If you’re a hiring manager, running a background check on someone is an important step before making an offer to a candidate. These inquiries can reveal important information that either confirms or contradicts the story they’ve told about themselves.
Background checks can be useful in other circumstances. Individuals swimming in the dating pool can use them to make sure a prospective date has not been convicted of violent felonies or is not secretly married.
Advancements in technology have made it easy for anyone with an internet connection to run informal background checks on others. Using these online tools effectively requires a deeper understanding of how people-finder sites gather information, as well as some important legal considerations.
How Do I Run a Background Check on Someone with PeopleFinders?
PeopleFinders features one of the most comprehensive, accurate, and trusted online databases. The website has collected more than 120 billion public records from more than 6,000 sources across the internet, including 157 million property records alone.
Some of the information you can find from PeopleFinders includes:
- Names
- Relatives and other known associates
- Current and past phone numbers
- Street addresses
- Email addresses
- Criminal records
- Marriages and divorces
- Birth records
- Property records
- Foreclosures
- Bankruptcies, liens, and judgments
Running a background check on PeopleFinders is simple. Here are the steps:
- Go to PeopleFinders’ official website.
- Using the site’s basic people search functionality, you can enter the person’s first name, last name, city, and state.
- PeopleFinders’ advanced search adds fields for someone’s middle name or initial, and for their age range. It is okay if you do not have all the information the screen asks for.
- Click “Search.” The website will present an array of results that align with your search query. From this list, you can identify the person you are looking for. PeopleFinders makes it easy to find someone and verify their background information.
Difference Between a Background Search and a Name Search on PeopleFinders
There are some key differences between a background search and a simple name search on PeopleFinders. A background search can reveal criminal histories, marital statuses, bankruptcies, and other details that go deeper than basic identifying information.
A name search, on the other hand, is less detailed. The name search feature on PeopleFinders helps you find a person’s exact full name. From the preliminary search results, you can find out cities of residence (past and present), age, aliases, and four relatives or associates.
Other Online Tools for Running DIY Background Checks
Although PeopleFinders scrapes public records from thousands of sources, it doesn’t hurt to do some searching of your own. Below are some primary sources worth checking out before entering into a professional or personal relationship with someone.
1. Federal Inmate Registry
A prison stint for a violent crime conviction is perhaps the biggest red flag you can find during an informal background check. While it is ultimately up to you whether someone’s criminal record is a dealbreaker, the least you can do is have the information.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) offers a free database listing details on federal inmates dating back to 1982. You can even find information about people who have been released from federal custody. Don’t forget to check your state’s or county’s inmate lookup tool.
2. National Sex Offender Registry
Single parents in the dating world rightly want to ensure their children’s safety as they meet new people. To that end, one of the most crucial online resources is the National Sex Offender Public Website (NSPOW).
The NSPOW allows users to search the sex offender registries of all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories in just a few clicks. You can search by name, ZIP code, or street address radius.
3. Social Media Profiles
Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, the country’s three most popular social media websites, also offer a wealth of information to amateur background checkers. While many people set their social media profiles to private, limiting the information available to users who are not friends or followers, plenty of other users are less discreet.
An important consideration here is that many people do not freely offer up unflattering details about themselves on their social media profiles, so you might not get anything useful. Still, the information you may get on social media for free, within minutes, is worth exploring.
4. PeopleFinders Reverse Email, Phone Number, and Address Lookup
In addition to its people search features, PeopleFinders can provide information about certain phone numbers, email addresses, and street addresses.
For instance, you can double-check that the phone number of the person you’re going on a date with is actually associated with the individual. Reverse lookup tools confirm that the details you’re getting about a person line up with everything else you’ve been told.
5. Reverse Image Search
If you have heard of Catfishing, you know those scammers rely on fake profile pictures to lure victims. In this situation, a fake profile picture can be an image of someone other than the scammer or an artificially enhanced image.
A reverse image search shows searchers the web pages that contain the picture they’d like to scrutinize. You can quickly identify whether your new online flame is purporting to be someone they’re not.
Informal Versus Formal/Official Background Checks
Although PeopleFinders and other online directories provide relatively detailed background information on individuals, they do not operate as official background check vendors.
If you need to perform background checks for matters such as employment, housing, credit, insurance, education, or professional licensing, it’s important to contract with firms that satisfy all requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
For more information on PeopleFinders’ background check capabilities, visit the Do’s and Don’ts page.
Get Informed and Stay Safe
Running background checks has become necessary in a world where deception has become easy and common. In some cases, looking at someone’s background prevents you from coming into contact with people who have violent tendencies.
PeopleFinders’ online database combines convenience with exhaustive and comprehensive information. Instead of visiting numerous sites and poring over dozens of Google search results pages, a few clicks can tell you everything you need to know about someone.
You can also try our AI-powered people-finder resource for a fast, conversational way to verify someone’s information.
