How to Find People

Now-a-days, people do not generally put their e-mail address on a public database because of fear of spam. Therefore, it is harder to find a person's e-mail address. But still, there are some websites which can provide e-mail address, but the information may be outdated.

• One of the methods is to enter the person's telephone number in a search engine and the person may come up instantly.

• If you have a person's e-mail address but do not have any other contact information, you can enter the e-mail address on some searching databases and find the person's full contact details.

• Several databases let you search for people by filling and submitting an online form. These databases carry information by scanning for addresses in various news postings. These databases contain e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc. of people. The content is protected and free from spam.

• There are some websites which invite people to post their contact information. People can register themselves on these sites along with their current information, so friends can find them on the net.

• There are some databases where you can search people by their full name, social security number, prior address, name, date of birth, phone number, etc.

• You can find your previous college classmate if the university has a phonebook server. The name of your friend may be listed on server directory of your college or university.

• Some websites index high schools, grade schools, colleges, etc., where you can register so that school and college friends can find you.

• If you know that the person has an account with some network or service provider, then there are some databases which can help you, even if you don't have information about the person.

• Some websites run local databases to provide information about people in their organisations.

• Some universities and colleges run a database of all faculty members, staff members and students.

• There are some databases which provide permanent forwarding of e-mail addresses. You have to submit your real name and some information about yourself, you will receive a short email alias in your mailbox. Your real address can be found at and mailed through these databases.

• There is one professional website which provides a directory of users, publicly available for anyone who wants to send an e-mail to them. You can use it by writing ‘whois lastname, firstname' in the body of the message. If you are not sure of the spelling you are using, put an asterisk mark to it.

• If you know the company or the organisation with which the person may be working, then you might find the e-mail address of the company and write to someone there to find the person you are seeking.

• There are some look up programs where you can find a person if you know the host name used by the person.
If these online search methods of how to find people do not work for you, then you can approach professional companies offering to find the person whom you are looking for.