We all need to find people sometimes – for debt collection, legal purposes like divorce or inheritance, or sometimes simply to catch up with someone from our past.
Conducting a person search online is easy when you know where to look. Conducting a people search inquiry can be done in minutes.
How to Conduct a People Search Online?
The Internet has given us all the tools we need to find just about anyone online if you are looking for information about someone or hoping to track them down.
1. Using Social Media
Just about everyone has a social media presence these days. While Twitter doesn’t tell you a lot about someone, you should try Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn as your first port of call.
Instagram won’t reveal too much, but you can review the site for clues about which geographic area they may be in, which gym they use, which restaurants they frequent, or where they work.
Facebook, on the other hand, collects a lot of information about people and even their friends and co-workers. Most people under the age of 50 will have a Facebook account, but that doesn’t make them easy to find on the platform.
Someone with a unique name and surname is slightly easier to find. Facebook also has a feature that allows you to identify nicknames you use, so you could try searching for someone using their aliases!
If you know where they live, that can narrow down your search, too. You can also try searching for acquaintances or groups that might identify them – like their old high school, job, spouse, or siblings.
If the search engine doesn’t deliver any results, look for high school or college alumni Facebook groups. If he or she doesn’t pop up on the follower list, you can reach out to the group itself and ask if anyone has seen or heard from them and help you get in touch.
Next, try LinkedIn. LinkedIn isn’t as popular as Facebook, but it’s where you will find anyone building up their career. There should be photos and work history for the person that will help you track them down.
2. Using Google
If you don’t find someone on social media, you can try a search engine like Google. Newspaper articles, obituaries, or business sites may indicate where the person is and what’s happened to them.
You can also try specialist search engine sites like AnyWho White Pages, Zaba Search, Pipl, or Death Indexes.
3. Use Radaris
Radaris is a public records database online which lets you find people by name search for names, phone numbers, businesses, and properties to find particular identities online in a few simple clicks.
They have the database of 183 million unique names, 594 million people, 224 million phones numbers, 5 million Streets, 110 million properties, and 63 million businesses.
Key features About Radaris
- Find Relatives
- Locate Old Friend
- Search for your Classmate and Colleague
- Background check of any person
- Verify any phone number
4. Use Phone Books
Don’t worry – you don’t have to thumb through a thick paper book like in the movies. You can search most phone directories online. Unfortunately, a lot of people prefer to remain unlisted, but you might find the person you are looking for this way!
5. Check Prison Databases
If there is a slight possibility that someone may have become incarcerated, it’s worth looking into prison databases.
In the US, you can access this list online. In countries like the UK, you’ll have to email the Prison Service and ask them to look the person up.
In both cases, the prisoner has to consent to have their location shared, but it will give you the opportunity to deliver official documents to them or to send an appeal via a letter.
6. Track Down Friends and Family
It’s possible that the person you are looking for has married and changed their surname. You can look for friends and relatives on sites like Ancestry.com and reach out to them via social media for clues about their whereabouts.
The Internet has made it easy for anyone to conduct a people search, whether it’s part of your job or you simply want to reconnect with an old friend or acquaintance.
Start with the obvious places – social media and search engines, and then narrow it down to formal databases. Hopefully, you’ll find who you are looking for in no time!
Like This Post? Checkout More
