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As a manager at a large corporation, our Human Resources department took care of all background checks. As a self-employed entrepreneur, I’ve had to take on that responsibility myself. Here’s how you can get an instant background check for cheap whether you run a business, need to check out a contractor’s employees, or want to scope out the dirt on a new boyfriend or girlfriend.
I use Reverse Mobile in my business to find out about people through their cell phone numbers. This helps me in some investigative work but the reports you get are thorough enough to act as a background report because the amount of detail covered is not limited to just the name and address of a cell phone owner.
People squawk at having to pay $15-30 to run a reverse cell phone report but I think a lot of that has to do with the different reasons people want to check out someone’s cell phone number.
The following explains how the price is often misunderstood and how you can save money with a reverse phone background check.
Sometimes the regular public – John and Jane Smith, for example – just wants to know the name of someone calling them from a blocked or unidentified cell phone number. For that simple piece of information, maybe paying seems like a rip off. They can get that information for free for most land line phones so why should they have to pay for the name of a cell phone owner? Easy answer: government, privacy laws, and consumer demand. (I’ve covered that in depth in this post: Free Cell Phone Reverse Directory.)
On the other hand, background checks usually cost a lot more money – hundreds of dollars depending on the scope of the information needed. In those cases, paying $15-30 seems like a steal.
What you are really getting with an instant background check is a whole lot of time saved digging through public records information (some of which isn’t even available online). It would take you a team of people to go through the county records for every count in the United States trying to find information about someone.
Reverse Mobile does more than just give the name and address of a cell phone owner. For a full report you get address and property records information, relatives’ information, criminal records data, a deep web search of internet footprints left by the person in question, and a whole lot more.
Following is the screenshot of the background check I ran on my wife (name information blocked to protect the innocent – my wife! Actually, it’s blocked to protect me. I don’t think she’d be incredibly happy to see her name online associated with a background report.)
Instant Background Check
The image doesn’t show the actual information (again, I have to live with my wife and that’s so much easier when she’s not made at me…) but it does give you an overview of the amount and type of information included in the report. Better yet, it took me only seconds to get this information through Reverse Mobile.
When I logged in to my Reverse Mobile account today, I found another nice surprise – a coupon for $20 off their services. Periodically these coupons show up in my dashboard and they’re incredibly valuable. If you’re going to spend $30 for a complete background report every now and then, stashing up some $20 coupons really takes the cost down.
Reverse Mobile Membership Coupon
When you run a business and need employees or contract help, you are putting your business at risk if you choose the wrong people. Employees often have access to some of your company information, are out there representing you to your customers, and might even have access to your company finances – your checking account or cash drawer.
I have a friend who ran a small batting cage operation in our community. One day, an employee who was responsible for closing up at night and dropping the cash bag at the bank simply took off with the cash bag. Thousands of dollars was lost in the blink of an eye. They never saw that person again. How much money are you willing to lose to the hands of your employees or contractors?
Even if you are not an entrepreneur and are just looking for information about a specific person, a full reverse phone report for a few bucks might be the fastest way for you to find out the name of someone calling you from a cell phone number. There are no free resources other than using the search engines to find any trace of that person having entered their cell phone number online somewhere as there are no free reverse cell phone directories.
If you are contemplating a new babysitter, a new housecleaner, or a new potential date, the few bucks invested for an instant background check are invaluable compared to the risk of hiring someone with a criminal record or a checkered financial past that might tempt them to take what you worked so hard to obtain.
I think, in the end, that’s how you have to view the cost of a reverse phone report. What are you getting in return? Safety, security and peace of mind are worth a lot more than a few dollars. However, if you’re just being nosy or just want to get someone’s name because you forgot it, maybe the cost does seem outlandish.
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