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PEOPLE SEARCHES
Searching for
people has become very popular with the advent of the Internet. Those
conducting people searches are looking for Classmates, old Sweethearts,
old friends they've lost touch with, and people who owe them money. And,
there are many sites out there that will locate these people for you,
or claim that they will. You've seen Net-Detective and Cyber-Detective
and Web-Detective. Perhaps you've wondered how effective they are, or
how they compare with the "We'll find anyone anywhere" sites,
and how those differ from other less commercial and more professional
sites.
Those who do
skip-tracing as a profession know that the so-called "Detective" sites
are simply using public records searches that are already available to
everyone. Almost all information is quickly available for free by either "Googling" someone's
name or phone number, or going to a public records database and searching
by state and county.
There are other
sites that offer to find anyone for as low as $9.99 to $29.99. Unfortunately,
what these searches for people provide is most often very different from
what they promise. That's because they are all using the same public
records, and they may be accurate to an extent. However, they usually
can't distinguish the John Bowers in Rochester, New York from the John
Bowers in New York State. If you try one of those sites, and put in the
name of the person you are seeking, they will sell you recent addresses
and phone numbers for people with that same name, then let you call and
sort through them all until you find your person. It's tedious, and most
of the information is dated. And there are no guarantees.
Then there are
the Skip-trace sites that are usually more expensive. Often they have
a "No Hit-No Fee" guarantee. These are professional people
who do this for a living. They have methods of searching records that
are not available to either the general public or the so-called "Detective" sites.
They also have experience handling those very difficult people locates.
Often they'll locate a person by first locating friends, spouses, other
family members, or employers. They will use these resources to then trace
the person you are looking for. Their prices are usually in excess of
$75 per search. Ouch!
Which should
you use? It depends on your need. If you are trying to find people for
your 1980 Class Reunion, then you may want to first give the "Detective" sites
a try. You may find about 15% of your Classmates there, and that may
be worth it. Other people you may find by sorting through the "We'll
find anybody" sites, and calling all the numbers they give you for
people with the same name in the same state.
To find some
you really care about, or really want to find, it's probably best to
employ one of the more professional sites. The cost is more, but make
sure they have a "No Hit-No Fee" policy. You want results,
and you want someone who guarantees results. In the Internet age, that's
what everyone should demand.
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