Online People Search

My career serving clients as a private investigator spans over 20 years now. I have been trained to evaluate what are the best tools to obtain information for my clients. For the most part, they include the use of social media and proprietary data sources with restricted access, as well as searching through public records to locate and retrieve valuable information. Let’s look at what affects your online people search results.

Over the years, I have seen the number of so-called online people search and background check services explode along with the growth of the Internet. These sites are very popular as people yearn for more information on other people and businesses. Furthermore, the exponential growth of social media has made these sites almost indispensable. These online people search websites can be a convenient way to obtain information on a subject.

That is, if they work as expected and produce the correct information. It depends, as their user reviews and comments indicate. There are many complaints about incomplete reports as well as not getting the latest information. Another typical complaint is that some of the information is incorrect. Well, the results are only as good as the source of information.

If you want to use a public records online people search, we would recommend our online people search and background check services. Public records search engines like Spokeo may work fair enough for online people searches with a subject’s mobile telephone number or an email address. Instant Checkmate can work well for background checks. However, you’ll likely see a lot of fluff in their results.

Online People Search Sources of Information

There are a couple of things that affect search results: the sources of information and the verification of it. You may get lucky using online people searches and get correct information. Unfortunately, ever so often this may not be the case. Their weakness is that the information they sell is from public databases that are not updated frequently enough. This often leads to out-of-date and incorrect information. No matter how they tout you can search public databases like it were the best choice ever. You can actually search public databases for free, if you’re willing to do the legwork yourself.

People Search by a Licensed Private Investigator

We often get requests to locate someone or retrieve a comprehensive background report on a subject. Very often clients say they tried to get the information from an online people search website but couldn’t get the right information. They were disappointed because of old information, missing information and the waste of money spent on a single report or forced subscription.

When you start a premium search on PeopleSearchLive you are dealing with a live licensed private investigator, who will assist you in your search. Often, your Live PI will use multiple private access databases to confirm that you get the latest information. Therefore, even with a basic online people search, you will receive the most current data.

Private Investigator Sources of Information

Licensed private investigators also are as good as their sources. Many of these sources/contacts include lawyers, other private investigators, the repo man, debt collections, etc. Their exclusive access websites require a paid subscription and a private investigator license.

These sources are very secure websites that private investigators mainly use for searches. They maintain and update their websites frequently to provide current data. They can also perform specialized searches, for example, locating an unknown bank account of a subject. These data brokers normally require extended time to complete comprehensive searches.

The restricted access sources handle very sensitive information, such as social security numbers, hidden assets, and the latest reported residence or crime records of individuals. This sensitive information could lead to fraud and is not readily available to the general public. Therefore, it is not generally available on public records.

Verification

Verification confirms the ultimate reliability of the information. If you choose a verified people search, your private investigator will also verify the information. No matter how online person search services suggest the data they provide has been verified that is not true. Only a human can verify that the information is correct.

Each report will have a rating system as follows:

Red- Chances are the subject is hiding or may not be who they say they are

Yellow- Some difficulty locating the subject

Green- Easy to locate the subject

Online People Search vs. Professional People Searches by a Licensed Private Investigator

Using a live licensed private investigator is always your best option when trying to obtain much needed accurate information on a subject. Especially when your safety is at stake like when you are trying to determine whether to date someone you met online. Or when you want to marry someone and would like to check their background to be sure. Even just to locate a lost friend or relative you really want to find.

You may get correct information from online searches, but it is a hit and miss. They are so popular these days and may work alright, but what if they do not? Getting wrong information on a subject may lead to loss of money, bodily harm, or even death. So be warned when using free public record online people search and background check services. These services resell free public records vs. your Live PI accessing data brokers’ secure websites that have the latest data and only deal with licensed professionals.