The world can be a scary place and people aren’t always as they appear. This is just as true in the online realm as it is in the offline realm. Whether you’re looking to hire a new employee, rent to a new tenant, or partner up with someone on a new venture, you want to learn a thing or two about them.
A quick Google search helps, to be sure, but it can only get you so far. Taking it another level is Comprehensive Background Check, an online service that promises to “find anything about anyone.” Are you dealing with a convicted felon or is this Carson O’Brien fellow really on the up and up? Read this review and find out.
The Skinny on Background Check
When you order up a full background check, you receive comprehensive information about the individual in question. This could be a very worthy investment, especially if your relationship with this person has a lot of money on the line.
The people behind Comprehensive Background Check have access to a database with over 400 million in-depth “people records.” This includes information related to lawsuits, offender registries, liens, bankruptcies, property ownership, mailing addresses, marriage records, court records, previous employers, and more. They have been in business since 1994.
That sounds very powerful, but there is nary a mention of how much the report will cost you on the person in question. The layout of the site is also a little troubling, as the main upper section really serves as just a “header” the main part of the site below. If it were not for the scroll bar in my browser window, I wouldn’t even know to look further down the page.
Searching the Database
Looking at the FAQ that is on the site, information is available mostly on individuals residing in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, though some data is available on people outside of these areas too. However, the main “search database” area on the website only allows you to choose from American states. Even so, the search isn’t exactly fruitful.
To test it out, I ran a quick search for our friend and fellow dot com mogul Zac Johnson in New Jersey. I ended up with the results page above. Interestingly, these are located at USsearch.com rather than at ComprehensiveBackgroundCheck.info. This leads me to believe that the latter could simply be an affiliate-configured portal.
Clicking through on one of the names, I am then sent to a sales page to determine which background report I’d like. The cheapest is the “instant people search” for a “special price” of $0.97. At the highest end of the scale is the “advanced background” report for the “special price” of $33.95.
Beyond the People Records
Getting past the core service of providing access to people records, the site also offers a wealth of information related to this area as well. It’s not quite a blog, but it could serve as a value resource area.
For instance, you can learn about how to request your own FBI background record and what is required for such a request. There are also articles on cleaning up your criminal record and running background checks on potential tenants.
As mentioned above, the layout of the site can be a little problematic, especially for these articles. It will look like you’ve just been booted back to the main page, but the article is actually located below the larger “header” body that occupies most of your screen when the page loads.
Can You Use This Information?
Just like web hosting providers and SEO experts, there is no shortage of “background search” services available on the Internet. From what I can gather, it’s hard to differentiate Comprehensive Background Check from the countless others on web. The inclusion of the resource articles is good though.
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{ 56 comments }
ooooh background checks.
Seems really cheap @ $.97
Does anyone know of any free alternatives?
I would think that 97 cents is pretty close to free!
I agree that’s really close to free. There are some freemium sites out there like Spokeo.com (my friend from college started this site). However, you will ttypically have to pay at any of these sites to get the data you really want.
Michael has included two special prices in his review: 97 cents and $33.95.
Most comments here focus on the 97 cents one for unknown reason.
I would bet that if you want to know anything more than the address and a phone number you’ll have to pay the higher special price.
So much for being excited by 97 cents.
Ian, i’m laughing at your freemium recommendation…def a new one i haven’t heard.
close to free is still not free…someone is making money somewhere
The free alternative is to stalk the person with a camera..
I’ve seen apps that can grab a persons personal info for free. I was wondering if there was one for background checks.
Yes if they are providing good results and saving our time than I would love to give it a try …
This will be really handy while you do oursource.
Thanks for your review. If it is not available outside United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom then it’s of no use for me.
you mean you don’t want to travel just to get access to this background check tool????
Yes, at .97 cents that is pretty much free! If only John could link us to some reverse cell number search that are this cheap I would be impressed.
I’m not going to be doing background checks anytime soon… but I’ll keep it in mind for my next boyfriend
Haha, good idea! You can never be too careful about men. Shady creatures, they are.
Good idea especially if you are aiming high for somebody worth zillions to make sure they really earned it cleanly.
well, I would say she’s in the right place, but i think John is proally the best target for gold diggers…doubt many starters are making monies online just yet…
Well another example … Girls always doubt their man.
Haha yea you never know what their back ground is.
This could come in real handy for me, thanks John
Infact this is really handy for every one.
Like above one girl is going to use it for his new boy friend …
I will use it when I will outsource my assignments to any one.
97cents. What a great deal.
I wonder if you read the rest of the post, 97 cents is not the only price mentioned.
I’m sure that if one is forced to do this kind of a check that they’d be looking to get the best information and not the lowest price.
But then there are people who buy things not because they need them but because they area great deal i.e. cheap.
I used to work in the people search space at a company called Inflection.com. It’s amazing what you can find out thru one of these services. Moreover, it’s amazing how well the top affiliates in the industry do.
wow background checks for the price of an iPhone app
Haha what a steal
I’m sure it’ll be an app shortly if its not already…
I don’t doubt it. They have apps for pretty much anything now.
Yeah why not ! What´s 33$ for a little background check if your planning to invest a few 1000s … Or more …
Great comment Filip, at least you aren’t harping on the 97 cet deal.
Your point is perceptive. When investing big bucks why get the cheapest report. The $33.95 one is still probably not comprehensive enough.
point taken…it all depends on what your intentions are behind the background check…
Yes that is the main point … lolzz
No one I need a background check of right now.
not really sure what you tried to say there..lol you do need one or you don’t?
I would always tell my potential tenants that I would do a background check, but i never really went through with it. I’ve only had 1 problem in the 5 years I’ve been renting my place.
It is a shame they don’t do background checks outside of US?
I’m sure different countries have their own regulations when it comes to background checks.
I have similar apps on my iphone.. its ridiculous! Zac is in deep sh!t
Lol, .info domain, exact keywords in domain name and a rather interesting who.is info: http://who.is/whois/comprehensivebackgroundcheck.info/ I think I pass on that one. Like Michael says, most likely some sort of affiliate set-up. I am pretty sure they don’t offer anything original, SY
Oooh, interesting observation.
Yes, I really wonder why Michael didn’t run a simple who.is query about this site in the first place. It kind of called my attention that they offer only checks in the US, Canada and UK but are located at the same time outside these countries, in Slovenia … SY
Wow, this one’s a wise buy. It’s very cheap as well. This is exactly what my friend needs, he’s been into a lot of fraud lately with the people he’s been hiring online. I’ll definitely recommend this. Thanks!
I wonder why it got two reports about zac johnson with a different information.
Probably because there’s more than one person in the world named Zach Johnson
Interesting thing about this is they kept the price very low and any one can easily pay that much for one search.
Really best way.
I guess, you get what you pay for, also in this case. How can they do a quality background check for less than one dollar? SY
Having the lower price gives you one option, but most people probably need the information that the $37 check would give, but even so, that is still a good deal!
nice blog but if it is for USA users only
then it wont work.
Too bad they didn’t have this when I was still dating. I would have benefitted from some 97 cent background searches on some old girlfriends. Good resource to be aware of for any entrepreneurs who may get involved with investors or business associates they do not know personally. Thanks Michael!
This looks like a great service for getting a background check and its so cheap too. You can never be too sure who you hire these days.
And what makes you so sure that these guys provide quality services? Perhaps you should run a background on them first! SY
$0.97! Do they have any competition? Most checks are $20 +. Too bad its only in the US.
So any one have used it … yet ?
You know… the world is a scary place. Sometimes you have to be extra careful. Do a background check, swipe some of their DNA, and check for those signature plastic surgery markings
That’s interesting … lollzz
Use Odesk and you don’t have to worry about background checks – just look for someone with good feedback
This will help me to be double sure.