When it comes to OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) investigations, one of the biggest challenges is finding accurate information without tipping off your target. Over the past few months, I’ve been exploring different tools that can streamline digital footprint investigations — and that's when I stumbled upon Epieos.
In this post, I will share my honest experience using Epieos, what it can (and can't) do, and why I think it's a tool every investigator, cybersecurity professional, and even privacy enthusiast should have in their toolkit.
What is Epieos?
At its core, Epieos is a powerful OSINT tool that specializes in reverse lookups — specifically for email addresses and phone numbers.
You feed it a target's email or phone, and in return, it hunts down all the public digital breadcrumbs tied to that identifier. What makes Epieos stand out to me is how discreet it is. Unlike some tools that might leave traces or trigger notifications, Epieos performs completely stealth searches, meaning the target has no idea you’re digging.
How Epieos Works
The idea is beautifully simple: You enter an email address or a phone number → Epieos checks it against 140+ online services → You get a list of any accounts, profiles, or platforms associated with it.
Some of the platforms it checks include:
- Skype
- Gravatar
- Strava
- Trello
- Duolingo
- Flickr
- Vivino
This allows you to piece together a detailed online identity even if the information isn’t immediately obvious through standard searches.
One thing I really appreciate is that Epieos doesn't rely on breached databases (like some shady lookup services do). It focuses on live, public data. That’s a huge plus from both a legal and ethical standpoint.
Reverse Email Lookup: My Experience
I tested Epieos first with a few of my own old emails just to see what would show up. Incredibly, it pulled up some long-forgotten accounts like an old nexusmods profile and even a myspace board I hadn't touched in years.
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| Result Output |
When I tried it on a public figure’s work email, it successfully linked it to a partially hidden social media account and a Gravatar profile — something I wouldn't have easily found with a regular Google search.
The free version gives you basic results, but honestly, the paid version (around $32/month) opens up much richer data points. If you're doing this type of work regularly, upgrading is worth it.
Reverse Phone Lookup: Not Perfect, But Useful
I also tested Epieos’ reverse phone lookup feature. It’s good, but I found it a bit less comprehensive than the email lookup.
That said, for numbers tied to major accounts (especially if the person uses their number to sign up for services like WhatsApp, Telegram, or even Facebook), Epieos does a good job connecting the dots.
It’s clear that for more in-depth phone profiling, you might still want to pair Epieos with other tools like PhoneInfoga or WhatsMyName, but for a first-pass recon? Solid.
Maltego Integration for the Power Users
If you are serious about your investigations, you will love that Epieos integrates with Maltego.
This integration allows you to visualize relationships between email addresses, phone numbers, and discovered services in a graph format — super helpful for mapping connections at scale. In my experience, pairing Epieos results with Maltego helped me quickly spot hidden patterns that would've taken hours manually.
Who Should Use Epieos?
In my opinion, Epieos is perfect for:
- OSINT Researchers – If you need to build comprehensive profiles quickly and quietly.
- Cybersecurity Professionals – For threat hunting, fraud detection, and attack surface mapping.
- Journalists – To verify sources or uncover hidden accounts.
- Private Investigators – To gather more background information on persons of interest.
- Recruiters & Due Diligence Teams – To validate applicant information discreetly.
What Could Be Improved?
No tool is perfect, and Epieos has a few limitations to be aware of:
- Phone results could be deeper – Especially for non-U.S. numbers.
- No username-based search yet – Right now, you need a phone or email to start.
- Paid version might be necessary – Serious work really requires the full access.
However, considering the stealth, ease of use, and quality of results, these limitations feel minor.
Final Thoughts
If you work in OSINT, cybersecurity, journalism, or even just love uncovering digital mysteries like I do, Epieos is a must-try tool. It’s simple enough for beginners but deep enough for professionals. Most importantly, it respects stealth and ethical boundaries, which is something I value a lot when conducting online investigations.
In a world where so much of our identity is tied to our digital accounts, having a tool like Epieos gives you a major edge.
I highly recommend Epieos especially if you combine it with other tools for even more powerful investigations.
See you in the next blog post :-)
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