Shawn StephensonInvestigating an online seller is the process of verifying that a seller is a real person or legitimate business, that the item they’re selling exists and matches their description, and that no fraud patterns are present in how they’re presenting themselves or structuring the transaction — before money or items change hands. You found something … Read more
Vetting a roommate using public records is the process of verifying a prospective roommate’s identity, confirming their background, and checking their rental and legal history before you invite them into your home — using publicly available government records and open-source research tools that don’t require their consent for personal safety purposes. Someone is about to … Read more
Finding someone using only a phone number is the process of identifying the person associated with a specific number — their name, address, and connected records — by working through reverse lookup tools, carrier data, public records associations, and cross-platform searches that tie a number to a real identity. A number called you and you … Read more
Finding someone who doesn’t want to be found is the process of locating a person who has deliberately reduced their public records footprint, changed their contact information, or taken steps to make themselves harder to locate — using the records they cannot fully erase and the traces their continued existence inevitably leaves. Someone has cut … Read more
Investigating someone with a common name is the process of isolating the correct individual from multiple people who share the same name — by building a unique identifier profile that distinguishes the subject from every other person with that name before running records searches. You’re looking for John Smith in Chicago. Or Michael Johnson in … Read more
Finding out where someone works is the process of identifying a person’s current employer through public records, professional profiles, licensing databases, business filings, and contact data — using sources that exist independently of what the person has told you. You need to verify a claimed employer before you trust it. You have a court judgment … Read more
Running a background check on someone is the process of searching public records, court filings, and identity data to verify who a person is, confirm their background matches what they’ve represented, and surface any history — criminal, financial, residential, or professional — that’s relevant to a decision you’re making about them. Someone applies to rent … Read more
Checking someone before sending money is the process of verifying that the person requesting payment is who they say they are, that the reason for the payment is legitimate, and that no signals of fraud are present — before the transfer is made and while it can still be stopped. Someone asks you to send … Read more
Verifying someone on Facebook Marketplace is the process of confirming that a buyer or seller is a real person with a legitimate account — before you meet in person, hand over money, or release an item — using the platform’s built-in signals, profile research, and independent public records checks. Facebook Marketplace connects millions of buyers … Read more
A background check shows someone living at the wrong address because address data in background check databases is aggregated from multiple sources — property records, credit header data, voter registration, marketing databases, and utility records — each updated on different schedules, each reflecting a different point in time, and none of them guaranteed to reflect … Read more