General Question

Nevada83's avatar

Should you trust online people search websites?

Asked by Nevada83 (381points) 2 months ago

My friend named Guy is 34 years old. I looked him up and according to instantcheckmate.com, he is dead and 35.

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10 Answers

SergeantQueen's avatar

Well. Then It probably is not the right Guy that you clicked on? Could have had a ton of results pop up and you just clicked wrong one.
Also, Lots of the records on those sites may not be accurate or dated. They just find whatever is relevant information for your search (Guy lastname, 34 years old, town,state) And mash it together to form your search. Which is why you might get an old address or phone number when looking yourself up. A current one hasn’t been found.
Or, this guy named Guy is really not a guy, and instead just a scammer?

elbanditoroso's avatar

I wouldn’t trust them at all. Especially if they are charging you money.

Their sources are no better than yours.

chyna's avatar

If you want the true story on anyone, hire a private investigator.

Zaku's avatar

According to such sites (and certain credit tracking companies) I lived in Idaho someplace I’ve never been in my life. I have a really unique name, and have no idea what that is, but I’m not about to correct false random information that busybody organizations think they know about me. The more errors they have the better, as long as they’re not accusing me of something foul.

imrainmaker's avatar

^ Someone might have used your identity who’s having bad credit history.

LadyMarissa's avatar

I’ve been using Instant Checkmate for 4–5 years . They aren’t always right but are right more often than they’re wrong. When I first signed up with them, I traced everybody I knew to see how accurate they are & they were pretty much spot on. When I look up friends with whom I’ve lost touch, I look at relative names or past addresses to make sure it’s the right person. I was looking up an old love to see IF he married the girl that broke us up or if he still lived in the same general area. Come to find out that he lives about 2 hours from where I live now & I’m pleased to say that girl didn’t get him either!!!

Now, when families have a shared name, the facts seem to get blended. I have one friend who gave his son his name with a nickname to differentiate the two so there’s no Sr/Jr involved. When I look up dad, I see a lot if the son’s info interspersed with dad’s. So, if you’re looking for a stranger, you might some bad info; but, if you know them at all, you can usually find pretty reliable info. I think as the world becomes more digitized that IC’s info reliability will increase with it!!!

Zaku's avatar

@imrainmaker Thanks for the idea, but I first saw that when studying my credit reports in detail several years ago, and I’ve had my credit run a few times in recent years. It didn’t seem to come with any other activity, just some extra previous addresses.

imrainmaker's avatar

^ok.. should be fine then! You mentioned credit tracking companies that made me think might be one reason.

seawulf575's avatar

I used to go to Dexknows to find old acquaintances, then they started charging and it became much too much to keep after. I can still find addesses and occasionally phone numbers.

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