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Spokeo Background Check Review 2023

Deep Background Check on Anyone with Public Information

Ben Hartman

In a Nutshell

Spokeo isn’t just fast and affordable; it’s also flexible. The service has a total of 6 types of tailored search you can run. Depending on what you’re looking for, you can either get the broad strokes on your subject’s background or hone in on specific information such as court judgements and arrest records.

pros

  • Search by social media network username
  • Real time searches

cons

  • Limited searches per month
  • Some search options difficult to locate

Spokeo Spokeo Visit Site

Why Go With Spokeo

You can try Spokeo for 7 days for a staggeringly low price of $0.95, so taking it out for a spin is really a no-brainer. But if that’s not enough, we’ll give you 2 more reasons: it’s fast, and the monthly subscription fee is super affordable.

Speed

The speed at which a background check website turns up results depends on the software that powers the search engine. When you run a search, the engine has to go through millions or even billions of records in order to find a match. Sometimes, this can mean a long and frustrating wait.

Not so with Spokeo. The technology behind the search algorithm is designed to go through billions of bytes of data at record speeds. Unsurprisingly, you can turn up a detailed report in under 5 minutes.

It’s super affordable

Spokeo’s subscription fees are some of the lowest on the market. You can get it for as low as $19.95 per month when you pay for 6 months up front. That’s a lot of bang for your buck.

Pricing

Plan
Price
1 Month
$22.95/month
3 months
$17.95/month

*Last updated: February, 2022

Spokeo has 2 price plans that get progressively cheaper the more months you pay for upfront. All have the same level of functionality. However, none of the plans include unlimited searches, and unused searches do not roll over to the next month.

Compare Spokeo costs to our top background check sites >>

Reports Offered

  • People search
  • Background search
  • Criminal records
  • Reverse phone lookup
  • Reverse email search
  • Social media search

Customize Search

No matter which plan you sign-up for, Spokeo will afford you the same level of functionality and customizability when it comes to search results. All reports will turn up the following basic information about your subject, that is:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Age
  • Marital status
  • Education level

With that being said, what other information you turn up will largely depend on what kind of search you run.

If you’re looking for information about your subject’s online presence, reverse email searches and username searches are your best bet. These types of search will turn up:

  • Social network profiles
  • Dating website profiles
  • Blog posts and photos
  • Videos
  • Product reviews posted on online shopping sites

If, on the other hand, you want to find out more about an unknown number, a reverse phone lookup is your best bet. This should turn up information about the person the phone is registered to and also information about the network carrier — great if you want to get in touch to complain about a caller who’s been harassing you.

As you might expect, criminal searches will turn up the most detailed information. Your report will include arrest records, court judgements, sex offender records and even information about any outstanding warrants. You may also be able to turn up information about marriages and divorces.

Is Spokeo Legit?

The issue of whether Spokeo and other background check sites are legitimate is a bit of a misnomer. What Spokeo claims to do is use publicly available information to create a well-rounded report for its customers, and that is precisely what it does.

If the concern is whether Spokeo and other companies offer the consumer a product that they would not be able to produce themselves, this also should not make a difference, as consumers often pay services for a product that they could theoretically make themselves; just take the restaurant industry for example.

The only thing to keep in mind is that Spokeo is not FCRA compliant, which just means that it does not access private records and users cannot use the site for certain purposes detailed on the site. Other than that, Spokeo is completely legit.

How it Works

Spokeo doesn’t collect information in its own database. Instead, it trawls through records in real time. This means that there’s no need for Spokeo to regularly update the information it looks up. Because it accesses the data directly at the source, your report should always contain the most accurate and recent information currently available.

Spokeo has access to a comprehensive range of public records, ranging from federal, state, county, and local records to court judgements and even magazine subscriptions. But that’s not all. Spokeo’s search engine also trawls the web for any signs of an online presence - from social media profiles, to blogging platforms, to online shopping accounts. All in all, it has access to over 12 billion records. If the subject of your search has an online presence, however limited, it’s safe to say that Spokeo will turn something up.

Since Spokeo searches the web for any traces of online activity—including blog posts, photos, and online shopping accounts—you can find information on your subject even if they have no public records in the US. This is really handy if you’d like to get in touch with someone you’ve met whilst abroad, or even an acquaintance who moved to a new country.

Ease of Use

Spokeo stands apart because it is packed with features that no other background check website on the market has been able to offer so far. More specifically, we’re referring to:

  • Spokeo’s search algorithm, which allows it to sort through data points in real time
  • Its ability to find information on people located outside the US
  • The comprehensive list of social media networks it can collect data from

Let’s have a more in-depth look at each of these features in turn.

Real time searches

When you use a background check website to run a search, its search engine typically trawls through a comprehensive database of records in order to compile information about your subject for your report. The information is collected from publicly available federal, state, local, and (in some cases) commercially available records.

However, there’s a twist. The background check website doesn’t access these records in real time. It accesses copies of the records that are saved on company servers. This allows the records to be accessed as quickly as possible, so you won’t have to wait too long to get your report.

The downside to this method is that the database has to be updated as frequently as possible in order for the information to stay up to date. If you run a search before the database is updated, the information in your report may be incomplete, out of date, or downright inaccurate.

Spokeo’s technology does away with this problem altogether. Instead of compiling the information by tapping into its own database, it goes through records in real time by accessing its data points’ online databases. As a result, you can rest assured that the information in your report is always as up to date as it gets.

Comprehensive social media network data

When Spokeo started out in 2006, it was a social media aggregator. In other words, it was built in such a way that it could collect all of your different social media profiles and gather them together in one place for easy, more manageable access.

While Spokeo has evolved and changed considerably since its early days, this legacy lives on in its unparalleled social media search functionality.

When you run a Spokeo search, the engine will trawl trawl through over 65 social media networking sites: from Facebook, Twitter, and the other usual suspects to lesser known sites. In fact, it’s safe to say that Spokeo can identify any type of online profile and compile that information for you into one easy-to-follow report. And, if you’re looking for even more powerful and targeted results, you can straight up run a search using a social media network username. No other background check website can currently run this type of search.

National searches

When you use Spokeo to make a search, it’ll also attempt to find any online profile that might match the subject of your search. Because of this, you can turn up information on any person who has an online presence. This is ideal if you want to look for a person that has left the United States and settled down elsewhere.

Help & Support

Spokeo offers 3 levels of customer support: phone, email and live chat. Live chat is daily from 6 am to 6pm.  You can also call toll free to 1-877-913-3088 from 5am to 8pm PT every day. Otherwise, you can send an email at any time.

Spokeo’s website also has an FAQ section you can consult if you’re feeling up to the task of troubleshooting and resolving issues yourself. To be fair, we found this to be rather basic compared to the knowledge-bases on other background check companies’ websites. However, the information is easy to follow and written in simple language.

And, if you’re technically minded, the tech blog run by the development team is not only an informative read, but also offers an interesting glimpse into the inner workings of a background check website.

Bottom Line

Spokeo wins top marks for flexibility and speed. It can turn up a wealth of information, even on people who aren’t physically present in the US. And because searches are conducted in real time, you can rest assured the information in your reports is always up to date.

To be fair, the fact that you can only make a limited number of searches each month is a drawback. With that being said, Spokeo’s super affordable pricing means that it’s still well worth looking into.

Spokeo Spokeo Visit Site

About Spokeo

Spokeo was founded in 2006 by Mike Daly, Harrison Tang, and Eric Liang, 3 graduates of Stanford University. Initially a social media aggregation platform—a tool you could use to collect all of your social media network profiles and store them in once place—it soon evolved into the people search engine platform we know today. 

Note: This Background Check service is not FCRA compliant. You may not use Spokeo's service, or the information it provides, to make decisions about consumer credit, employment, insurance, tenant screening, or any other purpose that would require FCRA compliance. This is applicable, but not limited to, a Background Search, Credit Background Check, Criminal Background Check, and/or Driving Record. Intelius is not a consumer reporting agency and does not, and cannot, provide consumer reports. These terms have special meanings under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 et seq., ("FCRA"), which are incorporated herein by reference.

Ben Hartman writes for top10.com and is focused on the worlds of tech, criminology, and genealogy, and how it all plays out in the human experience.

Note: Some or all background search services featured on this site are not subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 et seq., ("FCRA") In order to make decisions about consumer credit, employment, insurance, tenant screening, or any other purpose that would require FCRA compliance, make sure you choose the appropriate service for you. Be advised that only consumer reporting agencies may provide consumer reports. This is applicable, but not limited to, a background search, credit background check, criminal background check, and/or driving record.

Spokeo customer reviews

Based on 32 reviews

Ease of use

Brand satisfaction

Value for money

Service quality

Top Reviews

Ease of use

Brand satisfaction

Value for money

Service quality

9 months ago

You can easily look up a person with limited information and it helps narrow down your search.

9 months ago

Spokeo is an easy website to use and a decent price. They do a great job finding information that's relevant to the things I need it for.

9 months ago

It is very easy to search for a person. When found gives a lot of information.

9 months ago

Spokeo is a great service. Spokeo has 100% accuracy in the information it provided me to date, as well as being up-to-date with the latest software.

9 months ago

It's easy to use and you can find information quickly about the person you are looking up.

10 months ago

They are the best for providing background checks. You get information back quickly and you know it's accurate and right.

10 months ago

Spokeo offers a great background check service because they give you so much information and it is super cheap and easy to use.

a year ago

It was very easy to use and I was able to cancel before the free trial ended. The information was accurate, but I prefer not to have to pay for it.

8 months ago

Spokeo uses court records to unveil any criminal records, sex offenses, and DUIs. Spokeo is the one of the best background check sites that I have used.

9 months ago

I found this service to be highly accurate and very informative. For the cost, it seems to me a very good product that provides invaluable information. I would recommend this service to everyone.

9 months ago

They are good overall, but Spokeo could lower it's subscription rates. I feel the prices are a little too costly for what they do.

10 months ago

They could make it less expensive and let you choose just the type of information you want. They do have lots of current information on people and they even have past information that you may need as well.

a year ago

They are good overall, and I was impressed but not overly. Some things I found didn't make sense and I found myself with more questions than answers. A little more clarity would be nice.

a year ago

I use Spokeo on a daily basis and they are able to provide a good amount of information, and it does not cost too much to get what you need.

a year ago

They should offer better prices and longer free trial periods. It could be easier to understand how to use and navigate the website. The information needs to be updated for better search outcomes.

8 months ago

It could be more up to date and provide more specific categories. As far as what it does well, it provides us with very accurate information .

8 months ago

They lured me in with false advertising! They said it was 100% free but was not. Although the price was low, I am a single mom and couldn't afford that!

9 months ago

Spokeo provides a decently detailed background check for an individual. However, the lack of details and the emphasis on being behind a paywall leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

9 months ago

I find it hard to pay for this service because it's very one-sided and often leads to other clickbait advertising and things that I'm not looking for. I think it's not worth the price.

10 months ago

It's hard to easily get a hold of customer service when needed and when I do they are a little rude and uncooperative.

32 reviews
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