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Archive for March, 2009

People Search Websites – My Top 5 Websites To Find People

March 30th, 2009

Here’s my list of the Top 5 websites I use to find people on Internet:

1. MyLife.com – Formally Reunion.com, they’ve recently changed their name. It’s still one of the top people search websites on the Internet today. You’ll have to register to use their free search but it’s worth it.

2. Wink.com – This website is great when used in combination with MyLife.com. Together they cover a big part of the internet and it’s possible to find the person you’re looking for using only the first two sites in this list.

3. Zabasearch – This website claims to have to biggest public records database in the world. To me it’s more like a fancy white pages website. You’ll get some search results but they constantly try to steer you towards a paid service.

4. PeekYou.com – PeekYou is one of the relatively new people search websites that consolidates a person’s websites, social-networking pages, photos or anything else together so that others may easily find them. You can also create a profile for friends or relatives to ensure that they may also be easily found online.

5. Pipl.com – Pipl is a new kind of search engine that digs through what they call the “deep web” to find information that other search engines may not find. It’s an interesting little website.

I realize there are many other people search websites out there but these are the ones I find myself using the most often when doing my searches.

Background Checks, People Search ,

Skip Tracing – How To Skip Trace Someone

March 28th, 2009

Skip tracing is a method that companies or individuals can use to locate a person. Generally it’s used by companies to locate missing persons, collect on outstanding debts, or to repossess something. An individual or a PI may skip trace to help find old friends or loved ones, locate long lost relatives, or any number of other uses that can be associated with finding people. For the professionals, it’s developed into somewhat of an art form and is often referred to as “the art of finding people”. Each professional has, over time, tweaked and developed their own methods for finding people but for the most part the core methods used remain intact.

Ideally it’s best to gather as much information about the person you’re looking for before you get started. The more information you have before starting the better. Here’s a list of the things that will be most helpful in skip tracing:

  • Subjects full and complete name and any alias names
  • Spouse’s name and maiden name
  • Last known address and the date it was valid
  • Any previous addresses and dates valid
  • Last know telephone numbers with dates valid
  • Social Security number
  • Date of birth and age
  • Spouse’s Date of birth
  • Last known Employment of subject and spouse
  • ID or Drivers license numbers

Granted most people won’t have all of the items in the list above and that’s to be expected but the more you have the better.

The main tool in a professionals skip tracing arsenal is the “social security trace”. It’s the holy grail of tools when it comes to finding people. You see, when most people go missing by choice they don’t drop completely “off the grid”. They may use a different name or try to hide but most people continue to use their credit cards, social security number, or other easily traceable documents. A social security trace will grab any and all traces of a person if they’re using their old information.

There are a couple of gotcha’s though. Skip tracing using a social security trace has had few restrictions placed on it within the past few years. In order to get one you must have a “permissible purpose”. Permissible purposes include business or investment transactions, insurance, employment, or litigation. Also, in order to perform this type of search you’ll need an account with one of the major credit bureaus and they only open accounts for certain types of businesses such as information professionals.

For individuals, you’re going to be a bit more limited. You’ll need to pay for a social security trace or use skip trace software to help you with your search. Skip tracing can be one of the fastest ways to find people when used properly.

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How To Find Someone For Free – Part 2

March 17th, 2009

If you’ve been following along you should have already completed part one of “How to find someone for free”. We will be using the information gathered from the first part so part one is necessary.

Social networking is all the rage these days. Nearly everyone you meet is a member of one or more websites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc… so it only stands to reason that if you want to find people for free online social networks are a good place to look.

Searching through each and every social network individually can be tedious and time consuming. Luckily there are free people finders that consolidate many of the social networking websites into one, easy to use website. One such website is Wink.com.

In fact, MyLife.com, the website you used in “how to find someone for free” part one grabs some of its data directly from Wink. You should be able to find even more information on the person you’re looking for if you were successful with the first part of this series. If you didn’t find much information earlier now is a good chance to do so using Wink.

You’ll really need to be specific to narrow down your search. Many times Wink will return thousands upon thousands of results but without specific details that you learned from part one it will be difficult to find the person your looking for. Just using the first two parts of this series should allow you to find people for free online quickly. Many people will never have to go any further than this as they will find the person they’re looking for at this point.

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How To Find Someone For Free – Part 1

March 13th, 2009

One of the most basic things many people want to do using the Internet is learn how to find someone for free. With all the free people finders out there you’d think it would be pretty easy to find someone quickly. Many of them will steer you towards some type of paid service but how do you really find people for free online?

First, don’t expect to find everything you’re looking for in one place. You may have to visit several different sites to put together enough information to find someone. Sure some of the information may be the same as the stuff you’ve already found but each web site may offer an additional piece of information so don’t be discouraged if they seem to spit out the same general information. Just look for the new bits and pieces of the puzzle and jot down any new information you find. That’s one of the keys to learning how to find someone for free. Each piece of information is important so keep track of it!

One of the top free people finders on the Internet is MyLife.com. Before you can do a search at MyLife.com you’ll need to register. Don’t worry. We’re only registering for the FREE search that they offer. There’s no need to pay for any of the advanced features unless you want to. This is “the” place to start if you want to find people for free online. MyLife.com consolidates thousands of resources from all over the ‘net like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc… You name it, they probably have it.

Once you’re registered start your search. Be a specific as you can when doing your search. That will help narrow down the number of searches returned and allow you to pinpoint the person you’re searching for. Remember to write down any information you find because we will be using it later in Part 2 of “How to find someone for free”.

That’s it for the first part of this tutorial on how to find people for free online. In a day or two I will post the next step in the process and talk about some other free people finders can be used to gather even more information for a people search.

Find People For Free Online – Part 2

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Background Check Software

March 9th, 2009

I admit it. Constantly digging for information on the Internet can be tedious and time consuming. Even experienced searchers can get bogged down in the repetitive nature of their searches and lose their focus. That’s why many of us use background check software to help “mine for gold” so to speak.

There are many different services and software packages available that allow anyone to perform their own background checks. Many casual users will be hesitant to use these tools and instead opt for the “free” method of searching. But is it really free? I can guarantee that any free background check will take a lot more time and effort than using background check software or services.

What’s your time worth? That’s what it all boils down to isn’t it? If you factor in the time it takes to do all the manual searching necessary for your own background checks that 30 bucks you could have spent on an instant background report suddenly looks cheap!

Granted not everyone is willing to plunk down 30+ dollars to find out basic information about someone but what if the safety of your family or business depended on the timeliness and accuracy of the background check? Thirty bucks doesn’t seem like such a steep price to pay anymore does it?

For those interested in background check software or services, here’s 3 of the most popular:

  1. Instant Background Report
  2. Public Records Pro
  3. Net Detective

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Background Check Companies – Choosing The Best One

March 7th, 2009

Finding background check companies that meet your needs may not be as simple as you might imagine. Whether you’re checking out your latest online boyfriend to find out if they have a criminal background or a potential employee for a job you have available you can’t afford to take chances.

A quick Internet search will turn up a ton listings for background checks. Some are free and others are pay services but which one is the right match for you? Many people will want to take the free route but remember: “you get what you pay for”. Sure there are many perfectly legitimate background check companies that offer free resources to help with background checks but at some point you’re probably going to pay something to get the really juicy information.

Ideally you should find a company that can do both national and state searches. If you’re doing a background check on someone then you probably don’t have enough background information about them to narrow down your search to one particular area. Heck the information you do have could be bogus, who knows? So you definitely should make sure you can do both state and national searches.

Many of the online companies will offer services which will return immediate results. That’s great but what if you can’t find what your looking for using their service? Most of the online background check services will offer a refund if no results are returned. Be sure to read the fine print before ordering a background report. You don’t want to get stuck paying for something that doesn’t produce results.

Finally, try to find background check companies that will let you do more than just one background check. There are plenty of them out there that charge by the month, year, or lifetime. Be sure to take full advantage of the service you choose.

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People Search By Address

March 2nd, 2009

Have you ever known an address but not the people that live there? You never see them out and about but you’re curious to know more about them. If you have small children it may even be in your best interest to find out all you can about your neighbors. You never can be too careful about the people around you. A people search by address may be able to help you find out a little more about them.

I’ve been living in the same house now for about three years. I have a neighbor that lives right beside me but the only time I see them is when they’re coming or going from work or when the man of the house is outside mowing the lawn. If the woman that lives there ever locked herself out of the house and came by to use the phone I wouldn’t even know what she looked like!

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t suspect them of doing anything wrong but it just seems strange that the woman of the house is only seen when pulling in or out of the garage to go somewhere. I admit that I’m not a social butterfly but I do at least leave the house once in a while and/or speak and wave to all the other neighbors around me.

A people search by address may be an option to find out some basic information about people that may be living at a certain address. There are a number of websites that offer this type of service. A couple of the bigger ones are whitepages.com and addresses.com. Each of these websites should return enough information about the people living at certain address to allow you to check for some of the more nefarious actions they may be involved in such as sex offenders or possible criminal activity.

Here are some tips to help you better perform a people search by address.

  • Be sure you spell the address correctly
  • If you don’t know whether it’s a street, road, etc… then just leave that part off
  • A full street address will give the most accurate results but partial addresses are ok too
  • If their telephone number is unlisted there may not be any results returned
  • Brand new addresses may not be in the “system” yet

While not the most complicated of searches, a people search by address can help provide some enlightening information about a person when used with other types of background checks or public record searches.

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