Everything You Need to Know Before Using Intelius People Search, Reverse Phone Lookup, or Premier
Whether they are sharing their birthdays, emails, names, and even important life events like marriage or the birth of a child, there’s no denying that there are plenty of opportunities to gather information on the people around you.
But what about the information that people aren’t willing to publicly advertise, like criminal backgrounds, previous names, old addresses, or even their phone number?
In these cases, agencies like Intelius offer a quick, comprehensive, and discreet way to find information like addresses, phone numbers, criminal histories, age, date of birth, and more.
But what is Intelius? Is Intelius legit and safe? How do you know that you can trust the information in an Intelius background check or reverse phone lookup? Can you remove information from Intelius? More importantly—is the Intelius free trial even worth it?
In this AdvisoryHQ News Intelius review, we’ll take an in-depth look at the company and Intelius reviews from consumers to answer the above questions and more, helping you determine whether using Intelius People Search is really worth your time—and your money.
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AdvisoryHQ Intelius Review | What is Intelius?
In business since 2003, Intelius is owned and operated by PeopleConnect Inc., a Seattle-based company that is dedicated to “building better ways to explore, find, and manage information about people.”
What is Intelius? The way that Intelius works is by collecting and processing billions of public records from across the Internet.
For users, the benefit of ordering an Intelius background check is that these reports are located and analyzed in seconds, eliminating the time and effort it may take to find—or, in many cases, request—the information that they need.
Rather than tracking down governmental agencies and sending individual requests, Intelius People Search and Intelius Premier allow users to avoid that hassle, ultimately receiving an organized report with minimal effort.
Perhaps the most important aspect to note of Intelius is that there is no Intelius free trial. While not labeled as an Intelius free trial, users can input basic data into People Search or Reverse Phone Lookup with no charge, but this free search only provides age, location, and family members. Getting any additional information will incur a charge.
For many members, the Intelius free trial will not provide any real results, rendering it largely useless.
Intelius Background Check Review
Intelius People Search
Intelius People Search allows you to look for people by using their first name, middle initial, last name, city, and their state. Of these, the only required input is a last name, which makes it easy to conduct an Intelius background check with minimal information.
According to the website, for $3.95, Intelius People Search reports can generate the following and more:
- Phone numbers
- Address history
- Age and date of birth
- Relatives
People Search Plus will include everything in the basic Intelius People Search as well as social networks and email addresses for $9.95.
In addition to Intelius People Search, you can also perform a Background Check for $49.95, which includes additional data like:
- Criminal records
- Marriage and divorce history
- Lawsuits
- Bankruptcies
- Liens
Intelius Reverse Phone Lookup
Intelius Reverse Phone Lookup allows users to trace the source of a phone number for $4.95. This includes landlines, listed and unlisted numbers, and cell phones. Intelius Reverse Phone Lookup reports can include the following and more:
- Phone type
- Owner name
- Address
Intelius Premier
For users who plan on generating background checks on a regular basis, Intelius Premier is a monthly subscription service that provides unlimited searches for $19.95 per month.
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Intelius Review | Intelius Background Check Reviews
If you want to confidentially gather background information on someone, Intelius appears to be a great place to start.
With access to billions of public records, users can access information much quicker than on their own, but what do Intelius reviews say about the service? Is Intelius People Search, Premier, and Reverse Phone Lookup really worth it?
See the sections below for a brief overview of Intelius background check reviews and whether actual users would recommend signing up for Intelius.
Intelius Reviews | Better Business Bureau
Intelius reviews from the Better Business Bureau are somewhat dismal, with 97 percent negative reviews and a total of 400 customer complaints.
By and large, the vast amount of Intelius reviews address recurring charges and monthly subscriptions that were unauthorized, even after canceling a subscription. Many also state that the information gathered by Intelius was extremely basic and did not seem worth the money, despite being promised a comprehensive report.
While many complaints revolve around what Intelius reviewers believe are unfair billing practices, our Intelius review found a significant number of complaints from people who found their own information listed on the website and requested to remove information from Intelius.
Overall, Intelius reviews on the Better Business Bureau from users are extremely negative, with many consumers calling Intelius a scam.
Intelius Reviews | Trust Pilot
There are 47 Intelius reviews on Trust Pilot, with 89 percent of users rating the Intelius People Search and Premier service with the lowest possible rating.
Many users echo similar complaints from Intelius reviews on the Better Business Bureau. For example, one Intelius reviewer says:
The search was $6.95 for the basic search. The information contained in the report was WAY out of date. There was no new information. The information contained in the report was 5-10 years old.
A significant number of Intelius reviewers stated issues with billing as their number one concern. Although they agreed to a discounted or free Intelius search as advertised, they were automatically enrolled in a monthly billing program, pointing to flawed advertising techniques used by Intelius.
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Intelius Review | Is Intelius Legit? Safe?
Before providing your personal information—and potentially your credit card—to any company online, it’s a good idea to examine whether that company is safe and legit.
Is Intelius Safe?
Because of the nature of looking for personal or hidden information online, many consumers are wondering if Intelius is safe to use.
The green lock icon on the website URL means that Intelius has a high-security certificate. As such, you can safely enter your credit card information without worrying about compromising your account.
While many critical Intelius reviews state that they were unknowingly signed up for recurring charges, it’s worth mentioning that this information is available in the fine print. This points to more of an issue with consumer trust rather than safety, meaning that yes, Intelius is safe to use.
Is Intelius Legit?
Owned by People Connect and based out of Seattle, Washington, Intelius is a legit company. Social media through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are active and updated on a regular basis, meaning that they are putting effort towards maintaining their online brand presence.
While Intelius may be legit in basic terms, another way to look at their legitimacy is to determine whether their people search and background check services are actually worth your time.
Based on Intelius reviews, previous customers would say that Intelius is not legit. Poor customer service, low value of information, and faulty advertising have even caused users to suggest that Intelius is a scam.
It’s also worth mentioning that the ability to remove information from Intelius could potentially decrease the overall effectiveness of any given search. If the person you are looking for has requested to remove information from Intelius in the past, they will not show up in search results.
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AdvisoryHQ Conclusion: What You Need to Know Before Using Intelius
Although Intelius is legit and safe in the basic sense, that doesn’t mean that they are a company that you want to do business with.
Search results from Intelius People Search, Intelius Premier, and Intelius Background Check are overwhelmingly negative for two reasons. First, customers do not feel as though the information was worth paying for. In many cases, a simple online search at home could get the same results (and for free).
Second, the pricing tiers listed on the Intelius website are significantly misleading. While many users sign up for what they believe is a discounted search, the fine print states that they will be enrolled in an automatic subscription, meaning that users end up paying far more than what they planned on.
Based on the high number of negative Intelius reviews, it seems that you would be better off taking the time to conduct your own online search. Repeated complaints about a faulty pricing structure, dissatisfied customers, and apparent lack of overall value ultimately earn Intelius a 1-star rating.
While it may be more time-consuming, Intelius reviews from customers suggest that you’ll save a lot of frustration—and money—by skipping Intelius altogether.
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Image sources:
- https://www.intelius.com/premier
- https://pixabay.com/en/google-www-online-search-search-485611/
- https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.intelius.com
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