Making new friends or business partners online is easy, but it can also be dangerous too. You can’t always tell if a contact or offer is legitimate, for example. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to protect yourself from such threats that often gets overlooked: email lookup tools.
These services are easy to use, and some even free. However, the number of options around and their complex technology can seem overwhelming. Here are a few reasons why you should consider using them, specifically related to your security while networking online.
What Are Email Lookup Tools?
Firstly, there are two types of email lookup tools.
The standard technology lets you use someone’s details, like a name or phone number, to find their email address.
Reverse email lookup does the opposite. You submit the email address, and the lookup software finds additional information on that person. Usually, you’ll get basic contact details, but some services can track down social media profiles, online activity, and more.
That said, there are limits to using email lookup tools. As SEON explains, you should keep a close eye on how much data you can obtain legally, as well as what each service can deliver. Cost, speed, and depth of information are key factors for a business owner, for example.
How to Make Your Online Networking Safer With Email Lookup Tools
Let's look at what this smart technology can do for your security and comfort.
1. You Can Make Sure Contacts Are Safe to Talk To
There are several ways to spot a fake LinkedIn profile, from its picture to the details provided. You can take your security measures even further with email lookup tools.
Learning what you can from people’s available information does take time and attention to detail. But once you know that they’re legitimate, you’ll communicate more comfortably.
Email lookup is a fast and reliable method to network while maintaining some peace of mind when reaching out to someone and vice versa.
2. You Can Feel Secure Discussing Business Deals
You'll probably need to talk to strangers about work-related matters now and then, so boosting your online security makes all the difference in how you communicate, how credible and trustworthy you come across, and how fast you seal deals.
Email lookup tools can give you just the insights you need to be at ease while discussing business. You might be a freelancer looking for your next project. You might be advertising for new partnerships or making sales from your website. Or you could be looking for new employment.
Whoever you interact with can reveal plenty about themselves by providing the simplest of details. Considering Hubspot’s report of four billion active email users every day, email addresses are the easiest and most informative resources to come by.
Just pop the email address of a potential business partner into a reliable reverse lookup service and you can check if they’re a scammer or bot at the very least. If you want to investigate further, there are many more steps to finding information on someone online.
3. You Can Avoid Scams in General
Curiosity, communication, and gathering handy intel on users are popular incentives for using email lookup tools. But the driving force that matters the most is online safety.
There are so many smart ways scammers can get the better of you. That’s why you need to be ready for anything, from innocent-looking emails and DMs to complex schemes involving con artists, fake accounts, and more.
Just clicking on a link or opening a dubious email can download malware, so being cautious with every potential contact keeps you safe in the long run.
And good email lookup services, both standard and reverse, give you that extra bit of data to consider and stop you from running headlong into trouble.
4. You Can Get Information on Contacts Through Legitimate Means
Always be wary of how much information you can collect and how to use it. Understanding what the GDPR and its laws are is a good foundation for your business’s data processing strategy—and similarly the NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation for any companies operating partly through New York.
Whatever the method you use to gather people’s details, the best email lookup tools can then perform important security checks, like confirming identities and email addresses, without breaking any rules. They do this by tracking down what’s freely available on secure websites and databases.
5. You Can Get Lots of Data With Superior Email Lookup Tools
Another advantage in using high-end lookup software is the range of information they can find. Even though few offer their services for free, they’re worth investing in, especially if you run your own business.
After all, you need to go beyond names, phone numbers, and addresses sometimes. Thankfully, when using superior email lookup tools like Spokeo, you can expect much more, whether for the purposes of security, productivity, or other reasons.
Depending on the service’s type and resources, individuals and businesses have access to several kinds of insights, including:
- Email address validity and quality.
- Social media profiling.
- Data breach history.
- Presence in spam blacklists.
Use Email Lookup Tools on Yourself
Networking is more complicated and time-consuming with the support of email lookup tools, but the safety you’ll feel is well worth it. At the end of the day, you’ll know that each new connection you make is legit, whether it’s a friend, partner, or customer. Most services are easy enough to use, so while it might seem like a hassle initially, you'll soon get into the habit of checking contacts' details.
And checking your own online presence is another handy use for tracking tools. For example, you can rediscover old accounts and close them for security reasons. You might even want to assess your visibility and improve it as part of your marketing or job seeking strategy: all very smart moves.