Is Truthfinder Legit?
Maintaining its A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau, Truthfinder remains one of the most popular and trusted background check services in the US. Although it’s not the most reliable service for checking a person’s criminal background, it’s had a lot of success in reconnecting people with family and friends.
Here are some things you need to know about how Truthfinder operates and what it does. That way you can decide if it’s the right service for you.
Contents of Background Reports
Truthfinder searches the internet, including the Deep Web, for very specific information. Using its special algorithms and query searches, this app gathers information otherwise unattainable through normal search methods.
Normal search methods typically include using popular search engines such as Google, Bing, etc.
So what can you get in a background report? Here are just some of the highlights:
- Location history.
- A list of relatives.
- Contact information or last known address.
- Education.
- Job history.
- Social media and dating profiles.
- Traffic records.
- Criminal records.
- And more.
Understand that even though Truthfinder uses unique search algorithms, it still scours through public records information. So, there are limitations to what it can dig up on someone.
But, the app is great since you can use it on any platform and any mobile device. This should allow you to get fast background check reports.
Truthfinder Costs
Few background check services dig up information for free. Truthfinder comes with three membership plans, each one offering specific features and discounts.
The basic one-month membership will allow you to perform a reverse phone lookup. The upgraded one-month membership offers background check reports, as well as reverse phone lookup. The two-month membership doesn’t offer any additional perks, baring a minor discount.
But Truthfinder has some hidden costs too. Say you run a background check on someone. With the one-month or two-month membership plans, you can run an unlimited number of background checks on people. However, every PDF file, the format of the report, will cost an additional $2 to download.
This can add up to a lot if you plan on using Truthfinder to screen employees.
Common User Complaints
As legit as Truthfinder may be, the service is not without its flaws. Many users have plenty of concerns or complaints about how things work. Here are some of the most common issues users have.
Pricing Issues
Given the obvious pricing issues, most users complain about the costs of using Truthfinder. It’s clear that one way in which the service could improve is to offer users the possibility to pay for individual background checks and dropping the monthly membership plans. Another solution would be to lower the cost of report downloads.
No Trial Membership
Truthfinder may not be able to find everyone. There have been user reports that indicated failed background checks, or very light reports with little to no information.
This doesn’t sit well with a lot of people, especially since you can’t test the service first. Without a trial membership option, you’ll be forced to sign up, pay up, and then cancel if you’re not getting results.
Scare Tactics – Inaccurate Reports and More
Every now and then users have reported that background check reports performed by Truthfinder may contain outrageously misleading information.
This sometimes happens on reports gathered on people with no criminal history. Which, for some reason show a criminal past in their Truthfinder report.
Some users have also mentioned that the service can go out of its way with employing scare tactics in the forms of disclaimers, popups, and other alerts.
Free People Search
The Free People Search option is available for everyone to use. However, the data gathered is minimal. You may not find anything other than ages, recent locations, a full name, and other information of this nature.
Some users complain that everything that’s relevant is categorized under the premium data tag. Therefore, it requires a membership as well as the additional tax to download the compiled report.
How to Use Truthfinder
Using Truthfinder is very simple. It doesn’t require a lot of information to begin with, on the person you’re running the check. In addition, it doesn’t involve multiple steps or forms to go through.
Here’s all the information you need to submit on the website in order to initiate a background search:
- First name.
- Last name.
- City.
- State – you also have the option of look for someone in all states.
You should also remain on the page while the app is searching for someone’s information. During the search, the app will display certain notifications which will help you narrow down your search.
The app will ask for an age group, places that person has likely lived, maybe even questions about some relatives. If you know any of those answers, you have a chance of better filtering out the results. Of course, you can just skip all the mid-search notifications and filter out the names after the search is over.
Truthfinder – Bottom Line
Truthfinder, as a background check service and online people finder app, is more than legit. Although its practices and reports may sometimes be questionable, a lot of the information discrepancies could be attributed to cases of mistaken identity.
If you do need to check up on someone, this service is right up there with the best of them. And, it’s also one of the fastest information gathering apps of its kind.
Have you ever had to use Truthfinder? What were your experiences? Let us know in the comments section below.