Intelius Review

In our advanced digital era, people seem to be even more suspicious and untrusting toward almost anyone they get to know. Whether you are going on a blind date, working with a new colleague or welcoming a lovely new family next door, the urge to know everything about everyone has never been stronger – and for a good reason.

We are overwhelmed by constant news of people being wronged by someone who did not turn out to be who they claimed they were. There are cases of identity theft and false pretenses everywhere you turn. And like they say, it is better to be safe than sorry, so acting a bit paranoid is completely legitimate in this day and age.

If you wish to check on someone you just met, finding the right tool for the job is of crucial importance. Intelius background check company provides you with a range of products and services required to perform the task in question. If you are interested in finding out what Intelius can do for you, keep reading our thorough Intelius review. 

What Is Intelius?

Intelius is a background check company with a long-standing reputation of providing its clients with a safe, easy, and anonymous way to find the information they need. Intelius search engine enables you to search people by name, address or phone number and the subject of your search will never be informed that you asked for their information. To ensure you have received the most reliable and up-to-date information, Intelius searches more than 20 billion public records, providing you not only with the data you need but also letting you check every connection from the report and discover more about the people you are looking into.

Intelius has been around since 2003. It first started as two separate companies, Classmates and Intelius, both operating in the field of intel gathering. Finally, the companies merged into one, intending to transform the background check industry for the better. Since then, Intelius has become a go-to background check company for millions of users looking to find out more about people they come into contact with. The company’s success is accredited to its innovative business technique of incorporating work-life balance, team collaboration, and out-of-the-box thinking. Its president and CEO Albani Heller implemented his 10+ years of experience in the business and helped unite the two companies, making Intelius what it is today. 

At the moment, Intelius offers a variety of products and services like people and public records search, background check, reverse phone and address lookup, people and phone directory, and people lookup by state, which we will talk about in the following parts of our Intelius review. To access these, you can either get a monthly subscription or purchase the so-called a la carte reports, that is, single reports.

For additional products like Identity Protect, you can initially get a 7-day access pass, which is basically a paid 7-day trial you can use to test the service. Other products that are not part of Intelius monthly membership include criminal court records sold separately as nationwide criminal check, statewide criminal check, criminal court records, civil court records, and federal court records.

To make background checks even more accessible to its clients, Intelius developed a stand-alone app for Android and Apple phones.

It is important to keep in mind that Intelius is not a consumer reporting agency and it cannot be used for scanning potential job applicants or renters. Those kinds of background checks can only be performed by agencies working under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). 

Is Intelius Legit?

After performing our usual tests for determining the legitimacy of a background check company, we can confirm that Intelius is legit. As part of our standard procedure, we search for one or two celebs and a regular individual, usually one of our coworkers.

For the purpose of this Intelius review, we performed a search for the famous actor Mel Gibson. After entering his name, we narrowed the search down by entering his known location and approximate age. We entered the information we found online and surprisingly, the first hit on the page was correct.

The name, birth date, age, known locations, relatives, and email addresses were all correct. The report was not very detailed, however, listing only his wife as a known relative. There were additional reports on the properties Gibson owns, but this feature is charged extra. Email addresses, phone number, and employment history were also part of the report. There were no records of marriages or divorces and we had to make an additional purchase to access his court records. The photo was missing from the report, but based on the information we had, we were able to conclude that we found the right person.

Next, we did the same for one of our work colleagues, but unfortunately, the people search results did not provide us with any information. We also tried the reverse address search, public search, and people directory search but still ended up empty-handed. Since Intelius does not offer options for email or social media searches, there was nothing more we could do.

We can, therefore, conclude that Intelius does provide correct information, but it could use extra search options that would enable it to cover more ground and offer its users more ways to find the person they are looking for.

What is Intelius Used For?

Intelius’ primary purpose is to provide its users with all publicly available information about the people they are interested in and it gathers its data from billions of records, mostly from public and commercial sources. Having said that, here is what is included in the most sought-after reports:

People Search

People search provides public record information like:

• Full name
• Age & date of birth
• Addresses
• Phone numbers
• Relatives
• Social networks
• Email addresses
• Employment & education

People search comes with Intelius connection, an interactive tool that allows you to discover related associations by clicking on each connection from your report. 

Public Records

Public records include the following data:

• Phone numbers
• Address history
• Age
• Birthdate 
• Email addresses
• Social network profiles
• Marriage & divorce records with relationship analysis

Background Check

When performing a background check, here is what you can discover about the person you would like to know more about:

• Full name
• Age & date of birth
• Addresses
• Phone numbers
• Relatives
• Social networks
• Email addresses
• Employment & education
• Marriage & divorce records with relationship analysis
• Single-state criminal check
• Single-state civil check
• Liens
• Bankruptcies
• Judgments
• Lawsuits

Reverse Phone Lookup

With a reverse phone number report, you get to find out who owns the number that called you. The information you get includes: 

• Owner’s name(s)
• Age
• Address
• Historical locations
• Possible relatives
• Phone carrier

Reverse Address Lookup

Reverse address lookup provides you with information about the address you are interested in. You can find out someone’s contact information, verify their address or find out more about the property you are looking into. This report includes:

• Ownership details
• Home value
• Contact information
• Current & previous residents
• Area sex offenders
• Satellite & street view maps
• Neighborhood data
• Sale history
• Neighbors

Criminal Records

With Intelius’ criminal records report, you can find criminal offenses like felonies, misdemeanors, DUIs, and more by searching through public records. It provides the following data:

• Offense type and date
• Court name
• Case numbers
• Charge outcome
• Other

Intelius Premier

With Intelius Premier membership, you have access to unlimited searches using a name, email address or phone number. The report is quickly generated in the form of an easy-to-read profile that, if available, includes the following information:

• Full name
• Aliases
• Age and DOB
• Possible relatives
• Current and previous addresses
• Employment and education
• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Social networks

This service also allows you to get the criminal records report for 50% off.

Identity Protector

Identity Protector is a service that helps prevent your identity from being stolen. There are over 11 million cases of identity theft each year, so it is important to do what you can to prevent it from happening to you. Intelius enables you to:

• Find out who has been looking at your credit report
• View and track your credit score
• Get identity theft insurance and identity recovery kit
• Have access to 24/7 fraud resolution experts
• Monitor changes in your credit report and public records
• Get alerts for signs of potential identity theft

People Directory

With people directory, which is one of the largest people directories available in the industry, you can search hundreds of millions of profiles using a person’s name, address or phone number. You can browse through the list of profiles or perform your own search that will allow you to access information like: 

• Full name
• Past and present addresses
• Phone number
• Age
• Date of birth
• Relatives
• Aliases
• Job history information

People Lookup By State

This service helps narrow down your search by selecting or entering the name of the city and state of residence of the person you are looking for. You can search a particular state by entering a person’s first and last name.

Phone Directory

By using Intelius’ phone lookup directory, you can search any phone number in the U.S., even if it is unlisted or unpublished. You can narrow your search down by selecting the area code or you can enter a full 10-digit number that will give you access to information like: 

• Phone type and carrier
• Owner’s name
• Location
• Address history
• Full name
• Relatives and more

 Classmates

We already mentioned that Intelius started as two separate companies, Intelius and Classmates, which later merged into the Intelius we know today. While Intelius provides general information on people’s backgrounds, Classmates is dedicated to helping reunite high-school classes by compiling the largest database of high schools, class lists, and digital yearbooks connecting more than 70 million people across the US. With Classmates, you can do the following:

• Search by high schools, class lists, and maiden names
• Plan reunions
• RSVP your attendance
• Invite classmates
• Access the largest collection of high school yearbooks on your laptop, tablet, and smartphone. 

How Accurate Is Intelius?

Based on our tests, Intelius provides information that is correct. The information gathered in the report on the actor Mel Gibson was correct, which we determined by comparing it with other reliable sources on the Internet. Furthermore, we managed to acquire more information by requesting additional reports on his relatives and for the properties he owns.

In case there is no information on the person you are looking for based on the people search alone, you can try other Intelius products like public records or reverse phone and address lookup.

You can also use other services like people directory in order to gain even more information and come up with more accurate data on the person you are looking for. The company’s only downside is that there are no photos in the reports or options for looking for people based on email or social media, but we hope Intelius will soon introduce these features as well. 

Is Intelius Safe?

Intelius takes a variety of measures to ensure its clients’ safety and privacy. It is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and it is a member of the Online Trust Alliance (OTA), which means that Intelius keeps to high standards when it comes to interacting with its customers and providing the best security and privacy practices for online transactions and data protection. Intelius guarantees your searches are private and confidential by not allowing anyone to know the nature of your search, including the person you are looking into. You have free access to Intelius’ privacy policy where you can find out more about its use of the information you provide. The information Intelius collects includes the following:

• Upon registration, you will be required to provide your full name, maiden name, mailing address and zip code, email address, phone number, birth date, marital status, and password. For the use of Classmates services, you need to state one or more community affiliations, like with a school.
• When you start using Intelius’ services, certain information like Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), and other data will be obtained automatically.
• Intelius also uses cookies and beacons to personalize your experience while using its services.
• When you register for purchase, Intelius requires personal information like your name, email and billing address, and credit card or debit card information.

Intelius will not share your personal information with any third parties unless it has your permission or if they are a part of the PeopleConnect brands, the family of companies affiliated with PeopleConnect.

Intelius will share your personal information without your consent only if required by law, regulation, rule or court order, by governmental, regulatory, and administrative agencies and law enforcement authorities or to prevent, investigate, and identify people suspected of fraud, illegal activities, and violations of the privacy policy.

Keep in mind that Intelius’ privacy policy does not apply to any third parties and other companies that are not employed or managed by Intelius. 

How Much Does Intelius Cost?

With Intelius, you can choose between single reports and memberships. If you are interested in a monthly subscription, you can either opt for Intelius Premier and Intelius Premier Plus memberships.

Intelius Premier includes unlimited searches by name, email address, and phone number, allowing you to access the following information: 

• Full name
• Known Aliases
• Age and DOB
• Possible relatives
• Current and previous addresses
• Employment and education
• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Social networks

The membership costs $19.95, but you get the first month for just $9.95. After the first month, your subscription will automatically renew unless you cancel by the end of the expiration date. With Intelius Premier membership, you can also purchase unlimited criminal checks at a 50% discount. 

Intelius Premier Plus membership offers the same perks as Intelius Premier and provides one background check voucher each month. It comes with a 7-day trial period for the price of $7.95. After the trial period expires, it continues as a monthly membership that is automatically renewed each month at the price of $29.95 unless you cancel before the end of your trial period.

Besides monthly memberships, there are options for purchasing individual reports. 

The people search report costs $3.95 or $0.75 when purchased with the 7-day trial for Intelius Premier Plus. The same goes for individual public records reports, which costs $11.95 or $1.95 with the 7-day trial of Premier Plus and background check report, which costs $49.95 or $39.95 when discounted. 

Criminal court records are sold separately and come in two variations: 

1. Nationwide criminal check, which includes addresses, phone numbers, relatives, and criminal records from all 50 states. It costs $39.95 or $29.95 if purchased with the 7-day trial for Intelius Premier Plus.
2. Statewide criminal check, which includes disposition date, misdemeanor check, felony check, offense code, offense date, case number, gender, and offense description. The price is $19.95 or $14.95 with the 7-day trial purchase for Intelius Premier Plus.

In addition to these two options, with Intelius Premier membership, you can also purchase individual criminal court reports for $19.95, civil court records for the price of $19.95, and federal court records for $14.95. All three reports are nationwide. 

The Intelius app has a 2-day free trial period, after which you can opt for a variety of in-app purchases (in case you do not get a membership) including:

• Individual profiles for only $1.99
• Individual background check for only $19.99
• Intelius App membership for unlimited access to profiles (app access only) for $9.99 per month
• Intelius App membership for unlimited access to profiles (app & web access) for $19.99 per month

The following options are available for ordering background check reports on any unlocked profile:

• Purchase 1 background check for only $19.99
• Purchase 2 background checks for only $34.99 (membership subscribers only)
• Purchase 3 background checks for only $49.99 (membership subscribers only)
• When available use an existing background check voucher (Intelius Premier Plus subscribers only)

You can try out the Identity Protect service for free with the 7-day trial, after which your monthly membership will be activated for $19.95 and continue to renew each month for the same price unless you cancel. 

From what we were able to find while researching for this Intelius review, there are no options for refunds or any money-back guarantees.  

Intelius Pros & Cons