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Whether you’re searching for a long-lost relative or want to find an online seller who swindled you, Spokeo could help. Spokeo’s people search service touts itself as one of the best online tools you can use to find tons of information on just about anyone. But is Spokeo legit? And what kind of information can you uncover on someone? We’ll answer these questions and more.
Article Overview
- Pros & Cons
- What Is Spokeo?
- Key Features
- Price
- User Reviews
- How To Remove Your Info From Spokeo (Video)
- Other Background Check Services To Consider
Spokeo
Pros
Cons
What Is Spokeo?
More than 20 million people use the Spokeo people search platform every month to locate people, conduct background checks and even search celebrities. Their database includes a whopping 12 billion records from thousands of data sources.
Spokeo was founded in 2006 by four Stanford University graduates and has garnered some impressive recognition, including being named to Deloitte’s 2016 Technology Fast 500 and the Inc. 5000 List for four straight years. You may have even seen hosts Nev and Max use Spokeo’s phone search service on the MTV show Catfish.
While you can use Spokeo for a variety of reasons, the site explicitly states that it’s not to be used for employment or tenant screening, credit checks or any other purpose covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). You can use Spokeo to research:
- Lost family and friends
- Unknown callers
- Potential customers or business associates
- Online sellers
- A potential date
Key Features
- Ability to search billions of property, historical, business, consumer and court records and 120+ social networks
- Spokeo reverse phone lookup
- Monitor a person’s profile and get updates when new information is added
- BBB rating: A+
- Customer support: phone and email 7 days/week
- Company provides educational scholarships, contributes to various nonprofit organizations and supports volunteers who help adoptees and birth families find one another
- Reports include:
- Contact information (name, aliases, phone number, email, etc.)
- Location history (current and past addresses and neighbors)
- Family (family members, birth and marriage records)
- Personal details (birth information, marital status, education level, etc.)
- Wealth data (property owned, investments, estimated salary)
- Criminal records, DUIs, sex offender & more (added fee)
- Social media accounts (social media, usernames, dating sites, music & gaming accounts, etc.)
Price
To access all of a person’s detailed information, they charge a monthly membership fee, which you can cancel at any time.
- $0.95 one-time Name Report (gives you address, email address, phone number, location history, marital status and family members)
- $13.95/month for monthly membership
- $7.95/month for 3-month membership
- Additional $2.95 each to search court and historical records
What Do People Think Of Spokeo?
Positive Reviews
I spoke.with ******* and he was very professional. I thought i would .be rushed but ******* went beyond what he needed to do and even did extra things to solve my problem. He was very patient and professional. I feel I need to add that when I was disputing a charge from Spokeo it was a completely different company that was overcharging me however ******* investigated and found the company that was doing it. Once he knew it wasn’t spokeo he could of ended conversation but went thru all my billings and found out who was doing it. In have never had another company do something like that. ******* is a real asset to your company. – Lorraine B., Trustpilot 2/5/2020
Whenever I need to look up information Spokeo is my go to. You get information not just promises and sites wanting you to pay more for information they really don’t have. If I don’t want to continue the subscription I always cancel in advance I’ve never had a problem. – Dina R., Sitejabber 12/5/2019
Negative Reviews
While I only paid $0.95, it was still $0.95. And I got absolutely NO information. There was no information to be gotten. I think the website should tell you that BEFORE taking your money. – Martha H., Sitejabber 12/16/2019
The website is unclear–if you want to remove information about yourself, it makes it seem like you need to pay for a subscription. So I paid for a temporary subscription. Again, they play down that they *auto renew* that subscription. So without any confirmation emails, a month later, $25 comes off my card. I reached out to their support to ask them to cancel and refund it, and they provided a $10 refund, keeping $15 as payment for no services rendered. I removed my information from competitor sites at the same time and Spokeo was by far the worst. – Julia T., BBB 11/7/2019
How To Remove Your Info From Spokeo
Don’t want your information on Spokeo? View this quick video on how to find and fill out the free Spokeo opt-out form.
Other Background Check Services
Spokeo is as accurate as all people-search sites that compile information from third-party databases, so it’s important to keep this in mind. We like their reasonable pricing model and the amount of data you can easily and quickly search. Want to see how Spokeo compares to similar sites? Read our reviews of the best background check services to see what other sites have to offer.
What experiences have you had with Spokeo or other people search sites?
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