By: Kelly | Last updated October 18, 2019 
Background check services have flourished into a very prosperous industry. At a certain point in life, everyone benefits from being able to run a background check on someone. And, if in the past, background checks could take days or even weeks to be completed, the entire process has become way quicker and more convenient.
What is an online background check service and why should you use one?
Online background check services are really popular in this day and age and there are providers that are renowned in the entire country: TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate, Verispy, are just a few examples.
Most online background check services, including the ones mentioned above, work by searching and compiling information from million and million of public records such as: Deep and Dark Web, social media and other internet sources, federal records, state records, county records and so on. The information these services obtain from these sources is available to anyone interested in it, because it is not classified data. However, doing all the research and detective work can be quite time-consuming and not fun either, so why not have someone do all the work for you?
One of the biggest advantages of online background check services is that they gather all that information from public records and compile it in a comprehensive, easy to read report. That report is generated in a matter of minutes in most cases, whereas you would need days or maybe even weeks to dig up all that data. The reports are available in an electronic format and in most cases, you can download the report and even print it if you like. So all you have to do is subscribe to an online background check service, perform a search, wait a minute or two for your report to be generated, pay a fee to be able to access the information in it and that’s it.
What can’t you do with a background check report?
There are some limitations though regarding the way in which you can use the information in these reports, as most of these online background check services are not FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) compliant. That means that the information in the reports cannot be used for purposes such as:
- Employment screening
- Tenant screening
- Blackmailing
- Harassing
- Determining a person’s eligibility to get credit or a loan
- Screening students for a scholarship and other such activities
What can you do with a background check report?
Background check reports can be very handy and even keep you safe in some cases. Here are some uses of a background check service:
- You can track down a former classmate or reconnect with a childhood friend
- You can do a reverse phone lookup to find out who’s calling you from a number you don’t have in your agenda
- You can run a background check on a coworker
- You can run a background check on a potential date to see if they are ‘clean’
- You can run a background check on a neighbor that’s recently moved in your neighborhood/or you can do a background check on your neighbors if you recently moved in a new neighborhood
- You can run a background check on the parents of your new child’s friend
- If you are afraid your identity has been compromised, a background check can help you see if anything related to your name appears on the Dark Web
- You can run a background check on yourself to see how exposed you are and what data is available about you on the internet
Instant Checkmate Overview – What features do you get with this background check service?
Instant Checkmate is one of our top choices in terms of reliable online background check services. It is number two in our lineup, after TruthFinder.
Instant Checkmate is an experienced provider with more than 10 years in this industry. Almost 1.4 billion searches have been made with Instant Checkmate so far and that number continues to grow.
Instant Checkmate offers several types of searches to its customers: people searches, location searches, e-mail searches and reverse phone lookup (you can search someone based on a phone number you have).
Just like many competitors, Instant Checkmate offers two types of reports: the standard report, which includes basic information about a person and the premium report, which is more comprehensive. The standard report will give you all the essential information about a person: their name, address, e-mail, phone number, social media profile, known aliases, potential relatives, criminal record. But the premium report adds even more: business affiliations and litigations (foreclosures, bankruptcies, liens), properties owned by a person, professional licenses, neighbors, driving tests, drug tests, weapon permits and more.
What is the cost of Instant Checkmate?
Most background check services offer subscriptions to their customers and that’s how Instant Checkmate operates, too. There are two subscriptions available: a one-month subscription and a three-month subscription.
The one-month subscription is priced at $34.78 and the 3-month subscription is priced at $83.47.
During these periods, you have access to unlimited standard reports offered by Instant Checkmate.
If you want to gain access to the premium report, you have to pay an additional fee of $19.99.
There’s also an affordable trial available: $1 per day, but the trial can be used for up to 5 days only.
Instant Checkmate provides accurate reports and there is also a mobile app you can use, although it is currently compatible only with Android devices.
