Locating People Using Advanced Person Search

Advanced Person Search allows you to include additional information about your subject, such as a relative name or previous state of residence, or even use partial information you may have, to more accurately pinpoint where they may be currently located.

Our proprietary database combines data from hundreds of sources to create the most comprehensive collection of information about people in the United States. Advanced Person Search's searching capabilities allow you to combine information you have to make searching for your subject faster and easier, saving you time and money.

Topics in this help are listed below:


Quick Start

First, try to locate the subject using one or more of the following search techniques:

  1. Search using the nine-digit SSN.
  2. Last Name, First Name, and State.
  3. Search using a Last Name, First Name, State, and DOB.
    Note: It can be a full or a partial DOB.
  4. Search with a DOB and First Name.
  5. Search using your subject's unique LexID® (which can be obtained from an initial search).

Back to top


Search Tips

Reference

This may be an optional field depending on your company policy. It can be your case name or number. You can enter an alpha-numeric string. This information may be used to track all the searches for a case or for billing. For a normal user you will find Reference in the Comprehensive Report for person; for an administrator, you will find the Reference in the Activity and Billing Info.

Search by SSN

Non-SSN Searches

Non-SSN searches do not always return all records associated with the Subject. In order to ensure all records for the Subject are returned, you must identify at least one record that has a high level of confidence to be the Subject's record. Click the hyperlink on the record's SSN to return the optimal results; that is, all records associated with the Subject including the current address and telephone number.

Search by Name

Search using your subject's last name and first and middle initials. For example, J. D. Doe. Please keep in mind that some records may not contain a middle name or initial, so providing one could eliminate records you may want included.

If you are unsure of the subject's proper first name, try using a variation of the name. Our intuitive automatic nickname feature will return results matching the subject's proper first name.

Perform Strict Search

Check this box to limit your search results to only include exact matches on the name and street address fields, as entered. This search option will not return phonetic matches or nicknames, or addresses with similar street numbers.

Include Name Variations

Check this box to include nicknames and aliases in public records results. This is helpful if you're unsure of the correct spelling for the first name you've entered.

Include Similar Sounding Names

Check this box to include phonetic (i.e., sound-alike) results for the last name you've entered.

Include Full Address History

When searching by Name and State only, check this box to return full address history for each identity returned. Otherwise, addresses are limited to the State entered and the address of their current State of residence.

DOB Formats

Ideally a DOB should be entered as mm/dd/yyyy (month/day/year). Examples: 07/07/1977 or 7/7/1977.

In the event that a Subject's complete DOB is unknown, searching by mm/yyyy, mm/dd or yyyy format may prove helpful.

Use a Date Range

Search using the Date First Seen and Date Last Seen fields to refine search results for a date range in which address records were reported. These fields require an address to also be input when searching.

Search by Additional Subject Information Fields

Click the plus sign by Show Additional Subject Information Fields to display the following: Driver License Number, Driver License State, County, Age Range, Other Last Name, Other City, Other State, Relative First Name, Other Relative First Name.

Note: These additional fields are hidden by default. You can access My Account / Preferences / Other User Settings to check the option to always show the additional fields by default from session to session.

Back to top


Results Display

Returned elements may include some or all of the following:

In addition there is a Further Research panel on the results page. Selecting an address in search results will load a small map of the mapped address in the Further Research panel. Use the Select to Enlarge link to view the map larger in a separate window. Alternatively, select the Map icon under an address to view the mapped address in a separate window.

If a subject has any derogatory photos on file, those images are displayed in the Further Research panel. To not display these photos, access My Account / Preferences / Other User Settings to check the option to not display offender photos in Advanced Person Search roll-up results.

Too Many Records Found

If the system returns "Too many records found" there is no charge for the search. This means your search resulted in more than 1,000 records. Try narrowing the list of results by adding search criteria.

Narrow/Expand List of Results

If a list of results is displayed but more records were returned than are practical to review, try narrowing the list of results by adding search criteria, such as Street Address, or middle initial, or DOB.

If too few or no results are returned, loosen the criteria by removing the most precise or uncertain criteria (e.g., middle name or initial, date of birth, city).

Find a Subject in the Results List

Identify the proper records by carefully examining the information displayed. Make sure the record(s) you pick fits into what is known of the subject.

Indicators

SSN Indicators

If a sign appears to the right of a Social Security Number it indicates the SSN is validated. If no such sign is displayed, that means the system is not able to validate the SSN.

If a sign appears under a Social Security Number it indicates the SSN is incorrect for the individual.

If a sign appears under a Social Security Number it indicates the SSN is near but not an exact match for individual.

If a sign appears under a Social Security Number it indicates the SSN possibly belongs to a relative.

If a red flag appears below the SSN, it may be associated with one of the following:

If a yellow flag appears below the SSN, it may be associated with one of the following:

If a blue flag appears below the SSN, it may mean "SSN is incomplete."

Active/Inactive Phone Indicators

If an icon is below a phone number, it indicates the phone number is active; if an icon displays, it may mean that the phone number is disconnected or that the phone and zip code combination is invalid.

Deceased

If a record has a icon to the left of the subject's name, it means the subject has been reported deceased. The date of death and age at death also appear under the Full Name column in the search results. For deaths reported since 2001, there may also be a "P" (which would mean that proof, such as a death certificate, has been filed with the Social Security Administration) or a "V" (which would mean the death has been verified, usually by a family member) beside D.

Current Address Indicator

If an icon is beside an address, it indicates the address is the most probable current address.

If an address does not have a land line phone number, the check mark may be missing even if it is the subject's current address.

If a subject is found but has no check mark to indicate the most probable current address, you may try his/her associates, landlords, relatives, or neighbors.

Address Risk Indicator

Based on the permitted use, the system may display a yellow flag below an address if the address falls into one of the following categories:

Back to top


Source Documents

Government/Law Enforcement customers frequently question the credibility of data they are analyzing. They have expressed that the more frequent a data item shows up in a resulting search, the more credibility is assigned to it. The Source Documents feature is designed to address this interest by generating a list of sources, number of hits, and timeframe to give the end users a gauge of what level of credibility they want to assign to a result. Based on the source information they will be in a better position to direct their investigation by making more informed decisions as it relates to following up on tips and leads and conducting investigations.

Accessing Source Documents Information

Source Documents information for an individual is obtainable after an Advanced Person Search. There is a View Sources link under the Full Name on the search results page. A number, which indicates the approximate number of unique data sources used for this record, is placed by the right side of the link.

Clicking the View Sources link leads to a pop-up box with source documents summary.

Only one pop-up box is displayed at one time. The box closes automatically when you click the View Sources link for another subject.

Managing the Source Documents

You can do one or all of the followings from the source documents summary box.

  1. Click on the top right to print the source information summary.
  2. Click to close the pop-up source information summary box.
  3. Click the plus sign by Expand All to reveal details of every data component; or click the plus sign by a specific component (for example, Address) to reveal that particular source details.
  4. Click the minus sign by Collapse All or by a specific component to close the details sections.
  5. Click after clicking the plus sign(s) to print the full or partial source details.
  6. Click to close the pop-up source details box.

Data Components in Source Documents

The following is a list of components included in the Source Documents for individuals:

Note: Depending on the subjects, not all the components may be present. For example, if a person never owns a phone number, the Phone information may be missing.

The list below is the Source Documents information available for each of the components above:

List of Sources

The system utilizes more than 50 data sources, most of which are spelled out for you. For example, Tax Assessor Records. A few are masked per contractual agreements.

Back to top


Further Research

There is a Further Research panel to the right of the search results.

Search Deeper

In the results list, selecting any data point (e.g., name, address, etc.) will dynamically update the Further Research panel with links to searches that can be queried by the selected data point. Selecting one of those search links will run the search and load the results.

Selecting an Indicator icon in the Indicators column will result in a pop-up that provides option to retrieve the records or cancel the action.

The Indicators column can display some or all of the following: Criminal Records, Motor Vehicles, Sexual Offenders, Concealed Weapons Permit, Property, and People at Work. Clicking an indicator icon returns related information in the same window. For example, if you click the icon, the results page will be filled with the subject's vehicle registration information.

In addition to searching deeper, you can copy/print/email one or all records, export the results list to Excel, setup alerts, launch Relavint, and order reports.

Note: There is one kind of alert - Person Alert. Please reference the unique help topic on the feature.

Copy/Print/Email the Record

To copy a record so you can paste it in another application,

  1. Click the icon to the most left of the record. The Record Utilities screen opens, with Quick Links box in the middle and the record information at the bottom in text format.
  2. Highlight the record text and right click your mouse. Several options display.
  3. Select Copy.
  4. Open the application where you want to store the record and paste the text.

To print/email a record,

  1. Click the icon to the most left of the record. The Record Utilities screen opens, with Quick Links box in the middle and the record information at the bottom in text format.
  2. From the Quick Links box, select either Print or Email.
  3. If you select Print, your printer box will open up, from where you can print the selected record. If you select Email, your default email application will launch, with the record information auto populated in the content area. Just enter the recipient's email address and send the email.

To print a record,

  1. Click the "Print" checkbox to the left of the record.
  2. Click the "Print Results" button. The Print Search Results screen opens with options to print the selected record or all records returned on the page. The Further Research panel will print only for the selected record.

To copy/print/email all records on the list,

  1. Click the All link on top left. The Record Utilities screen opens, with Quick Links box in the middle and all the records information at the bottom in text format.
  2. Copy/Print/Email the records as indicated above.

Export the Results List to Excel

Make sure you have Excel in your computer. If not, exporting is not an option.

  1. Click the Export to Excel link on the top right of the results list. The Download box pops up.
  2. Check one of the two radio buttons to choose to download the records on the first page (records 1 to 25) or all of the records.
  3. Click the Download button. The File Download prompt appears momentarily.
  4. Click the Save button. The Save As dialog box displays with File name populated, and file extension as .csv (which is Excel compatible).
  5. Accept the default File name or change it to another name as desired.
  6. Click the Save button again.

You can later open the .csv file in Excel and then save it as an .xls file.

Launch Relavint

  1. Click Relavint Visual Link Analysis link. The Relavint™ Visual Link Analysis screen appears.
  2. Click the Start Relavint button. The Relavint™ Software License Agreement text displays.
  3. Click I Agree.
  4. Click to Continue.

The Relavint chart is ready in a matter of seconds.

To learn more about this linking tool, click the ?HELP button at the bottom left.

Order Reports

There is a set of reports links available in the Further Research panel - Report section: Comprehensive Report (which covers every aspect of the subject); Custom Comprehensive Report; Finder Report (which has data pulled from a historical phone database); Address Report (which returns people/businesses that are currently or historically associated with the address), Virtual Identity Report; Asset Report; Phone Detail Report; Summary Report; Relatives; Neighbors; Associates; Relatives, Neighbors & Associates; Bankruptcy Report; Relavint Visual Link Analysis; and Court Search (which allows users to check the possible criminal records of a subject at any given address or period of time).

To see a sample report before ordering, click the See report type examples link.

The following is the steps to order a comprehensive person report. The ordering of other reports is similar.

  1. Click the Comprehensive Report link. The Request Report screen with report options (see below) appears.
  2. Make sure all the information items you want to include in the report are checked, and those you don't need are unchecked.
  3. Click the Request Report button on the top. The report populates the page in a matter of seconds.

Report Options

These report options can be set up in the Preferences screen and apply to all reports. Here is just another chance for you to manually set your preferences for this particular report.

  1. From the My Account screen click the Preferences tab.
    Note: If this is your first time since sign in to access My Account, you will be prompted to Verify Password.
  2. Once you enter the password, click the Continue button. You are brought to the Preferences tab.
  3. Click the down arrow by Other User Settings and select a specific report from the list. The options for the report display in the middle of the page.
  4. Check the box by Prompt me for these options.
  5. Click the Save Preferences button. You will see “Your Preferences have been Saved” in the middle of page.

Back to top

Printable Version