Free Bankruptcy Records

July 29, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Why Bankruptcy Records Matter
Is your money market investor secretly bankrupt? Or what about the contractor building your family’s new dream home?

Wouldn’t it be awful if he had to quit in the middle of the project due to poor money management? And then there’s the guy who wants you to invest in his business. Is he dependable? Is he trustworthy? How in the world can you tell?

Wouldn’t it be nice to check out their financial status before you invest in them? To know they’re trustworthy before you rely on them? Well now you can! It’s all online and free of charge. Just take a look at their bankruptcy records! (But before you do, scroll down to the bottom of this blog so you’ll know how to use them.)

Bankruptcy records are an integral part of most background checks. A person’s bankruptcy petition can capture years of their financial activities. And it can include other information such as where they worked, how long they held a job, and what they spent their money on.

Knowing Why They Filed For Bankruptcy
Some bankruptcies aren’t the person’s fault. For example: A person could go bankrupt due to severe health problems, a natural disaster not covered by insurance, or a job loss during a major recession. When this happens, we can sympathize. These things could happen to anyone!

But just as often, bankruptcies show how someone messed up. It’s a history of the bad decisions they’ve made. For example: A Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition could show the debtor had uncontrolled spending; or that the debtor was unable to hold down a long term job, or that the debtor consistently made poor investment decisions.

So while we feel bad for someone who says they went bankrupt due to medical bills, we’re much less sympathetic upon learning they overindulged in timeshares, high end furniture and flat screen TVs!

Knowing When And How Often They Filed
What we’re after is their character. We don’t just want to know what they did. We want to know who they are now. Are they trustworthy? Are they stable and dependable? Was this really a one time screw up? Or is this person a walking train wreck? So a bankruptcy of 20 years ago won’t tell us much. But a recent one can speak volumes.

So don’t count on someone being financially stable if they filed in the last three years. For one, their credit is shot. Also, people don’t change overnight. Assume the trouble they faced then is the trouble they face now. And you won’t always know what that trouble is. It could be impulsive spending, a drug habit, or as they claim, a fluke of circumstance.

Also look out for those who’ve filed for multiple bankruptcies. This could mean someone who files whenever the law allows them to. For example, the law says once you file for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy, you must wait another 8 years to file again. So when did they file last? Are they about due for another one? (perhaps at your expense!) Likewise, a pattern of filings tells more about their character than say, a single bankruptcy.

Checking Out The Owners Of Small Companies
With small companies you’ll want to background the owners and officers. A big company often has checks and balances to prevent a single person from controlling it. But a small company is more likely to be dominated by a single person or several officers. So it’s good to know the character and past dealings of these people. And this means checking out their personal and business bankruptcies.

For example: I found a Georgia builder who filed twice for bankruptcy in 2013. He filed a liquidation bankruptcy (Chapter 7) for himself and then filed another Chapter 7 for his failing construction business.

That same year he launched a brand new construction company. But this time, he never listed himself as the owner! The guy knew a bankruptcy spoke volumes about his stability. So even though he was the true owner, he concealed his name so he could get a fresh start and hide his lousy track record.

I was able to trace him through his new website and other contact information. (All roads led to him and his defunct company). So if someone says they run a company but are not listed, be sure to check out their criminal records and bankruptcies! They could have good reasons for hiding undercover.

More Reasons To Check Out Bankruptcy Records:
That said, it’s a good idea to check for bankruptcies when:

Choosing A Business Partner (Do they manage their money wisely?)
Checking Out Tenants (Can they pay? Are they soon to become deadbeats?)
Lending or Investing $ (Is the debtor/investor responsible?)
Dating: Is the guy lying about his wealth? Will money management be a problem for him?
Hiring For $ Sensitive Positions (if they can’t manage their $, why let them manage yours)
Hiring Home Builders (what if they squander all the money and stop in the middle of the project)
Investigating Small Companies (The company is only as good as its owner)
Getting Full Disclosure:
What they don’t tell you is as important as what they do tell you. If they’re not disclosing the things you need to know, why trust them?

Where To Find Free Bankruptcy Records
There are three places to check for free bankruptcy records. These are:

The commercial databases that offer you free teasers
VCIS: Voice Case Information System (An Automated Phone System)
PACER (Public Access To Court Electronic Records)

The Commercial Databases
These work best for recent bankruptcies. With just a name you can learn if the person filed, where they filed, when they filed, and if the bankruptcy was a Chapter 7, 11, or 13. Sometimes you’ll also get the debtor’s address. (For common names, this helps confirm you have the right person). I recommend you search several of these sites: They tend to fill in the gaps for each other. But no single site is complete.

Search For Bankruptcy Filings (Free Public Records).

Free Bankruptcy Records Through Inforuptcy.com
To find free bankruptcy records through Inforuptcy.com,
advance to 3:31 on the Sleuth For The Truth video Search For Bankruptcy Filings (Free Public Records).

Voice Case Information System: Free Automated Phone System
This site has the phone numbers so you can call into a court’s automated system and search for bankruptcies by the person’s name. But there is a catch. You have to know what district court to call. And sometimes there are up to three districts in each state! But you can call wherever you think the person has lived. For more, see Age-The First Stop In Any Background Check.

PACER (Public Access To Court Electronic Records)
Both old and new bankruptcies are on PACER, a free service if you use it wisely. PACER provides access to the actual court filings, including the much talked about bankruptcy petition.

The bankruptcy petition is the hottest document you can find. The petition lists the names of their creditors, the amount of each debt and often the type of debt it is. You can even learn the jobs they’ve worked, how long they held this job, how much they’ve earned, the property they owned, and by inference, what got them into bankruptcy.

Establishing A Free PACER Account
They never bill you a single cent if you use less than $30 a quarter. It then resets back to $0! I’ve used this service since 2003 and I’ve never been billed yet! And amazingly, you don’t even need a credit card to begin. With PACER you can lookup several bankruptcy petitions (large docs) or dozens of other smaller documents, all for free.

Just fill out their on-line registration form and within a week you’ll receive your login and password. For more on how to search see PACER FAQs.

How To Do A PACER Nationwide Search On Federal Court Records Including Bankruptcies
PACER ain’t just for bankruptcies! To search other federal court records, (both civil and criminal) see the steps below.

1. Log into PACER

2. Paste the link below into the address bar up top, so you can do a national search without selecting a district court.
https://pcl.uscourts.gov/search

3. Enter last name comma first, example John, Smith

4. Choose One of the tabs up top for either
All Courts or Appellate or Bankruptcy or Civil or Criminal or Multi District Litigation (MDLs)

For more on how to search PACER or set up an account, See the Sleuth For The Truth video Free Search For Bankruptcy Petitions: Who They Owed & How Much $ (PACER).

Criminal Record Searches

Is The Crime Still Online?

July 25, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Is your crime still online? Or are you looking for criminal records on someone else? Either way, here’s how to find them, fast, easy and all for free!

Types of Criminal Records
There are two types of criminal records. First there are the official government records from the jails and courts.

These may show whether someone was convicted, pardoned or if their conviction was expunged. Government records often reveal dates of incarceration and the crimes the person was charged with.

But sometimes the government makes mistakes. If you find the government made a mistake about your criminal record, you can provide proof of their error and they will have to fix it.

But there are also other records that exist independent of the government. These include the footprints of government records captured in blogs, newspapers, arrest mugshot sites, and sites that charge for online background checks.

That’s right! Your arrest records could appear in a newspaper even after the charges were dropped. Or you could be pardoned to find that years later, your photo still appears in a commercial mugshot database!

This is a wonderful thing if you’re looking for the crimes of someone else. After all, a person can be morally guilty even when the charges were dropped. It happens all the time. Sometimes there’s political pressure to dismiss the case. At other times, charges are dropped due to legal technicalities.

Would you, for example, hire a shoplifter who had been charged twice but never convicted? Or what about the person who beat a murder rap because of an invalid search warrant? Are these the people you want to bring home to mother? Are these the people you want playing with your kids?

Of course, you may see it differently if you’re the one with the criminal record! In that case you can ask for a retraction.

If you find your record was listed inaccurately, you can reach out to the source and ask for it to be removed. But there’s no guarantee they’ll do so.

Your rights may depend on what was posted, when it was posted and if the source was a blog or newspaper. With newspapers there could be First Amendment concerns over free speech that trump your right to a good name. But that’s a blog for another time and place. Now, let’s get to finding these records!

Searching Criminal Records Can Be Daunting.
The Internet can be daunting when you have no idea where to begin. Pushing through mountains of links, blogs and bad websites can leave you exhausted, lost and discouraged. But there is a method to the madness. And I’m going to show some quick and easy ways to cut through the fat.

So Where Do You Begin?

Step 1: Do A Name Search In The Free National Databases That List Criminal Records
Up until last year, I had no idea that the free ones existed. But they do and I’ve listed them here and below. So keep reading! At the bottom, I’ve included specific websites and how to search within them. Or you can watch the Sleuth For The Truth Video Is Your Crime Still Online?

How Can These Records Help Me?
Often a criminal record search requires you to know the state and county where the crime occurred. This usually coincides with where the person has lived. Sometimes you’ll know this information. But more often than not you won’t. And even then, you can never predict these things.

On the road crimes such as speeding or DUI often happen when passing through other towns. So these national databases are a great help for where to start looking.

To search for someone, simply enter in their name and see if anything comes up. If their name isn’t there, it usually means they have no criminal record-at least not on the state and county level.

But if you find them, it tells you at least someone with their name was in trouble! You’ll know you have the right person based on other identifiers. Usually next to their name is their age along with the state where the crime occurred. (Don’t know their age?
See Age-The First Stop In Any Background Check.)

These records are far from perfect. And the free databases won’t tell you what the crime was. It could be anything from a violent felony to a misdemeanor speeding ticket. But right now, you just want to know if there was a crime at all. And if there was, where did it take place? (Step 2 will help you find out the details)

Make sure to write down the state where the crime occurred. You’ll need it if you immediately choose to look for their Mugshot & Arrest Records. For Federal crimes, see also Federal Prison Records and The Sleuth for Truth Video Let’s Talk Federal Prison.

Step 2: The Free State & County Links
Our next stop is to search for records in the state and county databases. This includes jails, prisons and other county
court records. Below I’ll show you where you can get many of these in one spot.

Step 3: The Google Search
Finally, be sure to Google yourself and others for criminal records mentioned in news articles, blogs, complaints and other sources. See the blog Google Like A Pro. See also People With Common Names-How To Search For Them.

Specific Websites And How To Search Them

Below is a printed version of the YouTube video Is Your Crime Still Online?

National Criminal Database #1
Our first stop for free criminal records is at Checkcourts.com. At the link above, a first and last name will turn up the criminal records associated with it. If you see duplicate names, match the name, age, and location to make sure you have the right person.

So let’s search for criminal records on “Adam Rosen”. To see what states come up, here we’ll enter in only his first and last name, no state and no middle initial. We’ll leave out the middle initial for two reasons. First we may not know it. And second, we don’t want to miss those records which forgot to include it.

A national search brings up 131 hits and will tell you all the states where there are records. States are listed from A to Z. Often you’ll see their age, and middle name or initial included as well.

We could scroll down to see all the states where Adam Rosens have criminal records, but in this case our Adam Rosen only lived in California.

A search in CA shows only 16 records. So by selecting a state, we’ve narrowed it down by 115 records! With proof now that he has a criminal record, we can leave this website and target the state and county records within California. This is what I’ll show you next.

State & County Database #1
Let’s go to blackbookonline.com, a free directory that allows you to search for state and county records in any of the 50 states and DC. Our next Stop: California.

Don’t get lost by all the choices you see. The four main places to search are Arrest Warrants, Court Records, Criminal Records and Sex Offenders. If you’re not sure of the county, you can also click on “City/County Converter” which is above the link for court records.

Here is a sample of what you’ll see when you click on Arrest Warrants. (see video or look at link for results)

When you click on Court Records, you must choose your county. (Video shows samples of what you can find in Marin County.) Sometimes you can even find traffic citations.

On the Criminal Records page, you have a choice of all records or to click on specific types of records. I recommend all types minus the crime maps. If you uncheck to see all counties, you can look for records in specific counties and not get flooded with too much information.

Googling For Criminal Records
Our last stop is the Google search. People tend to Google first. They then get frustrated because they have no way to distinguish their subject from the numerous others with the same name. So for common names, it’s best to Google only once you know their age, middle name, the places they’ve lived and where the crimes were committed.

Below, I’ve included high power search terms most likely to retrieve criminal records. For other terms, look up lookup synonyms for arrests, crimes and convictions. Be sure to Google these as well.

Searching For John Smith:

1. John Smith convicted
2. John Smith arrested
3. John Smith guilty
4. John Smith NOLO
5. “John Smith” conviction (Name in quotes)

6. “John R Smith” charges (Middle initial included)
7. “John Richard Smith” sentenced (Full name in quotes)
8. John Smith sentenced Georgia
9. “John R Smith” sentenced Georgia
10. Name above with felony or misdemeanor

Remember to search with the name in quotes and also without quotes. If your name is a common one, be sure to include a state as well. For more Google search terms, check out the Sleuth for the Truth Blogs & Videos at https://sleuthforthetruth.com.

Related Links
Sex Offender Lookup
Arrests & Mugshots
Federal Prison Records
Google Like A Pro (Quick Tips & Tricks)

Marital Status-How To Background, Reverse Lookups-Finding By Their Contact Info

Are They Married? Find Out Without Even Their Last Name!

July 23, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com Leave a comment

The best investigators know three things that are secrets to everyone else.

1. Where To Find The Free Links
Most people don’t have a clue. But that’s easy. The free links to do online background checks are right here!

2. How To Search The Free Links
But free links are just the beginning. Second, you’ve got to know how each website works. If you search with the wrong format, or get too specific, chances are you’ll find nothing of value. So it’s always best to test out each website with a common name. A name that you expect to get hits for.

If say, you don’t get any hits with a name like “John Smith”, it means the website is bad or you’ve entered the name in the wrong format. For example, was the name to be last name first? Do you have an extra space, a misspelled word or did you perhaps leave out or include a comma? Every website has different rules for searching. Look at their examples, if they have any.

(Less Is More)
If you can, just enter in a first and last name and maybe a state. Also, be sure not to include too much information, even if there’s a field for it. That’s right. Leave out middle initials, race, age, location, etc. Too much will exclude valid records that could be missing these things.

3. How To Piece It All Together
But to really excel, you’ve got to know more than how to use a bunch of links. The best investigators leverage the facts they know to find out the facts they don’t know. And from there, they string together these facts into a story. This story is all about the person’s character and dependability.

This is what we’re after. This blog will show you how to string the facts together into a story. And from that story you can decide if the person is trustworthy. In other words, you’ll know better if it’s safe to date them, safe to hire them, safe to rent to them, or safe to let them into your home.

Finding Marital Status With Just A First Name & Phone #
Here’s how we searched for someone, what we found out about them and how we put the facts together. (All names, locations and ages have been changed to protect the guilty!)

Yesterday “Susan” wanted me to background a guy she met on a dating site. She didn’t have much for me to work with. Just a phone number from his texts and that his name was “Sam.” Up until now, Sam and Susan had never met each other. But Sam had great ambition. He told her that for their first date, they’d have a great night out and then go back to a hotel for sex.

Susan was less happy about this than Sam. But she was curious why Sam opted for a hotel instead of going back to his place. So she asked for my help with a background check.

What We Found
With just Sam’s phone number, we were able to confirm Sam had given us his real first name. After all, some people don’t. We also found Sam’s last name, his middle name, the names of Sam’s relatives, Sam’s age, and Sam’s current and prior home addresses.

From there we took a look at his property records, searched for criminal records, found tax liens on his home and finally, we Googled him. Turns out, Sam had good reason to meet Susan at a hotel.

Sam was still married! Indeed, according to at least one stat, 30 percent of all “single” men online are lying about their marital status. For more see The Top Signs The Guy Is Married Or Cheating On You.

How We Found It: An Anatomy of A Background Check

First Stop: Reverse Lookups
As I mentioned earlier, all we had was a first name and phone number. But it could have been a first name and an email address, or a first name and a dating profile name, or a first name and a physical address.

With reverse lookups, you can confirm his first name or learn he’s given you a false one. The reverse lookups for all of these can be found at Consumer-SOS.com. But having the links is not enough. Here’s how we used them!

Our first stop was OKcaller.com. What we needed was a name behind the phone number. If that didn’t work, we’d go to Spydialer.com, and finally, we’d try our luck with Google or the less effective reverse lookup sites. (OKCaller is the best because it even works with most cell phone numbers.)

With OKCaller we hit the jackpot! We found Sam’s full name was Samuel Gruberman. We also got his home address in Cartersville GA! Sweet!

Second Stop: Sites For Age, DOB, Relatives & Where Else They’ve Lived
So we now knew an address, a phone number and that his name was Samuel Gruberman. At this point we could have jumped straight to Google. But then we’d be flooded with too many hits.

After all, there’s got to be a lot of Samuel Grubermans. So we had to find a way to know we had the right person. And that meant using special databases to find distinguishing things about him. (For more, see People With Common Names-How To Background Them.)

Knowing Sam’s true age, the names of his relatives and his middle name would be helpful. So our next stop was to the free sites to find their Age, DOB, Relatives & Where Else They’ve Lived. Our goal was to look for any Sam or Samuel Gruberman with the same Cartersville address. With such, we hoped to find other information including his age and relatives.

The age lookup sites not only found him, but listed his age as 61.
We also were able to learn his middle name was Raymond. So now we had his full name, Samuel Raymond Gruberman. (Later we would Google this along with Samuel R Gruberman.)

The age lookup sites didn’t stop there. They also listed the various cities and states where Sam lived and included his relatives. Now Sam was easier to identify than ever.

One of these relatives was a woman named Karen Gruberman. Later we clicked on the links for Karen Gruberman and found she was also 61 (i.e. probably not his sister.)

So we continued looking for records of Sam Gruberman. Within each website, we looked down each page for near duplicate records. In other words, we looked for those records that were mostly the same but would give us additional information about him.

We also looked at other age and relative websites. If the page within a site was very long, we used Ctrl F to search for his middle name or his address. (Command F for Macs). The goal was to find the old that we knew, coupled with the new things we did not know.

We paid attention only to the records that were clearly about him and not some other Sam Gruberman. For example: we looked for his name with the Cartersville address or his name with the states he’s lived in, or his name with the same set of relatives.

And our knowledge of Sam Gruberman grew and grew,

We now knew his age, his date of birth, the places he’s lived, his address, his prior addresses, his prior phone numbers and his relatives. Some of these sites even listed the companies he founded. We checked those out too at the GA Secretary of State. However, we found no additional names or addresses that might be connected to him.

But one mystery remained. Just who was Karen Gruberman? We knew they were both 61. Could she really be his sister? Doubtful they’d both be born in the same year. Was she an ex wife? Or worse, a current wife? We were at an impasse. There was nothing else the age lookup sites could do for us.

Third Stop: Free Criminal Records & Bankruptcy Records
At this point we wanted to know some hard facts about our quarry. Was he a child molester? Was he ever arrested? Did he ever file for bankruptcy? Armed with his full name and address, our next step was the free bankruptcies and arrest mugshot records. But we found nothing.

Fourth Stop: Free Property Records
We knew his name. And we knew his address. Was he rich? Did he own the property or rent from his mom? We were determined to find out.

So our next stop were the free property records. We could have searched by his address or by name. But a name search was easier. And the property records spoke volumes. Karen was listed as co-owner of the property! We also found their home once had IRS and GA tax liens against it!

So we now knew Karen co-owns the house with him. This smelled a lot like a wife. But how could we be sure?

Fifth Stop: Googling Names, Addresses & Phone Numbers
Now it was time to Google! The goal was to find only recent information about him. More to the point, we needed to know if Sam and Karen were still husband and wife.

Googling Only Recent Events
So we Googled Sam and Karen Gruberman together (just the words in red, no quotation marks). But there were so many hits! What we needed was the here and now, not ancient history. So we set Google to show only the returns from the last year. To see how this is done, see Google Like A Pro (Quick Tips and Tricks).

Previously I had set Google to give me 100 returns per page so we could scroll down the pages quickly. Now it was paying off big time. On the second page (hit # 200), we found an obituary for Sam’s Dad dated 9 months earlier. The obit was amazing because it listed all the relatives who attended.

It read “Mr. Gruberman (SR) is survived by his wife, and son, Sam Gruberman and wife, Karen of Cartersville, GA,”

WOW! Good ole Sam is still married! Karen was his wife 9 months ago. And Karen is his wife now. If they were really divorced, why is she still on the property records? No wonder Sam wanted a hotel. Bad Sam! Next time at least fess up you’re still married!

Age & Date of Birth, Name Searches

Age-The First Stop In Any Background Check

July 23, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Links & Videos (Jump To These If You Hate Reading Blogs)
Find Their Age & Relatives (Links)
Verify Their True Age For Free (Video)

Age: The Lie You Can Expose Online
Want to know the top three lies told on dating sites? You probably guessed it: Weight, Height and Age. The lies about height and weight are easy to spot. If the guy is short or the woman is fat, you’ll know it by the first date.

But how do you spot someone who’s lying about their age? And why should you care? Personally, I feel that telling the truth is a big part of a healthy relationship. And if they’re lying about their age, they’re lying about other things too. Lots of other things.

Age: The First Step In Most Background Checks
But age is not just another number. It’s also the first stop when doing a background check. The reason? Most online records won’t have their photo. So you need something unique about them to know it’s not another person with the same name.

Other identifiers include their phone number, email address, dating profile name or a physical address. But the most common online record is their age. This is what you’ll find most when searching for criminal records or when on the age relative lookup sites.

Age: The Stepping Stone To Learning More About Your Subject
Age is a valuable stepping stone to learn his home address, prior addresses, prior states he’s lived in and of course, his middle name or middle initial. Often the age lookup sites will have current and prior phone numbers as well.

Once you get this information, you can find similar records that tell you even more about him. For example: at one site you may learn that David Rosenfield of Smyrna, GA is age 60. And then farther down the page or at another site, you’ll see a similar record that list David Robert Rosenfield of Smyrna, GA, age 60. Later you’ll find yet another record which lists David Robert Rosenfield of Smyrna, GA, along with his physical address at 1600 Mocking Bird Lane.

A Launch Pad For Googling And Looking Up Criminal Records
With their full name and contact information, your next step could be a Google search. For example: you could Google every one of his phone numbers, every one of his addresses or restrict the search to his home state. You could also Google his name in quotes, his full name in quotes or his first name, middle initial and last name in quotes. Or with what you know about his full name and age, you could search the free Arrest Records, Mugshots, Criminal, and Civil Records.

How To Search The Age & Relative Lookup Sites
Don’t confuse the Age/Relative lookup sites with the online White Pages which may also list ages. The latter won’t list the people with private phone numbers. But the Age Lookup sites list anyone 18 and over. Even the phoneless dead people.

To begin, all you need is a person’s first and last name. You don’t even have to know the state they live in (though for common names it helps).

If for some reason you can’t find them, it probably means you have the wrong, spelling, or the wrong name. Sometimes people are listed under their nick names.

For example: Richard may be listed as “Dick”, Samuel as “Sam” or Elizabeth as “Libby.” It’s a good idea to test each site by looking up your own name. Get a feel for what is you and isn’t you. And also gauge the accuracy of the website. Check at least two or three different ones. Even if you find your subject immediately, each site may have different information.

No site is perfect. Sometimes they’ll list the wrong age, include a stranger among relatives or mess up on addresses and phone numbers. This is another reason to confirm your findings with several of them.

When you find something new, be sure to copy this into Word or Notepad for future reference. You’ll want all you can get for when it’s time to Google them. For more, See People With Common Names-How To Background Them.

Searching For Rare Names (usa-people-search.com)
Our first stop is at www.usa-people-search.com. Let’s start with the rare name Jonah Jameson. With rare names, you don’t have to choose a state. And as you can see, it lists his full name, sometimes a middle name, his age, and the various places he’s lived. You can even see people who may be related to him.

If you click “that’s the one”, it takes you to their pricing page. But what do you care? You already know his name, his age and where he’s lived. It’s now time to move elsewhere for even more free public records. See Find Or Background People By Their…

Searching For Common Names (peoplefinders.com)
Let’s check out peoplefinders.com, another age lookup site.
Here we’ll look up the common name John Smith and choose a state.

If you find you get exactly 50 or a 100 hits, it usually means your search results were cut off, because there were too many people with the same name. To refine your search, you can add a city or middle initial. At first try just one of these. If there are still too many hits, you can refine your search by adding more details.

Don’t start adding too many details. Not all records for your subject will have a middle name or city. And if you add too much information, you could miss out on records you want to see.

So now you can look for the right John Smith based on where he’s lived, who his relatives are or by his age. Don’t bother with the button to “View Details” or see all relatives. Often this leads to their “I want your money page.”

Where To Find More Age Relative Lookup Sites
The age lookup sites are really just the teaser pages on the sites for background checks. You can find more of them by Googling the term “background check” or “people search”. They’re all over the Internet.

Note: Avoid any site that searches for more than 15 seconds. This is just a gimmick to get you excited. Like Google, they can find your record in an instant (if they want to). So look for free sites that are FAST!

Social Media Aggregators
These sites comb Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter (and the like) for what’s said about people in social media. Aggregators work great for rare names or whenever your subject is easily identifiable. They are less effective when searching for common names. For common names, your best bet is to try the age lookups first.

Examples of these sites include:
www.peekyou.com
www.radaris.com
www.spokeo.com

Name Searches

People With Common Names-How To Background Them

July 20, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com 2 Comments

So you Googled John Smith and got a billion hits. No surprise here. It’s a very common name. The problem with common names is that many people have them. So expect that most of the people you background will have a name shared by others. But don’t worry. We can still find them!

Spotting People By Their Unique Physical Features

In the everyday world of face to face contact, we can spot our John Smith even when he’s in a crowd. The reason is because he has unique PHYSICAL features that make him different from everyone else.

For example: We can find him by his height , the shape of his face, the color of his hair, his voice and many other things that taken together, no one else has in the exact same package.

But when looking for records, you don’t always have the benefit of a photo. So how do you find someone on the Internet when you can’t see them? The answer is to find the non physical features which like their face, make them unique.

So what non physical features make your John Smith stand out in a crowd? What’s so unique about him that it’s obvious you have the right guy?

Spotting People By Their Unique Non-Physical Features

For example: To find your John Smith in a Google or a criminal records search, it would be helpful to know unique things about him such as his middle name or initial, or his age or date of birth. This could narrow your search from ten thousand to 10 almost instantly.

What about the names of his relatives such as his spouse, his brother, his sister or his parents? With this information, you could retrieve records with both his name and their names and disregard the rest.

Better yet, we would know we had the right John Smith, if his name was found along with his current and past contact information. For example, a John Smith with at least one of the same phone numbers, addresses or email addresses as the one we were looking for.

But why stop there? Even without his contact information, we could still narrow down our list of John Smiths for we know our John Smith lived in 5 specific cities and states and that he’s also an attorney.

Likewise, knowing his hobbies, his fraternity, and his college and employment history would also identify the right John Smith. After all, there may be 10 million John Smiths. But how many speak French, went to Harvard, liked skeet shooting and worked for Firestone tires? And how many of these were Phi Beta Kappas? Not many I bet. In fact, he’s probably the only one in town!

Before I tell you what to do with this information, let me show you the free places where you can find it.

The three age and relative lookup sites above will match the name with various other identifiers so you know you have the right person.

In addition to finding out your subject’s middle name, their relatives and where they’ve lived, some of these sites also provide
current and prior addresses and phone numbers. In some instances, their education and employment history will also be listed.

For more information on their education or employment history,
check out free sites such as Linkedin and Classmates.com
Sometimes this information can also be found in a company bio or commercial directory, which will list spouses and job histories, along with other key identifiers that make your subject unique.

So How Do I Search With This Information?
First, Google their full name and also their name with middle Initial (both with and without quotes around the name).

Then Google all contact information, past and present. This includes all their known addresses, phone numbers, emails, and companies they’ve owned, if any.

Finally, do combined Google searches with their name and school, their name and employers, their name and their profession, their name and hobbies, and there name and any other unique identifier. This can also include adding the cities they’ve lived in or the names of their relatives, their blogs, and their Websites if they have any.

Be sure to copy and paste any new information you find into Word or Notepad. For example you may find a unique name he used on a dating site. Or learn that he also had an additional email address. Or suddenly realized that the John Smith you kept over looking is really the same guy! So it pays to paste what you find as you might discover it’s needed later.

When you learn something new, Google the new information alone, or along with his name and other Identifers.

Next, it’s now time to search special search engines specific to each state so you can find Court Records, Bankruptcies, Mugshots, Tax Records, his Occupational Licenses and more.

People move around a lot. So look in every state where you know he’s lived.

Criminal Record Searches, Marital Status-How To Background, Name Searches, Reverse Lookups-Finding By Their Contact Info

Google Like A Pro (Quick Tips and Tricks)

July 17, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Whether you’re shopping online or doing your own background checks, you can get swamped with too many names, too many pages and too many false leads. To avoid this, here are 8 search tricks that will forever change how you Google!

This Blog Will Show You How To:
1. Google search 100 hits per page instead of 10 per page
2. Search for an exact phrase using quotes
3. See old versions of a website (Google Cache)
4. Search for key words once on a web page (Control F, Command F
for Macs)
5. Exclude Google returns that contain unwanted words
6. Search for recent results in the past week, month or year
7. Search within a particular website
8. Search For Images (Google Reverse Image Search)

1. Search Faster With 100 Returns Per Page
First let’s permanently set Google to give you 100 returns per page instead of ten. If you’re not sure this is a worthwhile thing to do, try Googling for John Smith and mugshots. As you can see, at just ten hits per page, you will be searching for a lifetime! How much better to search 10 times faster and with 10 times the returns on a page!

For more searches per page, you can customize your search settings. First, under “Search Settings” and “Google Instant predictions”, click on “Never show Instant results.” This deactivates any suggestions on how to search for things. (Something only marginally helpful when you already know what you’re looking for).

Next, slide the results per page from 10 to 100. This makes Google microscopically slower, but with today’s super fast Internet speeds, who cares! (Note: this won’t work unless you first turn off the instant results feature above).

Now, click “Save” at the bottom and start searching! The same results are now at a 100 per page instead of 10. Think how much time you’ll save with this trick alone. Say goodbye to the page by page nonsense! 200 returns takes up 2 pages instead of 20. And if it’s not there, you simply move on to your next search.

2. Search For An Exact Phrase Using Quotes
Most people never think of using quotation marks around names or phrases. But if you Google John Smith and mugshots (without quotes) you get over half a million hits. To narrow your search, let’s put the name in quotes so it looks like this: “John Smith” mugshots. Now your search results are cut down to less than 46 thousand hits.

The great thing about quotes is that you can target exact phrases, including names. With the example above, you can see the quotes allow you to pull up hits where the words John and Smith are right next to each other.

But why stop there? Let’s see what happens when we add the middle initial R. Amazingly, the search for “John R Smith” mugshots returns a mere 56 hits.

Now let’s refine the search to “John Richard Smith” mugshots. Here you get only 25 hits! So with a full name in quotes, even a common name becomes uncommon. And with the power of quotes, you can find your mark easily.

Finally, lets add a city to narrow the results even further. With “John Richard Smith” mugshots Atlanta, we’ve reduced half a million hits to five!

Use Triple Quotes For Even More Exact Phrases
This is a secret Google won’t talk about. But if you want to make absolutely sure you get Graham Firestone and not Graham Moclayus Firestone, search like this “””Graham Firestone”””

Pros & Cons of Using Quotes

Pros
Quotes are great when you know the exact phrase you’re looking for.
Example: “post office most wanted”
Example: “John Richard Smith”

Dangers Of Using Quotes
Quotes can exclude valid results because the words were not next to each other. This matters for example, when you have no idea how the name will be listed, i.e. when searching for wedding announcements or obituaries. For example: Quotes around “John Smith” would exclude an obituary about John R Smith or a wedding announcement for John and Clara Smith. Likewise, quotes around “Clara and John Smith” could exclude valid returns with “John and Clara Smith”

Conclusion
If you know the exact phrase or phrases you’re looking for, put it in quotes! You can also narrow your leads by adding a city or other information not in quotes. Be careful of using quotes when you don’t know the exact word order you want, or you want the key terms to come back with a middle name, the name of a spouse or other information that would otherwise be excluded.

3. See Old Versions Of A Website (Google Cache)
Ever go to website to learn it’s changed or no longer there? This is especially frustrating when you know the site refers to the person you’re looking for. The good news is that Google’s cache function can show you an earlier snapshot of the same site.

Suppose you’re looking for Graham Firestone and Google pulls up a site where he’s nowhere to be found. So what do you do?
First, use your back button to revisit the list of Google hits where you first found the site. Notice a green link directly under your website.

Click the down arrow at the end of the green link and click Cached. Now you are on a snapshot of the site before it changed. For more see Search tricks including finding really old websites on the Wayback Machine.

4. Search For Key Words On A Web Page (Control F, Command F for Macs)
So you’re at the top of a webpage over 100 screens long. Now here’s how to quickly find the name you’re looking for. PC users can search for a key word within the site by holding down the Ctrl button on their keyboard and also pressing the letter F. Mac users can do the same thing with Command F. When the small search box appears, simply enter John or Smith or whatever single key term you’re looking for.

Each time you hit enter it will take you to where that term appears on the page. Some browsers will even highlight your search terms so all you have to do is scroll down for the yellow or green highlights.

Note: the find function is a far cry from Google. So do not enter more than one term at a time. Also, the single will find the plural as long as there’s no spelling change. (Attorney will find attorneys, but not vice versa. A search for fly will not find flies).

A good practice is to search for the least common part of the name. For example: Say your searching for John Zanzibar and you find yourself at the top of a super huge webpage. While on the page, first do a search for Zanzibar. There’s probably only one. But a search for John will probably take you to a lot of the Johns you weren’t looking for.

5.. Exclude Google Returns That Contain Unwanted Words
Now let’s talk about excluding the words we don’t need in a search.
Notice a search for John Firestone gives you over 12 million hits.

But Google has a way to exclude unwanted words by using the minus sign. Here’s how it’s done. In the Google search box, first enter the terms you want as usual. Then, after your desired search terms, you’ll want to enter the terms you don’t want in your returns. Simply press the space bar and add the minus sign along with all the words you don’t want.

For example: John Firestone -tires has 8 times fewer hits because now it’s not puling up Firestone tires.

John Firestone -tires -dr has even fewer hits. (691,000 instead of 12 million). But before you exclude, take a look at your returns for words you know are irrelevant. Open a few to see the pattern. Otherwise you may over exclude and miss something important.

Using Quotes Combined With The Minus Sign
Now watch what happens when you add quotes such as below.
“john firestone” -tires -dr

As you probably knew, you get a lot fewer returns. This is because the word doctor is not relevant unless for some reason you believe your subject was a doctor or connected to doctors.

Previously I tried this search and to my surprise I got more hits instead of less. So always pay attention to what happens when you add search terms or use the minus sign. You should get fewer returns not more!

6. Search For Recent Results In The Past Week, Month Or Year
Ever want recent news, a recent weather report or the most recent scoop on a person’s whereabouts? With Google, you can pull up returns from the past year to even the past hour. Just type in your search and press enter. Then click on Search Tools up top and click on Anytime.

At this point, choose the past hour, the past day, the past week, past month or past year. You can even use the Google calendar to customize your search to the last 2 years.

Now you can search the most recent how to links, the most recent phone numbers, the most recent developments in the law, the newest products on the market… (you get the gist.)

7. Search Within A Particular Website
Sometimes a website won’t let you search it, or it requires you sign up for it. At other times it’s so badly organized, you simply can’t find anything. This is particularly true with government websites. Even if they have a search engine, they’re often useless!

The good news is that you can still search many of these sites with Google’s search within site feature.

First, I enter the searches in quotes or no quotes, then a space, the word “site colon and the name of the website, no space after the colon. To see how it works, just click on the link below. Note this only searches within the ancestry.com website.

“David Firestone” site:ancestry.com

The applications here are endless. Now you can search almost any site with the power of Google and all it’s search capabilities! Use this to shop for products, gather evidence of product infringement, search for company announcements or look for people!

8. Search For Images (Google Reverse Image Search)
Google can also find when someone’s image appears in different places online. This can be helpful in tracking where they’ve been or what they’ve done. For more on this see Free Links That Detect Online Copying (Consumer-SOS.com). See also Reverse Image Search.

Criminal Record Searches

Federal Prison Records

July 14, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com 1 Comment

The great thing about federal prison records is that they’re all in one spot! The Federal Bureau of Prison has an inmate database that goes all the way back to 1982. And it’s all free. For other federal criminal records, see how to set up a free PACER account at https://sleuthforthetruth.com/free-bankruptcy-records/

How To Use The Federal Prison Database
Most people have seen the movie Wall Street. So let’s click on the tab “Find By Name” and enter in “Ivan Boesky” (this is the real Gordon Gecko the movie was made about)

As you can see, there are other fields for middle name, race, age and sex. Often people are tempted to add in everything they know. DON’T. Ignore all fields except for the first and last name. Then click Search.

As with any record search, less is more. Data entry errors happen all the time. For example: If you listed his sex as “male”, but the record maker accidentally checked “female”, you’ll never see that record. You put in too much information.

Leveraging The Results To Find Out Even More About Your Subject
The best databases give you a lot of extra information when you put in almost nothing. Here you can see that with just a first and last name, you now know his middle initial, his prison registration number, his current age, his race and a release date.

Any site that gives you both their middle name and age is valuable. Often it’s the person’s middle name that helps you know you’ve Googled the right John Smith. And his age is very useful when at the age lookup sites, where you want to further confirm that this is the right subject who lived at these addresses and has these relatives.

Sometimes Google will tell you why he was thrown in jail, not just when. Don’t just Google their name. Google their prison registration number. This usually works best for the more famous crimes. For example: See how this is done with the infamous insider trader Eugene Plotkin.

Googling Federal Prison Records

1. John Smith indicted
2. John Smith federal convicted
3. John Smith “federal prison” (One Term in quotes)
4. “John Smith” “federal prison” (Both terms in quotes)

5. “United States” v “Ivan Boesky” (Both terms in quotes)
6. John Smith charges federal
7. John Smith sentenced federal
8. John Smith sentenced federal Georgia
9. “John R Smith” sentenced federal Georgia
10. “John Richard Smith” sentenced federal Georgia

Hope you enjoyed this tour through federal prison. May your stay be a short one!

Money & Debt, Public Salaries & Employment History

Public Salaries And Employment History

July 5, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com Leave a comment

Did you know that nearly one sixth of all U.S. employees work for the government? That’s right. Twenty two million people are employed by the federal, state, county and city governments. This includes powerful senators, eminent college professors, lawyers, judges, school teachers, postal clerks, librarians, trash collectors and city bus drivers. The government is BIG. And it hires people from all walks of life and every profession.

Imagine 22 million people who rent, buy homes and date, just like you. But with one itty bitty difference. Unlike the private sector, their salaries are totally public! In fact, for millions of people, you can find their exact salaries along with where they’ve worked and for how long. It’s all online!

Why Do I Care How Much They Make? Isn’t That Just Snooping?

Of course it’s snooping. But there are many good reasons to snoop. If government workers are all around you (and they are), it means you’re bound to have some personal and professional contact with them. So why wouldn’t you snoop?

If you’re going to date them, hire them, rent to them, invest with them, or even go bowling with them, you might as well know who it is you’re hanging out with.

Plus, if you ever apply for a government job, you can lookup up the exact salary of your boss and your peers. In other words, you’ll know exactly what to negotiate for and the salary you should reasonably expect.

How To Lookup Federal Salaries and Employment Histories

Excluding the military, there are almost 3 million people who work for the federal government. And there are millions more who once worked for them and have moved on to other things. The good news is that you can find their the salaries, job titles and length of service at just two websites!

The salaries of six hundred thousand postal workers can be found at the Feds Data Center where you can Search USPS Pay. This site also shows six years of their employment history. So even if they don’t work there now, you can see a snapshot of their work history from when they did. Knowing their work history is important. It can help you determine if they’re stable, dependable and trustworthy. Pretty important stuff if they’re dating your daughter!

For the 2.1 million other federal employees, check out their salaries, job titles and seven years of their job history at Feds Data Center Search Federal Pay.

Note: Some federal employees are exempt from disclosure such as those involved in national security. Names in these cases will display as “Name unknown” or “Name withheld by agency.”

Searching The Database For Federal Non-Postal Workers

Since both federal databases are similar, let’s take a look at the larger one for non-postal workers.

Here you can search by last name only or last name and location or by last name and agency, etc. I recommend you search by last name only: Leave all the other fields blank. The only reason to add more in other fields is if your name is an extremely common one. You can also choose various years of their employment history or all years. Selecting ALL YEARS shows the last seven.

Whenever you search be sure not to add too much information. If you do, you may miss records due to someone else’s data entry error. (i.e. you can’t find them because your subject was listed at the wrong agency or the wrong location or with a different job title).

Checking Out Their Job History
Obviously, if they’re in years 2014 and 2015 but no earlier, it’s safe to assume they’re fairly new with the government. You may also find the same person has changed jobs. (The earlier years show the exact same first, middle and last name with a different position.)

If you get lots of hits, you can change SHOW ENTRIES from 10 to 100 entries. This allows you to see them all at once rather than scroll page by page.

Now let’s test the database by searching for ABRAMS, RUTH, a name which was already here when we arrived. Notice an exact salary is shown along with her job title, agency, and the city and state she worked in. Click all years to see how long she worked there.

In many cases, you can learn their middle name, something which will help immensely in your Google searches. For more on how to Google someone see the Sleuth For The Truth Video Google Like A Pro (7 Tips & Tricks).

Search By Both Name and Occupation (When in Doubt)
Government sites are known for sloppy search engines that don’t work well. So if you can’t find the person by name, try a separate search leaving every field blank but their occupation. Also check if they are of the class excluded from being in the database.

By way of example: a name search for MATHUR, RASHMI finds nobody. But don’t be so quick to presume he’s lying. A search in the occupation box for “General Physical Scientist” shows he does in fact work for the feds. So when in doubt search twice. For a demonstration of how to search for federal salaries, see the Sleuth ForThe Truth video Verify Salaries & Work Histories On Federal Employees.

Salaries and Job Histories at the State, County and Local Level

According to the US Census, there are over 19 million people on the state and local payrolls. Most of these people have ordinary jobs and lead ordinary lives. About 7 million are in education. That means about 35% are teachers, professors, college administrators, and the like. The rest include policeman, fireman, driving instructors, nurses, prison guards, scientists and clerks.

Like everyone else, these people apply for other jobs. They rent apartments, they buy homes, they ask for loans, and they put up online dating profiles. And like everyone else, they make claims about themselves which you’ll want to verify.

So as we did on the federal level, I’m going to show you how to verify their job title, the years they’ve been in public service, and even find the exact salaries they were paid.

Most of the links are for state and county workers. But in some instances you can find the salaries and job titles of city workers as well.

NOTE: Often, county teachers and even public college professors will have their salaries and work history listed in the state databases and not in the county databases. For a good website on public payrolls, check out my website at Consumer-SOS.com (Government Salaries).

Our next stop is the State Employees & Their Salaries section, which has the one stop State Employee Salary Database. This is a wonderful website which covers 26 states all at once. And it allows you to search by name, state and year. Or just by name.

The State Employee Database is far from perfect. In some instances it’s missing people or missing their full work history. But it’s still a great tool for a quick salary and employment check.

Here I’ve entered the name Alice Mitchell, and we’ll search in the state of Georgia. You can see that for 2010, the total compensation for Alice S Mitchell was 89,630 dollars. It also shows that at this time she worked for the Georgia Department of Labor in Legal Services.

Using the back button, you can also see various other years where she held the same position with the same title. Here, it lists years 2010-2014 but not 2015.

Missing records are not uncommon. But if you can’t find your person or the records are sketchy, use the back button to return to the Consumer-SOS salary section. From there, scroll from A to Z for your state’s salary records. Often you’ll see state sponsored links with more in-depth coverage.

Keep in mind that there’s no central state database like the feds have. The states do what they want to do. Some states have lots of links. Others have almost none. And every website works differently too!

Now let’s go to the state of Georgia and their state salary database, to see if we can find the missing 2015 data for Alice Mitchell. Here, I can select the year I want her salary for. Notice it gives 6 years worth of history.

Clicking on person, it now shows which employees you can find the salary of. There are State Agencies, anyone in the GA Public University System, Technical Colleges and Local School Teachers
in the Local Board of Education.

To find Alice Mitchell in the Department of Labor, I’ll click on State Agencies, enter her name and click on the search button. And there she is still working at the DOL in 2015. She’s in the same position and now making over 90 thousand dollars.

Our last stop is PI BUZZ.com. Here you can find a tremendous wealth of information on federal, state, county and city salaries. They also have links to numerous state employee directories. For a demonstration of how to search for State and Local Salaries, see the Sleuth ForThe Truth video Verify Salary & Job Histories of Teachers & Other Public Employees.

Happy hunting!

Marital Status-How To Background, Reverse Lookups-Finding By Their Contact Info

Who’s Cell Phone # Is This?

July 4, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com 4 Comments

Ever want to know who that unknown caller was? Or what if you could do a background check on your new date, or the guy at the convention, but all you have is their first name and cell number?

Well, join the club! This blog is all about reverse cell phone number lookups. The goal: Find a first and last name associated with the number along with other identifying information.

Why Background Someone By Their Cell Phone Number
The fact is that landlines are rapidly becoming extinct. The typical reverse phone directories which did so well with landlines, work absolutely horrible with cell phone numbers. So these days, they’re virtually useless.

But why bother looking up a cell phone number in the first place? So what if you get a name and address? Often you have their name anyway. Right?

The name behind a phone number is useful for many reasons. For example: Suppose your dating “David Smith” but a reverse lookup shows the number belongs to Susan Smith? Just who is Susan?
Is she his wife? An old girlfriend? A roommate? His sister?

Or suppose instead of Susan Smith, the name that comes up is David Fogelman? You then remember that on all your dates, David always paid for things only in cash (you never saw his ID or credit card). And come to think of it, he was never available on holidays or weekends.

Could your David Smith really be David Fogelman? If so, why would he hide his last name from you? Maybe David is doing so because if you knew his last name, you’d also know David is married.

Up until recently, free cell phone lookups were grossly inaccurate. You could never trust if the name was correct and so there was no reason to jump to conclusions.

But that’s all changed thanks to OKCaller and SpyDialer. Between the two of these you have at least a 50% chance of getting the right person. Plus you can sometimes get an address or photo allowing you to do a full fledged background check!

Think about it. With just a cell phone number you can look up the property they own, their true age, their marital status, who they live with, their criminal records and more! So check out these Cell Phone Lookup links and see below for how to use them!

Using OKCaller.com To Find A Full Name And Address
OKcaller is a tool for determining if the number belongs to spammers or telemarketers. But its real value is its ability to find the name behind both private landlines and cell phone numbers.

Simply type in the number without any spaces like this: 6785879228. Often you’ll get a full name associated with the phone number. (depending on the # you’ll get a last name first, or first name last) Sometimes you’ll even get a physical address.

If you do get an address, be sure to check out the video Reverse Address Lookups For Marital Status, Who Lives There & More. To truly make use of what you find, you’ll also want to watch the Sleuth For The Truth video Google Like A Pro (7 Tips & Tricks).

Note: I discovered this site after making the video Who’s Cell Phone # Is This? But you’ll still want to watch it for reverse lookups with Spydialer.com and Google.

Using Spydialer.com To Hear Their Voicemail, Get Their First Name and Possibly See Their Photo
When you enter a cell phone #, Spydialer gives you 3 options:

1. Hear their voicemail;
2. Lookup who owns the phone #; or
3. See their photo.

For #s 1. and 2. above see screenshots from 2020 blog FIND THEIR CELL PHONE NUMBER.

The photo is the least reliable but the other tools are quite useful. If you select voicemail, you’ll be automatically routed to it and the owner will never know you called. Instead, they’ll see a callback number from Spydialer. Note that the voicemail option won’t appear if the number is a landline or voice over IP like Magic Jack. Unless it’s a cell number, the voicemail feature will be grayed out and unclickable.

So let’s do a name lookup with my friend Will Hooper’s old phone number (678-592-2100). You can see that “Bill” is found to be the owner. Close enough! Often Spydialer will retrieve a first name and sometimes a last name. You can then Google the number and the name to find out even more.

Now let’s try this with a landline or voice over IP #. (678-587-9228). Note that you have only two options, and cannot check the voicemail. A name lookup reveals “Graha”. It’s obviously mine.

But look what happens when you click on photo lookup. It actually pulls up my Facebook page and my full name is on display.

Here are some other quick ways to find who’s behind a cell Phone #.

In both Facebook and Google, search like this:
(404) 123-4567
404-123-4567
404.123.4567
“123-4567” Graham (try either a first or last name)

Marital Status-How To Background, Reverse Lookups-Finding By Their Contact Info

Top Signs He’s Married Or Cheating

July 2, 2016 g_firestone@yahoo.com Leave a comment

ball-n-chain-guy_ball-channe art for mariage video

Did you know that 30% of the men on dating sites are
really married? If you do the math, you’ll see you’re chances of being a homewrecker are close to 1 in 3!

You’d think a married man is easy to spot. But such is not always the case. One reason is that their excuses get better and better. They’re some pretty slick men out there. And they’ve been playing this game a long, long time.

Sadly, another reason they can get away with this is because many women see the signs, but in their hearts, they just don’t want to believe them. These women will ignore the advice of their friends, their family and even their own gut instinct. They accept his excuses because the truth is simply too heartbreaking.

That said, I have compiled the biggest, most important signs that the guy is either married or cheating on you. These signs are absolute show stoppers. You should be ready to bolt if you see any one of them.

SIGN #1: He Tells You He’s Married!
This sounds hard to believe but it happens all the time. You meet a great guy and he’s upfront that he has a wife. Or he tells you so only after a few dates. To keep you interested, he’ll claim he’s separated from her or getting a divorce. And so you’re impressed with his honesty. The problem is most of it’s a lie.

This is the cheater’s perfect cover story. He’ll tell you: “My wife’s crazy. She doesn’t understand me like you do.” Or “I’m separated and just waiting for the divorce papers.”

And so you’re the women on standby. (All the time.) It’s a great excuse to keep you hanging on while he does whatever he likes to do. And meanwhile he’s still married and dating every woman in town.

He can’t see you right away? It’s the wife’s fault of course. He’ll say something about the children and custody and anything else he can think of. And you’ll hate his wife for being so cruel and unreasonable, even when none of it’s true.

And if it’s all true, you just married his wife. Your highs and your lows, now all depend on a strange woman you never even met.

What If I Want To See Him Anyway?
If you’re determined to see him before the divorce is final, make him at least show you the proof he filed for divorce. Anyone who’s in the middle of a divorce should at least have the court papers. And be sure it includes a case filing number along with his name. Better yet, tell him “sayonara” until after he’s really divorced. And have him mail you the divorce certificate.

Sign #2: A Tan Line On His Ring Finger
The tan line or indentation on his ring finger is a dead give away
that your man belongs to someone else.

Ask him point blank “You’re married aren’t you?” RUN no matter what he says. There’s no good outcome here. Either he’s married with no intention of divorcing his wife; or he just decided “not to be married” and you’re the rebound girl he can use until he gets his act together. This guy is bad news. Wait for his divorce certificate.

Sign #3: He Never Invites You Home (Or It’s Very Rare)
So, he’ a traveling salesman; the home is under construction; he’s embarrassed how messy it is; his house has bad memories for him; or he likes your place so much better.

If he doesn’t invite you in, dump him! And if he rarely invites you, drive by his house and stop by unexpectedly. Bring a cute gift for cover!

Is he nervous when you drop in? Does he have tampons under the sink? Is the toilet seat down? Does he even let you in? Take a look around the place for signs of another woman.

Sign #4: He Pays Only In Cash
Sure. He hates debt. He has bad credit. He got mugged and lost his debit card, or he’s an importer exporter with lots of cash on hand. OK. But just maybe, he doesn’t want you to see his real name. Or for his wife to see the strange bills on his credit cards!

To verify his name, playfully show him your photo ID and ask to see his too. Later Google him based on his full name, age ,state and county where the ID was issued. And don’t forget to do likewise with his address.

In casual conversation, ask him the names of his relatives. Does he have brothers or sisters or an ex wife? Get a few names if you can, and Google them in the same search with his name. For more on how to background him, See The Sleuth For The Truth Video Google Like A Pro.

Sign #5: He’s Never Available On Weekends & Holidays
(Every Date Is At The Very Last Minute)
This is sure sign he’s married. But even on the off chance he isn’t, you’re still second fiddle. Sometimes he’ll actually make a date with you to show he can commit, but then has to cancel it as something else came up. If there’s really no wife and kids, (hard to believe) you can bet he’s still playing the field. The colorful excuses don’t matter. The reality is he’s committed to other people and you come in last. They get him during prime time. You get the 3 AM slot.

Sign #6: He Never Introduces You To His Family, Friends, Colleagues or Children. Or you meet only a select group of such.
Loose lips sink ships. He’s either a sociopath with no connections, or he’s leading a double life where he doesn’t want you to know about them. And he certainly doesn’t want them to know about you. At best you’re the black sheep, a lapse in discretion, an embarrassment. At worst, he’s a married man and you’re his unwitting adulteress.

Sign #7: He Avoids Seeing You In Public Places
(Or Certain Public Places)
Instead, he prefers going out with you to remote places, or he always wants to stay inside and just be with you alone. Another twist: When he goes out with you, it’s always with group of other people so it looks casual or like you’re just one of the gang.

Watch out if he hates public displays of affection or feels uncomfortable when you suddenly snap a photo of you two together. Yet in private, he’s a different man: He’s affectionate, passionate and really digs you!

This is a man who’ s definitely hiding something. A man who for some reason is afraid to be seen with you. Forget his excuses. What’s the pattern here?

Sign #8: You Only Get To See Him When He Wants You To
Cheaters have busy lives and they hates surprises. You are the outsider, his secret life, the person he must squeeze in among his existing obligations and commitments. Your impromptu call for a surprise date will go unanswered or it will be put off till later. Or he may agree only to suddenly cancel. You call him but never seem to get him. (The pattern is that he always has to call you back.)

Look out for his inability to commit in advance or his constant canceling of your plans together. (Every guy knows not to cancel on your birthday.) If your meetings always have to be prearranged and have strict time frames, this too is a bad sign.

Sign #9: Weird Phone Habits

The examples below show he’s sneaky or concealing something:

He’s Talking or Texting You and It Abruptly Ends (The wife may have walked in)
He Never Picks Up Your Calls in the Morning or After Work (He always has to call back later)
Never Answers His Phone in Front of You but does look at who’s calling (could be the wife or another girlfriend)
Your Name & Phone # is Not in His Cell Phone or, Your Number Shows Up on His Phone as “Office” or with a Name Not Yours.
His Voicemails To You Are Overly Formal and Super Professional
(for example, he calls you by first and last name, or the message never reveals any intimacy such as why he’s calling).
He Has Several phones, or Cell #s, which he won’t give to you.

Sign #10: He Never Talks About His Family Or Prior Relationships
He’s a blank slate with no past. After all, the less you know, the fewer lies he has to tell. And with the names of his relatives, you could find out he’s really married! Tactfully bring up your family and prior relationships and ask him about his own. Does he squirm? Does he change the subject or look uncomfortable? Any guy who won’t open up is dangerous, even without a wife and kids.

Sign#11: He Pretends To Be Such A Super Dad
(So He Never Has Time To See You except when he wants a quickie)
Is he always breaking dates because of his little girl’s dance recitals? Or is he always helping her with homework or dealing with family emergencies? Shame on you for being upset. How dare you be suspicious! What a good dad he is!

But the real reason he can’t see you is because he has a wife or another woman on the side. Being the superdad is a perfect excuse. If the man cares for you, he’ll make the time for both you AND his family. He did it once before when he got married. He can do it again. Unless of course, it’s all just a smokescreen for him while he tends to his wife or plays the field.

Sign 12: He Won’t Friend You On Facebook
Not everyone has a Facebook page. But most people do.
And it’s a real danger sign if you’re dating him and he won’t accept your friend request. He’ll give you some excuse that his Facebook page is only for family or for business or only for his class reunion friends.

But what’s he hiding? A family? A double life? Is he afraid you’ll tag him in a photo of you and him in a romantic setting? Or are you just not that important to him? Men should be proud of their dates. If he’s serious about you, he will want to show you off to others. I’m sure he’s has plenty of excuses. Do you believe them?

Sign 13: He Immediately Takes A Shower When He Gets Home
Some men just like being clean. Others don’t want you seeing strange hairs or smelling another woman’s perfume. If the shower thing is new, watch out!

Sign #14: He Fails The Smell Test
Trust Your Gut. Trust Your Girlfriend’s Gut. If you’ve come across any of these signs, you can bet he’s got a wife or other girlfriends. You are the side dish, not the main course. He might be able to explain away some of this sneaky, flaky, wacky and erratic behavior. But if you believe it all, perhaps you just don’t want to know the truth about him.

Related Links:

Sleuth For The Truth Videos (YouTube)
Learn how to do your own background checks.

Reverse Address Lookups For Marital Status, Who Lives There & More (Video)

Free Background Checks (Consumer-SOS)
Find the free links to find out if someone is telling the truth about their criminal records, their age, their property, their name, who they live with and sometimes, even if they’re married.

Free Georgia Background Checks (Consumer-SOS-Georgia)
Same as above but specific to the state of Georgia.

Sleuth For The Truth

Monthly Archives: July 2016

Free Bankruptcy Records

Is The Crime Still Online?

So Where Do You Begin?

Specific Websites And How To Search Them

Are They Married? Find Out Without Even Their Last Name!

How We Found It: An Anatomy of A Background Check

Age-The First Stop In Any Background Check

People With Common Names-How To Background Them

Google Like A Pro (Quick Tips and Tricks)

Federal Prison Records

Public Salaries And Employment History

Why Do I Care How Much They Make? Isn’t That Just Snooping?

How To Lookup Federal Salaries and Employment Histories

Searching The Database For Federal Non-Postal Workers

Salaries and Job Histories at the State, County and Local Level

Who’s Cell Phone # Is This?

Top Signs He’s Married Or Cheating

Learn How To Do Free Online Background Checks