When it comes to searching for people, you no doubt want to get the most accurate information about someone and their whereabouts. However, if you have never conducted a person search online before, or if you want to refresh your searching techniques, you may be wondering about the best way to search for a person. Our article helps you out by telling you how to achieve the most accurate person search possible.
What Is a Person Search?
A person search is any kind of online search that is designed to help you find information about a person, including their name, contact information, employment information, and any relevant online accounts. Person searches can be difficult, as there is a huge amount of information online – both accurate and inaccurate – and sifting through this information can be challenging for many individuals.
Why Would I Need a Person Search?
Conducting a person search is an important part of gathering background information on someone and ensuring that the details you have about a person, including their phone number and email address, are correct. You can also use a person search to determine if the person contacting you is a scammer or to look up information about a company or a corporate entity.
Additionally, person searches are highly useful when it comes to tracking down historical information about your family or figuring out details about a long-lost relative or friend. Many people use person searches as a starting point for ancestry and genealogy research, and as a way to regain contact with someone they used to know.
In some cases, you may need to conduct a person search to find someone’s current address and contact information in order to send them legal documents or court notices. This typically occurs in divorce cases or civil lawsuits.
Most Accurate Person Search: Your Best Methods
The following methods are our best recommendations for conducting an accurate person search. With these methods, you can easily look through the information you need to know and find out the relevant details about a person.
Internet Browser Searches
Using a trusted internet browser to start your person search is one of the best ways to get accurate results. We recommend using a popular browser like Google Chrome and learning how to properly narrow and refine your search results. Doing this can help you search specific websites for the person you are looking for, in addition to letting you get more accurate search results overall.
However, you should always be aware when searching using an internet browser that the first couple of pages of results will be the most relevant and accurate to your search query; navigating too far through your results pages can lead you to fake websites and inaccurate information.
Historical Records
Historical records are a great place to start your person search if you are conducting family history research or if you are trying to find someone that may have passed away or had historical significance in the area where you are looking. You can visit local libraries and town historical societies, and you can even use online websites like the National Archives and U.S. Census websites to narrow down the historical person information you need.
Property Records
Property records are an easy way to find someone’s address using just their name, and these records can be helpful when you need to ensure someone is living in a specific area. You can use the county property records office in the location where you think someone is living, and these offices typically have a website that you can search using just the person’s name.
When you conduct your search, click on the results that are most accurate to your search query and review all of the property details related to the person you are searching for.
Social Media Searches
Social media profiles can be incredibly helpful when you are conducting a person search, though you should always be aware of the potential for someone to use a fake name or profile. With a social media search, you can search a person’s name and filter your search further with details like their age, location, and employment or education details. Review the profiles in your search results and click on the most accurate one to learn more about the person you are searching for.
People Search Tools
People search tools are tools that utilize public records to gather all applicable information about a certain person and compile it into an easy-to-read record. When you use a people search tool, all you need is a name and the location, such as a city or state, of the person you are searching for. You input these details into the tool and run the search; review the results to see all of the applicable publicly-available details about a person, such as their name, contact details, address, and more.
Do I Need a Private Investigator for My Person Search?
You don’t necessarily need to use a private investigator for your person search, though this can be helpful if you are having trouble finding a specific person and you are searching for them due to a pressing matter, such as needing to serve legal documents or wanting to confirm the status of a distant relative.
Private investigators can be expensive, and these professionals typically charge between $100 and $250 an hour for their services. That being said, a private investigator will typically have access to searching methods the general public cannot utilize, and they may be able to help you find someone more accurately and more quickly than you would have been able to alone.
Should I Use Multiple Search Methods?
Using multiple search methods during your person search is actually recommended, as multiple search methods and tools can help you find a wide range of information and confirm any of the information you find. We recommend utilizing at least two different search methods to review the details you find about someone and make sure they are the most accurate they can be.
However, the sky is the limit, and you can use as many search methods as needed to find all of the information you need to know about someone.
What If I’m Having Trouble Finding Someone?
If you are having trouble finding someone, there is a good chance that you are not searching with the correct information; this is often not your fault, as many people will use alternate names online or in their personal lives. When you only have one name to search with, it can be difficult to discern whether or not the name you are using is incorrect.
In order to double-check your name and general location for a person – both basics that you will need to conduct any kind of person search – you can use someone’s phone number to look up their information. A phone number lookup tool can help you confirm someone’s name, as a person is unlikely to have a fake name connected to their phone number.
If you do not have a phone number yet to look up and confirm someone’s information, you can always look up someone’s name on social media or ask around mutual friends and family to confirm if that is the most accurate name you can search with.
How Can I Tell If a Search Result Is Inaccurate?
Sometimes, it can be difficult to determine whether or not a search result is inaccurate. You can review the following tips below to help you discern accurate searches and correct information from misleading search results:
- Check the source and reputation of a website; new websites or websites with low reputation scores may not be providing you with accurate information
- Ensure that a website is secure by looking at the SSL certificate; secure websites will have a padlock, and they can be more reliable than insecure websites
- If the website’s results and information are hidden behind expensive paywalls, or the website seems like a scam, the results are likely not accurate
- If the website is poorly designed, full of grammar errors, or obviously AI-generated, the search results presented are unlikely to be accurate
In general, you should only trust reputable search engines, secure websites, and public records to provide you with the most accurate information about a person. Other websites and suspicious search results should be treated with caution and double-checked for accuracy.
Gathering the Details You Need to Know
When it comes to person searches, you may feel lost at first and unsure of where to start. This is normal, as person searches can be time-consuming and confusing initially. However, once you start thinking about the information you need to find, such as someone’s contact information or current address, you can select the best search method from our article to get you started. Make sure you keep in mind tips to identify accurate information from inaccurate information and be sure to utilize multiple search methods to find all of the information you need to know.
