People have various reasons to do a background check. You may meet a crush on dating sites and plan to start a relationship; maybe you’re wondering who is your neighbor, etc. The Internet connects the world, finding someone through the internet is not news and you can run a background check on someone – anyone. Use the internet properly and wisely, you’ll be surprised about the result. With this step-by-step guide, you can check almost anyone’s background online without them knowing.

Background Checker

Step 1: Get the full name

You need to have the person’s full name before running a background check. It’s better to have the person’s photo. The more information you know about the person, the better to run a background check.

Step 2: Think about the information you need

A background check includes but is not limited to identity, age, marriage record, criminal record, educational background, and more. You don’t need to find everything, just focus on the things you want to verify. And that depends on the reason for your background check on someone.

For example, landlords want to ensure their potential tenants are financially responsible and have no history of criminal activity. They’ll focus on credit records and criminal records in the background check.
If you want to check up on someone you’re dating, identity confirmation is an essential part of the background check. Then, you may want to know the person’s marriage records, social media accounts, and dating profiles.

Step 3: Run a background check on someone

Once you have confirmed the information you need to verify, we can begin the background check.

Usually, there are three ways to do a background check:

1. Online research
2. Use people search service
3. Pay for background screening service

Method 1: Online research

Online research is the free but most time-consuming way to find information. Just enter the name and search, and you’ll find millions of results in the search result pages. Finding helpful information through it is like looking for a needle in a haystack especially when the person has a common name. You’ll need certain search skills, time, and patience to do a background check with this method.

There are find this information online if you know how to search:

• Verify someone’s identity
• Jail records and sex offender registry
• Work experience
• Social media accounts

1. Verify someone’s identity

We recommend you use Google image search to verify someone’s identity.

1. You need to have the person’s picture. It can be a profile picture or a photo with a full face.
2. In the Google search engine page, click the camera button, then choose Drag an image here or upload a file. You can also paste an image link to search.
   
3. Check the result.

Catfish scammers steal photos from others’ profiles, if the person is a scammer, you’ll find the photo belongs to another person.

2. Find Jail records and sex offender registry

The key point of online searching is to search in the right place. When you search in the right websites, you’ll it’s easy to find out the results.

Federal Bureau of Prisons website (BOP) website provides free search. This site was established in 1930. It holds federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to the present. This website tells you whether a person was convicted of federal crimes and was ever in federal prison and when they were released.

1. Go to BOP.
2. Click Inmates and click Find an Inmate.
   
3. Click Find By Name and enter the name. Click Search.
4. You’ll see the result.
   

You can figure out whether this person is a sex offender on the National Sex Offender Public Website. It’s a free site that contains nationwide records of sex offenders.

1. Go to nsopw.gov.
2. Enter name search. It also supports location search.
   
3. The result will appear for free.
   

3. Work experience

LinkedIn is the place to find the person’s work experience and educational background. Enter the person’s name in LinkedIn and you’ll see the result. You can find the person by the profile picture. You can find contact information, company, and educational background there. If the person doesn’t have a profile picture, you can check the list one by one.

4. Find social media accounts

When you enter the person’s name in the search engine, you’ll see the list of results on the result page. Most of them are profiles on famous social media websites, you can find Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and more. Take a look at those accounts, if they belong to the person, congratulations! If not, you can move to the next method.

Method 2: Use people search service

People search services are online search tools to help you find someone’s public information by their, phone number, emails, and more. With this tool, you can do a background check yourself easy-peasy.

Compared to online searches by yourself, people search service is more convenient and more comprehensive with a reasonable price.

Best for image search

If you have the person’s name and a photo, Social catfish is the best people search tool to do a background check. It’s powerful image search will help you find the right person and you can open the report to dig down everything about the person including phone number, email address, criminal records, social media accounts (including hidden ones) and more at once.

Upload Image

Best people search tool overall

Truthfinder is one of the most reliable people search tools in the United States. You can find almost everything in its background check report. Their report not only includes basic contact information like phone numbers, email addresses, and home addresses but also includes criminal records (state & federal), traffic records, educational background, social media accounts, possible relatives, birth info, and more. This site provides accurate and up-to-date information that you can search anonymously.
Running a background check on Truthfinder is the easiest way to verify someone’s information because it’s a one-stop website containing almost everything you can find online.

1. Go to TruthFinder.com.
2. Enter the person’s name, State and click Search. You can leave State blank if you don’t know.
   
3. Knowing the person’s age would help you find the right report quickly.
   
4. Click OPEN REPORT to find the person’s criminal report, educational background, and more. You may find a mugshot there if this person has a criminal record.
   

Method 3. Pay for background screening company

If you tend to run a background check for employees or potential tenants, you’d better hire a professional team to run the background check for you. The advantages of background check companies are that they provide credit record checks. This information is essential for employers and landlords, as they want a trustworthy employee/tenant.

Agencies like checkr.com provide comprehensive background checks, including criminal records, driving records, sexual offender registry checks, and more. Some agencies also offer additional services such as reference checks, drug testing, etc. With a background check agency, you can have peace of mind knowing that the person has been thoroughly vetted and is a trustworthy individual.

Tips for employers:

1. Check references
   Ask the candidates for references from previous employers or clients. Contact these references to ask about their experience working with the candidate and get an overall sense of the person’s professional skills and abilities.
2. Verify credentials
   Ask the candidate for proof of their qualifications and certifications. Verify that the tutor has the necessary qualifications and certifications to teach the subject in question.

By following these steps, you can ensure that you are hiring a qualified and trustworthy employee.

That’s all about how to do a background check. With this guide, you can do a background check on almost anyone, and dig up information on people you know, strangers, or yourself.

If you have any suggestions or advice, you’re welcome to leave comments below.