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What is up with reverse phone number lookups/people search sites? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by njordomir@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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In the earliest days of my internet experience, I remember being able to do a web search for a phone number and sometimes actually find something useful. That said, this niche has long been dominated by some of the fakest, most scammy, bullshit sites on the web. From calling themselves "free" when they are not, to the fake "searching", "sifting through results", "correlating records" wait screens that are much like the deceptive, manipulative, and nontransparent airline industry, to the mentally manipulative exclamation point in the red warning triangle to tease you that there might be criminal records.

Why is this area of the web so scammy?

Who made it like this?

Has anyone tried to fix it?

Is there a any site out there that can actually do a reverse lookup and isn't a cesspool of popups, pay gates, and fake loading screens?

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[–] SteveTech@aussie.zone 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

For Australians, CallTrace seems pretty good, it's one of the neat uses of LLMs where it will call numbers up and ask what business they are from. Plus I find it hilarious when 2 AIs start talking to each other.