In a Nutshell
pros
- Unlimited searches
- Live court runner
- Simple, no-nonsense interface
cons
- Only one type of search
- Some information incurs an additional fee
PeopleLooker Highlights
- Beautiful design
- Affordable pricing
- Easy and intuitive to use
Search Options
PeopleLooker can only run one type of search - a search by name and surname. You’ll need both the name and surname to start with, but choosing a state is optional.
While this is very effective at turning up results, some other background check websites we reviewed had tons of search options, affording you much more flexibility and making it possible to run targeted searches for criminal records or social media information as well as reverse phone lookups and even email lookups.
Once the service populates the initial list of results, you can further narrow down your search by adding in a middle initial, age, city, and state. You’ll also be prompted to add the person’s city and state while the initial search is running.
Report Information
PeopleLooker reports are incredibly detailed and contain all the information a search turns up.
Basic information includes name, age, address history, known email addresses and known phone numbers, as well as a list of known relatives. You’ll also get any in depth information available, including detailed criminal records, financial records - including bankruptcies - license records and information on the person’s social media presence.
However, information on judgements, liens and licenses isn’t included in a standard report. You’ll need to pay an additional charge for it.
You’ll also need to fork out extra money if you opt for a live court runner, which gathers information from court records in real time. To be fair, though, most other background check websites we reviewed charge an additional fee for the live court runner service.
Accuracy
PeopleLooker pulls the information for its reports from public records, including federal, state, county and local records, as well as social media networks and other online sources.
We could not find any information as to how often PeopleLooker’s databases are updated. However, the searches you run are monitored, meaning that once you run a search you’ll receive periodic updates if there’s any new information or a change in the information you have in your report.
In order to test for accuracy, we ran a number of preliminary searches. Our subjects included infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and the subject of hit Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, Steven Avery.
PeopleLooker had a hard time turning up any results for either Steven Avery or Jeffrey Dahmer, which was a bit of a disappointment. Our other searches, however, delivered lightning fast results and were bang on the money.
Ease of Use
PeopleLooker’s website has a fun design and is very intuitive to use.
There’s only one search widget, where you’ll need to key in the name and surname of the person you want to look up. Keying in the state isn’t obligatory. However, once the search is running the system will ask you to include a city or state in order to further refine your search.
The search takes about one and a half minutes to complete, which isn’t too bad. And once you’re on the results page you can narrow your search down even further by adding a middle initial and age. You’ll also get tips on how to get a more accurate search, such as trying a maiden name. However, these suggestions come up in the form of popups, which is frankly a bit annoying.
Results show the person’s name, known aliases, age, address history and even any relatives, making it quite simple to hone in on the right person. Once you do, it’s just a question of clicking on “that’s the one”.
The reports themselves are quite detailed but, thanks to PeopleLooker’s eye for design, they never feel overwhelming. Everything is batched in sections, making it easy to just skim through the report for the salient information you’re after.
Customer Support
PeopleLooker prides itself on the quality of its customer support. However, it’s not quite as strong compared to other background check websites we reviewed.
You can reach a live customer representative by phone, toll-free, 7 days a week. However, phone support is only available during set hours - 8am to 10pm EST Mondays to Fridays and 10am to 10pm EST on weekends. While this is a reasonable amount of time, other background check services offer round the clock customer support.
In addition, while the website does have an FAQ section, this is rather basic, and deals primarily with account-related stuff and what you can and cannot search for.
Pricing
PeopleLooker has one plan that offers unlimited reports.
Like many other background check websites we reviewed, the subscription gets progressively cheaper the more months you pay for up front. You can also purchase a five-day trial for $1.
Conclusion
PeopleLooker is an excellent background check service that delivers fast results and comprehensive reports. That said, given it only has one search option available, it may not be right for you if you’re looking for the flexibility to make tailored searches.
