can make our work even faster and more precise. But again, we’ve successfully located people with just a phone number many times.

 
When Would You Want to Find Someone by Phone Number?


Some common reasons our clients reach out with only a number include:

  • Debt recovery – A borrower disappears and stops answering calls
  • Missing persons – A family member or old friend hasn’t been seen in years
  • Business fraud – A client or vendor vanishes after a bad transaction
  • Legal process service – A subject must be located to serve court papers
  • Heir or witness location – Someone important to a case can’t be reached

Whether it’s a civil matter or a personal one, our goal is to help you move forward with facts—not frustration.

 
Is It Legal to Locate Someone Using a Phone Number?


Yes—when done for a permissible purpose and handled by a licensed investigator. At Easton Secure Solutions LLC, we strictly follow all legal and ethical guidelines. We never hack phones, use spyware, or cross privacy boundaries.

Instead, we rely on a combination of:

  • Licensed data systems
  • Public record analysis
  • Behavioral tracking
  • OSINT (Open Source Intelligence)
  • Social and professional network mapping

This ensures that your search is completely lawful, which is especially important if the information may be used in court or as part of a legal dispute.

 
Real-World Case Example


A recent client came to us with just a phone number and a vague first name. They had loaned money to someone they met online, who then vanished without repaying. The number had stopped working, but we were able to trace it through multiple databases and confirm a link to a real identity—including a residential address in New York.

Our client was then able to file a claim and begin the legal process of recovery.

 
Final Thoughts


A single phone number may seem like a small lead—but in the hands of a licensed private investigator, it can open the door to real answers. Whether you’re dealing with a financial loss, a legal situation, or just want closure, you don’t have to chase shadows alone.

 
Need to find someone with just a phone number?
Easton Secure Solutions LLC is here to help.

Licensed. Ethical. Results-driven. Serving New York City and Long Island. Remote Services Available Nationwide