How to Find Someone on the Internet
Whether you’re looking for someone interested in the same hobby you are, or you want to touch base with an old classmate, the internet offers many free tools for how to find someone online.
There are numerous ways to find people and when connecting online, it’s always important to remember safety precautions.
Don’t give your phone number or address out to people unless you can verify with 100% certainty they are who they say they are and you know them already.
Use search engines
When you are trying to find someone, search engines are a great first step. Our best advice is to learn how to find someone on google. Simply enter the person’s name into a reputable search engine such as Google. If you know where the person lives or works, add city and state information to the search to narrow down results.
Social media search
Connect with anyone else who has a Twitter or Facebook profile. On Facebook, simply enter the person’s name in the search box.
A person will only show up if he or she made a profile viewable in public searches and used a real name, though.
You can search by name on Twitter as well, and the person will show up in listed results if the name is included in his or her profile.
7 Tools to Find Someone Online
- Pipl. Pipl is a free search tool, although it brings in results from several other sites which do charge for access to particular records.
- YoName. …
- Zoom Info. …
- Jobster. …
- Inmate Search. …
- Intelius. …
- Zaba Search.
Hire a Private Investigator
One of the most frequently asked questions we get is, “Can a private investigator find someone?”
In short, the answer is absolutely! Private investigators can find just about anyone. It’s a core skill that just about every trained and experienced investigator.
Some, private investigators, are better than others are. Typically Private Detectives with prior law enforcement, prior law enforcement detective experience, are typically better at locating difficult individuals.
(This is not a discussion of missing persons/adults, abducted children, runaway teens or even human trafficking. These types of cases require a completely different strategy).
What Do You Know About The Subject?
I get phone calls almost daily from potential clients who are trying to find someone without knowing anything about the person we are to locate. Like, they only know that they were last seen at a bar downtown Des Moines, Iowa, last weekend.
It might be possible if we spent hundreds of billable hours combing through social media, interviewing people at the downtown Des Moines, Iowa Bar, and revisiting the Bar every weekend for the following few weeks in the hope that the person would show up again.
For whatever reason, some people think there is some magical way that private investigators find someone. The reality is that it takes some skill, investigative tools and a little bit of know-how.
What type of information is valuable?
- First name, middle name, last name
- Date of Birth. Month/day/year of birth
- Birthplace, where the person’s family is from, parents’ names, siblings’ names, friends’ names, neighborhood he or she grew up in, school name, college name, former employer, or even an address from 30 years ago can each be a valuable piece of information when you’re trying to find someone.
How much you are willing to spend to find them?
There are a couple of things to consider here. First, anyone can use the do-it-yourself approach. We have a number of resources on this website and listed above that can help you. We also recommend websites such as Intelius or PeopleSmart. Some clients have found success with Ancestry Searches.
But if you get to a point where you are stuck and need to hire a professional, there are a couple of things to consider.
First, you are paying a private investigator for not only his expertise, but also for access to information that consumers don’t have.
The truth is, if you don’t really have much money to put toward finding the person and you haven’t been able to find them on your own, you’re probably not going to be able to afford to find them.
Rates vary widely between private investigators and range from a few hundred dollars to possibly thousands of dollars. It really depends on the complexity of the case, but the simple fact is that by the time you have contacted a private investigator, you’ve probably already done quite a bit of work, so it’s unlikely to be as simple as a quick Google or database search.
Do you physically locate them?
In some cases, there is a reason that you need to find out where the person is physically. It may be to serve papers, or to prove they are violating some sort of court order. In other cases, there may be a need for just a phone number or mailing address.
Either way, these are very different scenarios – one requires some legwork, while the other can be done behind the computer.
We have assisted clients find long lost loved ones, finding missing persons, reunited old relationships, locating witnesses and individuals for legal purposes.
Regardless if you’re in Los Angeles, California – Des Moines, Iowa – Denver, Colorado. We assist Client locate individuals nationally and internationally.
Our reputation is based on providing our clients with results, not giving false promises. We will do everything in our power to find the person, but we can’t make any guarantees.
Before retaining us, we will provide you with an open and honest assessment as to whether we think the person can or will be found.
After gathering some initial information and before even taking your case, we will conduct a 10- to 20-minute phone interview, gathering as much information as we can in order to find the person.
After obtaining all the information, we will conduct some initial research to determine whether finding the person will be realistic. Only then are we willing to take on the case.