Are you looking to get information on somebody? Instant Checkmate is a background checking program that you can use to easily find any information on a person that already is in the public domain. This could include their email, telephone number, social media pages, criminal record, and much more. While going through individual databases might be one way to find a lot of this information, Instant Checkmate does all of the hard work for you in one simple search. And what’s even better is that you don’t even have to have the person’s full name to get all this info.
Since most background checking programs tend to offer pretty much the same thing, there isn’t much room for variants. However, Instant Checkmate does stand out from its competition with a cheap five-day trial period and a simple, easy user experience. All you need to do is put your search query into the interface and hit search to get all the information there is on a person.
Pros
Cons
What is There to Like About Instant Checkmate?
Every background checking service provides users with access to the same publicly available data, so the accuracy or the amount of information that is available doesn’t really change from service to service. The main differences to consider between background checking companies are prices, interfaces, and bonus features.
You’ll be glad to hear that Instant Checkmate is a legitimate background checking service that is very upfront about the services that it provides for the most part. However, before signing up, make sure that you read the fine print to make sure that you have all the information you need to avoid any additional charges.
Instant Checkmate is rated A+ with the BBB, but the platform has not been completely issue-free over the years. You may be interested to know that back in 2014, Instant Checkmate was sued by the Fair Trade Commission for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) due to the customers being provided with reports by the company for illegal purposes like screening potential employees and tenants, even though Instant Checkmate is not designed to be used for this purpose. However, since then, you will be glad to hear that they have put in a lot of work to reform themselves and rebuild their reputation. They provide clear FAQs that indicate to customers how exactly to correctly and legally utilize the service that they provide.
Instant Checkmate’s interface is one of the best things about this service. It is extremely clean, easy to use, and reliable. There is no problem figuring out where you need to type or click throughout each step of the search process.
One of the best parts about the service is that you can easily look somebody up using just a telephone number or email address, which can be useful if you are curious about somebody that you just met or want to find out more about somebody that you are planning a first date with. You can easily put their number into Instant Checkmate before you meet them in person to find out if they have actually given you the right name, and even see if they have any criminal records that you’d want to be aware of. While this might not be the most perfect method to use to find out more about somebody, it can help to keep you in the know about who you are meeting, and even improve your future safety.
Instant Checkmate is part of a group of web-based information services that are not accredited by the Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA). This means that they cannot be used for purposes such as hiring employees or screening potential tenants. Instant Checkmate is very clear about this when you sign up and to use the service and you will need to first agree that you will not use it for these reasons.
When you get a background check report on somebody using Instant Checkmate, you will also see social media information for the person. Where does Instant Checkmate get all of this information? They pull data that is already publicly available from a range of sources including:
- Social media sites
- Local crime records
- FBI records
- Local public reports
- Sex offender registry
- Commercial business information
- US Census information
The process of using Instant Checkmate to get the information that you need on a person is fairly straightforward. All you need to do is type in somebody’s name, phone number, or email along with their city and state and it will scan the database to generate a background report. This includes the following:
- Names and aliases
- Telephone numbers
- Address history and location
- Social media pages
- Vehicle ownership information
- Contact information for relatives and family members
- Email addresses
- Financial information
- Civil judgments
- Liens and bankruptcies
- Employment history
- Photos
Instant Checkmate is now offering a newer feature that allows users to create profiles for the people that they have searched using the tool.
The criminal record part of using Instant Checkmate is a popular reason for using this tool. It provides you with a detailed report on the criminal history of a person, which can be a great feature in a wide range of circumstances. By checking somebody’s criminal records using Instant Checkmate, you can get the following:
- Felonies
- Court records
- Traffic violations
- Inmate records
- Misdemeanors
- Warrants
- DUI arrests
- Arrest records
- Mugshots
Bear in mind that in some cases, Instant Checkmate is not completely error-free and criminal offenses might be assigned to somebody who has not actually committed the crime due to issues with name similarity or law enforcement errors. You should also be aware that some states don’t allow for criminal history records to be released. Despite this, Instant Checkmate’s criminal history records offer a stellar, reliable way to get this information.
Instant checkmate could improve their services in a range of ways. They should be more precise when they advertise the services on offer and how much they cost since there is no price list or a discussion of the different plans available, see without running a background check.
They could also offer the $1 discount for five days earlier – currently, it’s only offered if you turn down the $25 charge offered at the checkout page, which is a little bit sneaky.
They could also improve their service by updating the information on the site more often. For example, if you want to see somebody’s recent criminal history, events that have just occurred are unlikely to be there. While there are no free searches offered by the site, the trial period is next to nothing so it’s worth making the most of those five days if you have a lot of searches to make.
Instant Checkmate offers both one-time reports and monthly subscriptions. The monthly membership option is more expensive compared to some competitors.
- Costs just $1
- Offers basic background checks
- Offers reverse email lookup
- No reverse phone lookup available
- $35 per month
- Basic background checks
- Reverse email lookup
- No reverse phone lookup
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et nam dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco nam laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in adec voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
- $28 per month
- Basic background check
- Reverse email lookup
- No reverse phone lookup
- $5 per month
- No basic background checks
- No reverse email lookup
- Reverse phone lookup available
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et nam dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco nam laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in adec voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
At the end of the period, your credit card or PayPal account will automatically be charged. For example, you will be billed again if you sign up for the three-month plan after those first three months are up.
Remember that you will get the option to sign up for a $1 five-day trial period if you spend a little more time on the payment page when checking out. This offers a great way to learn more about what Instant Checkmate has to offer without investing a lot of money. However, if you don’t want to continue using Instant Checkmate after this time, remember to cancel the membership before the five days are up, otherwise you will be charged the full amount for one month.
Once you are past the paywall and get access to running reports, you will have the option of upgrading to premium reports, which are meant to have more information available. However, this is not always available and there is no way of knowing if it’s going to be worth paying the additional $20 for extra information until you have bought the premium report. You can also spend $3 to purchase PDF copies of reports, which is a clean way to keep track of your reports – although you can screenshot them for free.
A phone number lookup might be the best option for you to consider if you are constantly getting prank calls or want to look up somebody who has quite a common name. These are available separately from the standard reports plan and you can get unlimited phone reports for just $5 per month. Reverse email lookup is only available when you purchase a standard membership.
Instant Checkmate FAQS:
Instant Checkmate is not meant to be a service where you can use the information provided to make legal decisions. You will not be able to use the information provided by Instant Checkmate in court. Any information that you find on the report should be double-checked and compared against official records, particularly in the case of criminal records. Before signing up, make sure that you are not planning to use Instant Checkmate for any purposes that require compliance with the FCRA such as decisions regarding:
- Tenancy screening
- Employment
- Insurance
- Hied help screening
- Consumer credit reports
Rather, the information should be used for gaining personal knowledge, for example, finding out more about a first date or the parents of the kids that your children are friends with. You can use it to find out more about where sex offenders live in your area or get the contact information of friends and family members.
Taking advantage of the $1 five-day trial is the best way to make the most of Instant Checkmate. You can use this to run several different searches to find out more about the features offered by the site. For example, put in the names of people that you already know plenty about to see if the information that comes up for them is accurate. While Instant Checkmate does have a good reputation for providing accurate information, it’s always a wise idea to double-check any data that comes up.
Bear in mind that somebody who lacks social media or uses a range of different email addresses for their accounts might not have as much information come up. Younger people tend to get more precise records than older people for this reason.
The services are not great at differentiating between people with the same name, and information might end up blended together on the same report. A reverse telephone lookup might be the best option if you are in this situation.
Canceling the subscription is an easy process, with a clearly labeled button in the account settings section. You can choose a reason for your cancellation from the drop-down menu.
Instant Checkmate has an excellent rating of A+ with the Better Business Bureau, with good reviews for the interface and the information available. However, there are several statements regarding how transparency is lacking with this site – for example, membership renewal pricing and auto-renewal are not communicated adequately. Make sure to cancel your membership as soon as you have gotten the reports that you need to avoid incurring recurring future charges. The customer service could also be improved with responses from customer service reps on the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs sites not great.
Final Thoughts:
Instant Checkmate is a great option for getting quick, basic research about anybody in your life that you’d like to learn more about. It is comparable to similar services and finding the information that you need is fairly easy. It offers some great features that make it stand out from the crowd including the $1 trial for five days and a helpful reverse email and phone number lookup option.
Instant Checkmate can be a useful tool for anybody who wants to talk to relatives or friends that they have lost touch with. It aggregates and pulls publicly available addresses, email addresses, and contact numbers, which provides you with several options for reconnecting.
Although the customer service could be improved, the service is fairly solid. It is easy to use when you need to find more information on somebody and is reliable. Check it out with a $1 trial and decide for yourself.
0 comments