Thursday, January 12, 2012

How To Avoid People Search Scams

By Adam Tollnervis


If you are looking for a lost loved one or a former lover, then personality theft should be the least of your concerns. People who are looking for lost relatives or friends would usually hire the services of a people search site rather than a private investigator. Getting a people search site to do the job is more practical because they charge at a fixed rate compared to the hourly rate charged by private investigators.

Some sites even give you your money back if ever they could not give you a decent information on the person you are looking for. There are even some sites which offer the use of their data base for free. But whatever people search service you choose to avail, you should be careful with the personal information you are giving out because some services are actually scams and they use your personal information to get something from you, whether it be hacking your social security account or getting your bank or credit card details.

In order to find out whether the company is legitimate. Look for a telephone number and a business address that you can contact. You have to make sure that the area code of the phone number is compatible with the address and if both truly exist. If the site is legitimate, you would not have any problem getting its phone number and address. Contact them directly and ask them how long they have been in operation.

If the site has existed at least 5 years, then they would at the least be reliable. Ask them their success percentage and how they acquire information about a particular person. Have they received complaints before for identity theft? If in case they could not find any significant information about the person you are looking for, what do they do to compensate? Do they give your money back?

Ask them if they can give you customer references. They should be people who have previously availed of the services of the people search site. You can call two or three of these persons to ask them how satisfied they were of the company's services. Were they satisfied with the results the site has come up with? Were they able to use the information the site has provided to locate the person they are looking for? If they answered in the positive to all these, then you have found the right people search site.




About the Author: