Which People Finder Sites are Legit?
A good man is hard to find, or so the saying goes. I first offered tips for “Finding People Online” way back in 2006, and updated that article with “Free People Search Tools” in 2020. Now in 2024, I have to say it’s getting harder to find free information about people and places. If you’re looking for a name, address or phone number, I have some tips on websites you should avoid, and some that actually do what they say, for free. Here's the scoop... |
Toll Booths on the Information Highway
The phrase "information wants to be free" dates back to a hackers conference in the 1980s. The idea was that people should be able to access online information freely, without roadblocks or toll booths. Information might want to be free, but more and more, the people who gather, compile and present that information want to get paid. Almost every resource I included in those previous articles is now out of business or it costs money to get useful information.
But there are still some lookup services that are both truly free and useful. One example is voter registration records. In case you didn’t know, the information you supply when you register to vote is public information, and about half of U.S. states make that information available to interested parties. Colorado’s voter rolls, for example, are updated several times per year. Colorado's Arapahoe County publishes voter lists that include name, address, gender, county, political party affiliation, birth year, and active/inactive voter status.
Other States whose voter rolls are available include Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Search online for "Registered voters in {your state}" and you'll probably find a source. You will almost certainly find some deceased persons listed in these voter records. That’s bad for vote integrity, but possibly helpful for genealogy searchers.
If you're looking for information on a relative, or you're interested in genealogy, see my article Here's How: Genealogy Research Online. I've also found that online obituaries, typically printed in funeral home and local newspaper websites, can reveal information about people, their location, and their relatives. I’ve used some of these resources to trace my roots as far back as 1640, when an ancestor of my father came from Holland to a Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island. Does that qualify me as a “Native New Yorker”?
For years, my favorite site for looking up names, addresses and phone numbers was WhitePages. The site lets you search by name & city, and can do reverse searches to see who is associated with an address or phone number. Some lookups are still free, but more often than not, I get partial information, with a link to "View Full Report." To get past that roadblock, you have to pay $12, or sign up for a subscription that costs $6/month (for mobile & landline numbers, addresses, and reverse phone lookups), or $33/month (for mobile & landline numbers, addresses, criminal history, and public records).
Other people-finder sites operate similarly, providing teasers, incomplete hits on search criteria intended to get your hopes up that yes, it could be your long-lost brother, and then hit you up for money. Before you run off to 411.com or Switchboard.com, those are also owned by WhitePages, and work the same way. Read the offers very carefully; nearly all contain “gotchas” that commit you to subscribing to an ongoing monthly charge on your credit/debit card. They all promise you can “cancel at any time” and even offer “100% satisfaction” guarantees. But I have not tested those assurances.
One people search site that DOES provide free lookups by name, phone or address is FastPeopleSearch. This site's public records data is updated regularly, and in addition to names, it includes landline, mobile, business and residential phone numbers, as well as information for addresses (past and present). In some cases, you can also find relatives and neighbors for people all across the USA. Enter a name (and optionally the city and state) and you'll get a list of possible hits with address and phone numbers. You also can enter a phone number or address to find the person associated with it. FastPeopleSearch does offer paid Background Reports, which promise to dig up Arrest Records, Marriage & Divorce Records, Criminal Records Data, Property Records, Bankruptcies, Judgments, and Liens.
By the way, property records and court filings (for marriage, divorce and bankruptcy) are kept on file by local municipalities, and many of them are available online. Check with your town or county clerk to see if they are searchable.
Promises, Promises...
As I warned at the opening of this article, there is something sleazy about many of the people-finder sites I found in the course of researching this article. They make unnecessary noise about “connecting to federal, state, and local databases,” “establishing a secure connection,” “searching billions of records,” and so on, while displaying graphics that indicate a search is in progress.
Spyfly promises to help you "View information about yourself, friends, family, and associates that Google can't show you." After presenting you with the initial search results, which tell you very little, Spyfly hits you up for three dollars. It's only three bucks; let’s get that report, shall we? Oh wait, the $3 fee is just for a 7-day trial, and you'll be on the hook for a $29.97/month subscription. How about “no?”
BeenVerified is another site that offers to help you "Search People & Public Records." They promise to "cross-check billions of data points and dozens of data sources" and "in a few minutes" you'll have access to all the public data they can find. But it’s a game. You have to endure screen after screen and several wasted minutes viewing fake progress bars, spinning circles, and dubious testimonials before they hit you with the sales pitch. And it turns out you can't even pay to view a report, they want you to sign up for a Membership that costs $26.89/month. And you know how hard those things are to cancel. No thanks, again.
Truthfinder, Intelius, Spokeo, PeopleLooker and PeopleFinders all lead you down the same road. Your search returns minimal information, followed by a pitch to pay for a report.
In closing, I’ll mention one related free phone lookup service that I use regularly. Phone Validator can tell you if a phone number is mobile, landline, toll-free or VOIP. It also shows the phone company associated with that number. You may find this useful when deciding if you should send a text message or make a voice call.
Do you know of a truly free people-finder service? Your thoughts on this topic are welcome. Post your comment or question below…
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This article was posted by Bob Rankin on 14 Nov 2024
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Most recent comments on "Which People Finder Sites are Legit?"
Posted by:
Radische
14 Nov 2024
Was lost, but now I am found, was blind and now I can see!
Posted by:
howard
14 Nov 2024
the site bob says is free, but not always up to date, plus links to paid sites that have newer info, they have me living at a place that at one time was my credit union, if the free sites get their info from the same places that the paid sites do, why don't they have the same info, makes one wonder if the free sites are owned by the paid sites, another free site is 100% free people search, both seen to mostly have the same info, and links to paid sites, but both may say that this is latest phone number or address, but the latest can be one that they say is an older one!
Posted by:
DaveM
14 Nov 2024
Sites like these with recurring monthly payments always have some sort of statement "you can cancel at any time". But, as they say, the devil is in the details. Exactly how do you cancel? Attempting to cancel on their web site will many times lead to a phone number you have to call. After navigating a series of confusing phone trees, then sitting on hold for an interminable amount of time and finally getting connected to a human, you will be subjected to high pressure sales tactics and representatives who will not take "no" for an answer.
Attempting a "charge back" on your credit card won't work because the vendor will provide proof to the card issuer that you agreed to the monthly payments (which you did).
As Bob says, read the offer very carefully and make sure you understand it. And be super careful before you tap that "subscribe now" button.
Posted by:
Rich
14 Nov 2024
fastpeoplesearch.com is free and mostly correct
Posted by:
Emily Booth
14 Nov 2024
There are hundreds and hundreds of these people finder sites and most are foreign owned. They make it very difficult to remove your personal information. I actually contacted the local states attorney in one case. I pay for a company to remove my information from these sites. My SSN is on the dark web.
Posted by:
Hans Fehlterbrest
14 Nov 2024
Just looked up my former boss on fastpeoplesearch.com who's been dead three years. No mention of his departing.
Posted by:
Larry Dempsey
14 Nov 2024
I also like Fast People Search
https://www.fastpeoplesearch.com/
Posted by:
Patti Dowie
14 Nov 2024
I have great luck with truepeoplesearch.com, and it’s free. Works 99% of the time for me!
Posted by:
BDD
14 Nov 2024
I would use one of the pay sites if they charged a one time fee. My issue is paying for a monthly service which I will never do.
Posted by:
jerry
14 Nov 2024
Even if I don't mind paying, how do I know the information is for the correct person before paying? It is truly amazing how many people with unusual names have the same first and last name.
Posted by:
Mike H
14 Nov 2024
After checking out fastpeoplesearch.com I got a very suspicious series of emails that I will block.
I use
https://www.usphonebook.com/people-search
as a reliable source.
Posted by:
S G
15 Nov 2024
I searched my name and address on fastpeoplesearch.com and found that the information was mostly wrong (including the address that I have supposedly lived at for the past 14 years). I also searched for a neighbor, a couple friends, and my former spouse -- all with mixed, but mostly inaccurate results.