Intelius Reviewer's Comments

Intelius, our #5 pick, performs quick and comprehensive people searches. They offer a good variety of reports including background and criminal checks.

Although they perform instant and expert assisted searches, they could not beat out our top three choices because they do not offer business, corporate or organization background checks.

Ease of Use:  

Intelius, like most services is straightforward and easy to use, just enter a name or other information and a list of possible reports come up with an option to purchase.

Searches Available:  

Intelius offers several types of services, however, focuses on individual information and not business or organization background checks. Intelius provides some sample reports so you can get an idea of what to expect if you choose to purchase a report.

Purchased reports are viewable on your computer screen immediately after your purchase by clicking the show my report button, or emailed, if you opt for the email add-on option. Unfortunately, Intelius does not offer the ability to search international records.

Below is a short list of some of the reports available through Intelius. Please note: You have to pay the fee even if no information comes back.

• People Search ($7.95/ea, $19.95/24hrs) - name, address, phone number, birth date, average income, average home price and more
• Search by Phone($ 14.95/ea) - phone, cell phone, business, pager, or pay phone including name, current address, phone company and connection status
• Background Check ($49.95/ea) - criminal reports, lawsuits, judgments, liens, bankruptcies, property ownership, 30 year address history, relatives & associates, professional licenses, marriage records, asset search, corporate affiliations and more
• Criminal Check ($19.95/ea) - criminal, felony, misdemeanor, sex offender and other criminal offense records including information such as case number, sentence dates, sex offenses, disposition, offense description, plea, fine and jurisdiction.
• Identity Watch ($29.85/3mo, $95.40/yr, $178.20/3yr) - Monitors your credit report and a few other key identifies, so that you can watch your credit and whether someone else is using your information.
• Expert Assisted Search ($59.95/ea) - A search specialist will be assigned to conduct your search request and will cross search using multiple public record databases, contact you via email if additional information is needed, and will send you an e-mail notification regarding the status of your search request. An assisted search typically takes up to two business days to complete.
• Instant Property Check ($14.95/ea) - sales history, current assessed value, lot size, property details, owner's information, current mortgage, legal description and more
• Marriage/Divorce Records ($6.95/ea) - Marriage report: marriage date, bride's maiden name and groom's name, Divorce report: date, names, ages, residence etc.

Intelius does offer club memberships, which may give discounts to the members, they also offer a phone number that you can call to inquire about volume discounts.

Report Information:  

The information contained in the reports is only as good and detailed as the number of different databases searched. However, note that none of the service providers reviewed has any control over the accuracy of the databases searched. Based on Intelius' sample reports, they seem to offer a generous amount of information.

On one search we conducted, a woman and her ex-husband's second wife came up as the same person, but the inaccuracies are likely due to incorrect public record and not the service.

Help/Support:  

Intelius offers several support options, but most of it is for registered members. If you are not a registered member, you only have access to their FAQ and help page. To be a registered member you have to give them your credit information and log in to the site to use its services or contact customer support.

Summary:  

Intelius offers many useful search services and a helpful identity watch service. However, they cannot conduct international searches or business searches. If you need these kind of services and enjoy doing your own research, please see Records Registry, or for a complete service see our #1 choice, US Search.