You do not need an agency or a private investigator to find out who you are dealing with. With a name, a phone number, or an email address, you can run a person report yourself in minutes.
What you need to start
The more identifiers you provide, the sharper the match. A full name is enough to begin; adding a phone number, email address, state, or SSN dramatically narrows the results to the right person.
What a report actually shows
A TellData report returns identity confirmation and SSN trace, known aliases, full address history with dates, court and criminal records, watchlist and sanctions screening, linked phone numbers and email addresses, and public social and web references.
How to read the result
Reports open with a screening result — Clear or Review. “Review” does not mean the person is dangerous; it means something in the data needs a human look, such as a phone number registered to a different name.
What you cannot use it for
Person reports are for general information only. They are not consumer reports and cannot be used for employment screening, credit decisions, or tenant screening as defined by the FCRA. For those, you need a Consumer Reporting Agency.
- Verify someone — run your first lookup in about two minutes
- Background checks for small business — hiring, lending and site access for owners
- How a report is built — what each of the six checks actually returns
Sources & further reading: KYC and identity verification · Background checks have changed — what it means for small business · Our data platform