Reverse email lookup tools are needed to stop fraud. Recent studies state that phishing attacks reached an all-time high in 2021, with email-based fraud scams three times more common than a decade ago. Fraudsters continue to leverage digital communication methods to enact their schemes.
To protect your email accounts, you need a reverse email lookup service to protect against fraud. Reverse email lookup tools source additional data connected to an address to help verify the authenticity of any received email.
There are plenty of reverse email lookup tools on the market that you can integrate, each with different benefits and drawbacks. Let’s explore the 7 best reverse email lookup tools, that way you can select the service that best protects your business and email accounts:
Reverse Email Lookup Selection Criteria
Reverse email lookup tools are part of how to build an effective omnichannel e-commerce fraud prevention strategy. However, not all reverse email lookup tools offer the same services or focus on the same data sets. For example, some applications focus more on reporting speed and platform features, while others invest in high-quality data collection and simple interfaces. To make an informed choice, use the following selection criteria to evaluate each possible reverse lookup tool and pick the service that matches your needs.
Data Sourcing
First, consider the type of information that each reverse search tool delivers. Simple services will provide you with general data points such as related physical addresses and social media handles, while top-notch tools will scour the web for granular results covering education history, criminal records, and any known aliases.
At the very least, pick the tool that protects your accounts from scammers. Even if you do not need extensive data reports, ensure that any reverse email lookup tool you plan to use can supply you with enough data to flag suspicious communication. For enterprises that want to engage in full background checks that build a complete user profile for each potential email address, advanced services that collect a wealth of information are necessary.
Data Accuracy
Second, evaluate the accuracy and scan quality of each service. High-quality services will scan more data points to add to your data lake and access more digital records than low-quality software. Basic reverse email lookup tools use public records and known databases to source information, while more complex services will scour the dark web, court records, and police reports. The accuracy and viability of each service will vary, impacting your buying choice.
Opt for the service that matches your business requirements. Individuals who want to protect a single work email may not need such complex scanning, while data quality might be a key selling point for specific businesses.
Speed
Third, evaluate a service based on its reporting speed. Some reverse email lookup tools will prioritize reporting speed at the expense of quality, while others will take longer to ensure accuracy across multiple scans. If you need immediate or real-time reverse search results due to a large email volume or business operation efficiency, select the tool that delivers reports within your time scale.
Service Offerings
Fourth, take note of any additional features associated with a reverse email lookup tool. Many software solutions include bonus service benefits that can improve your return on investment, such as multiple search filters, convenient mobile apps, and simple browser extensions. Every service varies, with some vendors offering bundled automated email campaign tools, lead generation, and email marketing platforms. When selecting your reverse email lookup tool, assess each added service feature and opt for the software that provides you with the most value.
Cost
Lastly, compare costs. Most reverse email tools operate on a monthly subscription plan that provides unlimited lookups and email searches, but prices vary according to reporting speed, scanning volume, and bonus features. Look for a balance between affordability and usefulness. You don’t want to leave your email exposed, but there is no need to go expensive and pay for a range of services you never use.
The 8 Best Reverse Email Lookup Services
With a full understanding of what to look for in a high-quality reverse email lookup service, the following seven tools discussed below stand out as the best solutions on the market in 2022.
ContactOut
ContactOut is an email search tool with a focus on finding personal email addresses. Its main feature is a Chrome extension that adds a sidebar overlay on LinkedIn, and this is what makes it very easy to use. With the extension installed, all you need to do is visit your lead’s LinkedIn profile, and the sidebar will reveal their available contact information or let you search for their professional email address.
The tool also lets you save your leads to a dashboard, where you can organize them in folders. You can access other useful features from the dashboard. Most notable of these is a search portal where you can find leads based on their location, work profile, and education. It also has data enrichment tools that add contact information to company domains, LinkedIn URLs, and email lists.
The downside to ContactOut is its limited number of integrations, although the number is growing, and it now includes major CRMs such as Salesforce and Zapier. However, ContactOut remains a great tool if you are looking for large volumes of data and triple-verified contact information.
Pricing:
- Free: $0 per month
- Personal: $29 per month
- Professional: $99 per month
- Recruiter: $199 per month
- Team: Custom pricing
Snov
Snov.io is an email outreach and automation platform. It is an all-in-one interface that combines a host of email-related services such as DRIP campaigns, email finding, lead generation, and email lookup.
In particular, reverse email searches occur across connected domains, social media handles, company data, and other related search engine results. Any reporting on Snov.io is near instantaneous, which will intrigue plenty of large-scale enterprises. Plus, the application includes a 7-step verifier function that authenticates any email for syntax errors, domain validity, and email Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server security. For those who want a comprehensive tool to clean up scam addresses and phishing schemes out of any email list, then Snov.io can be of use.
Unfortunately, Snov.io does not detail what type of scans it initiates nor the breadth of its data collection. While the search tool appears extensive, more emphasis is placed on the platform’s many service offerings rather than on data accuracy.
Still, the value given over such extended email-related tools makes Snov.io one of the best overall services. The wide range of features, email campaign add-ons, and email reporting will benefit most enterprises.
- Price: Snov.io works on a subscription model with different tiers. You can earn a monthly discount by signing a year contract.
- Small Plan: $39 per month
- Medium Plan: $99 per moth
- Large Plan: $189 per month
- Extra Large Plan: $369 per month
- Extra Extra Large Plan: $738 per month
BeenVerified
BeenVerified has established itself as the premier service for those who want immense data accuracy across a wealth of record and database scans. If you need robust background checks, BeenVerified is the ideal service.
Reporting extends beyond normal search engines and scans multiple databases for a plethora of information. Not only will you receive standard details about an email address source validity, server location, and attached social media handles, but reports will showcase advanced data about secondary names, opened businesses, previous work experience, old email accounts, and criminal records. Extra service options can even source vehicle records and unclaimed money related to the email address.
As expected, what BeenVerified provides in data accuracy, it loses with speed. Reports are complex, so it takes longer than most services. Plus, the service restricts access based on pricing, and there is no free trial option to test the tool. Still, for those who value volume and quality of information, BeenVerified is an excellent reverse email lookup tool.
- Pricing: BeenVerified aims to disrupt the current pricing models for information lookups, and as a result, includes pricing and signup deals that change according to demand. Average monthly memberships are usually under $30.
- One Month Membership: $26.89 per month
- Three Month Membership: $17.48 per month
Social Catfish
Social Catfish is an email validator and reverse lookup tool designed to assess suspicious emails and social media handles. While reporting is not as detailed as BeenVerified, the software provides advanced levels of accurate data from common web sources, all packaged into a simple user interface.
Consider Social Catfish as a standard investigative tool. Service offerings are minimal, and most users use the program as an easy method to evaluate unsolicited communication found in email or social media inboxes. Of particular benefit is the image lookup service, which sources known images associated with an address to help verify the sender’s identity.
Enterprises that want more information about business partners or customers can use Social Catfish to gain a host of helpful information. Since it scans through billions of data points listed on public records, you can consider Social Catfish your personal online sleuth and high-quality verification tool.
- Pricing: Social catfish offers five-day sign-on prices before shifting to a monthly subscription plan. You can hire a search specialist for additional in-depth investigations with a one-time fee.
- Social Tier: $5.73 for the first five days, then $27.48 per month
- Image Tier: $5.99 for the first five days, then $26.99 per month
Email Sherlock
Email sherlock is an email and identity verifier best known for offering free reverse email lookups.
If you want to execute affordable and simple reverse email searches, Email Sherlock is the best option. While not as detailed or fast as other market options, most users can still glean plenty of important authentication data from the service. Address syntax, email server, and domain names are validated, helping locate and dispose of false or scam emails.
Unfortunately, Email Sherlock does suffer from inaccurate response data. The scan capabilities and reporting are not at the same level as paid services. Still, as a rapid alternative with no price tag, it is a valuable option for many customer use cases.
- Pricing: Free
Spokeo
Spokeo is another reverse email lookup tool dedicated to advanced reverse email search and highly detailed reporting. The service claims to scan over 12 billion data reports, all with instantaneous access. Spokeo also put extra time and energy into creating a versatile and easy-to-use platform that is much more accessible to the average user. For those who want fast reporting with additional emphasis placed on user design and customer support, Spokeo is a good choice.
There are a few drawbacks to the service, as some customer reviews state that the software focuses too much on gleaning data from social media sites instead of sourcing high-quality databases. Plus, Spokeo only accepts American clients, which limits the tool considerably.
- Pricing: Spokeo is also known for its highly affordable pricing structure, having a monthly subscription plan priced at nearly half of standard market rates.
- One Month Membership: $19.95 per month
- Three Month Membership: $14.95 a month
Hunter
Hunter combines both email campaign options and reverse lookup search tools into a single software. The software is known for its practical features and extra service options, combined with a tiered pricing list that starts with a free plan. If you are looking for economical, no-fluff email support, Hunter offers good value.
For example, Hunter includes the standard domain and email validation searches, but it also supplies additional benefits like confidence scores on particular data, insights about email patterns, and one-click functions that either save or delete a suspicious email address. Businesses will find the bulk verification capabilities helpful when conducting large-scale email campaigns, further protecting email lists from scammers.
While the practical features are a bonus, Hunter does not offer social media lookups, and some top-tier subscription plans are expensive. Plus, only professional email addresses are accepted. Still, for the enterprise that wants straightforward no-nonsense email protection, Hunter is a clear choice.
- Pricing:
-
- Free: $0 per month
- Starter: $49 per month
- Growth: $99 per month
- Pro: $199 per month
- Business: $399 per month
PeopleFinders
PeopleFinders is a reverse information search service. Users can request data with just a name, email address, phone number, or physical address. The site will scan search engines and public databases for associated data related to any supplied information.
PeopleFinders is best as a background research tool, often used in combination with other email services that offer more application integrations. Since Peoplefinders can provide such detailed reporting and has access to over 43 billion records, most enterprises use it as a Data-as-a-service (DaaS) option. It is one of the most comprehensive ways to find someone online, collecting information on hard-to-find data such as listed bankruptcies, liens, and speed tickets.
Because Peoplefinder has limited transparency in its data collection methods, the service does have customer trust and privacy issues. Aggressive marketing tactics, non-existent customer support, and difficulty with service cancellations have also deterred other users. Customer and user experience are not a priority to PeopleFinder.
Still, with instantaneous results that collect large batches of data and some of the most detailed report creation, it is one of the most effective reverse lookup services available. PeopleFinder is particularly popular with law firms and private investigators.
- Pricing: Peoplefinders has a single premium service, but watch out for introductory offers that include large and unexpected rate hikes upon expiry.
- $9.95 for the first month, then 24.95 per month
