Spokeo reviews

spokeo is a ripoff, just read their terms and conditions and then RUN...they even say their info may not be accurate and you agree not to be part of a class action lawsuit

I used spokeo service only once because they are offering for $0.99. After 7 days they billed me another $19.99 and contact their customer service to ask for a refund since i never subscribe on their service. They canceled my subscription on which I myself didn't know that I subscribe and told me I will never be billed again but after 1 month here goes again they billed my credit card another $15 and this really a pissed off. They will give you a refund but not the exact amount they charge in you. This is the way they will cheat on you. Beware guys.

subscribed to "premium" plan over a year ago - 3 months at a time, I have been auto paying and receiving service. Suddenly, my account is not active - I call and they say "due to a glitch in the system your account was deactivated". I said, well, re-activate it! They said, "well, sorry we no longer offer the plan you used to have." I said, that's what I paid for, have come to expect, and would like to continue. They said, "sorry we don't have that anymore. We've made CHANGES." Basically you now get the "privilege" of paying A La Carte for each search! Component by component... Sheesh - talk about tone deaf customer service. Buyer beware - IMO they created the glitch as a way to force an upgrade on their clients. A fool's errand from my vantage point. Greedy sobs misunderstand the market and the value of loyal customers. goodbye forever Spokeo.

I cancelled my subscription with Spokeo but magically they lost the information and rebilled me. DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO THIS COMPANY!!!! TOTAL RIP-OFF!!!

I've never even been on their site. They did somehow charge my card 3 times for
$.69, $1.14 & $39.95 on the same day. Now I will have to call & sit on hold til someone fixes it or pay my bank $35 to dispute the charges.

Fraud. Promise criminal background check if you sign up. Not so, that is another hefty upcharge. Stay away. Would not cancel and remit after I discovered this on the day that I signed up. So I get three months of a bogus service.

This is what I previously wrote about the website:
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Not only this website didnt find the number I was looking for, but it kept charging my credit card for the following 3 months. Thank God I checked my statement. Stay away from them. They are a total fraud.
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After writing this review I called Spokeo and reported the problem I had to them. That their company kept charging my credit card without my knowledge nor my consent for a service I only used once in the previous 4 months.
The customer representative was very courteous and professional. She explained to me what the problem was and promised me that the company will refund me the money they took from my credit card.
I would like to revise my review and give the company 5/5 stars for their customer service.
However, I would highly encourage the company, since it is an online service, to make the terms more clear to its potential customers.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Mike,
I apologize for the confusion and would be happy to clarify. Spokeo offers several subscription plans at different prices terms. It sounds as though you may have selected a subscription with a renewal cost. These terms are indicated on the purchase page and must be agreed to before a purchase can be made. Again, I apologize if it was unclear in anyway. Please contact our support team at customercare@spokeo.com and we will be happy to look into this matter and assist you.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

3 weeks ago

Thank you so much. I was just about to punch in my debit card #'s when I decided to search for what others say first. Glad I didn't finish that checkout.

Some was true, and some of it was way off!!! Had my dead husband still living at an address that we rented for one year,14 yrs ago!! He lives there with his wife and three kids!! OK........!!! Getting kinda scary I think!!

I paid to get a phone inquiry listing and I did not receive my information. I should've checked this site before getting scammed!

everything here is true, first search gave info after that charged for everything requested as if I was not a subscriber - rip off stay away

Total rip off, stay away. Says they found the name for a phone number. After I paid, says name unavailable. Total scam. The government needs to shut these guys down.

May 25 I sent a complaint to Spokeo about the accuracy of a phone number trace. Then I noticed a law suit they were involved in with the FTC and FCRA. Google SPOKEO LAWSUITS and see for yourself. They have a serious problem with the accuracy of their reports.

I had a problem with a phone number I tried to trace. Turns out it was on the verizon network and could be run for free through verizons web site for friends of verizon by entering the number. Spokeo said the number was a landline. I mean DUH. YOu should have known better. I sent Spokeo a note and got this response. It appears they think their terms of use and disclaimer over rides the fact they said WE HAVE A MATCH ON THE NUMBER. Here is their response.

DA (Spokeo Support Center)

May 28 07:29 PM

Dear John,

Thank you for your email.

I'm sorry to hear that our service did not meet your expectations. Our phone listings typically can provide more information. However, certain numbers are simply not found in our phone directory and may not yield full or accurate results.

Our Terms of Use states clearly that we are a People Search Engine, and do not create, maintain or modify any of the information you see. Instead, this information is gathered from a multitude of sources, such as social networks, public records, phone listings, marketing surveys and more. For this reason, we cannot guarantee full or accurate information for every name, phone number or email address you search for, as the results vary so much from person to person. Spokeo's data reflects that of the original sources, and our engineers are working hard on new algorithms to improve our data accuracy. I do apologize again for the inconvenience.

Questions? Please do not hesitate to ask!

Sincerely,
David

Email: https://www.spokeo.com/contact
Phone: 1 (888) 906-0850
Thank you for choosing Spokeo!

Visit us on Facebook and on Twitter!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Spokeo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Spokeo

They don't tell you it is only 20 lookups a month. Also I looked up one and they didn't have it but there was one close so I clicked on it and both the one I clicked on and the one they didn't have counted for a total of 2. I you were really trying to use it to find someone you might not even be able to finish. I asked about more and for $25 you can have 200 anywhere else it would be unlimited. Very poor customer service. It seems they are in the business of ripping people off and the customer service department knows it.

Glad I came here first, in one of the reviews Spokeo responded "The reviews you read here are a small percentage of our over all customer traffic, but it is true that we do not always find what we are looking for. Since we are reliant on public sources to be complete". To sum it up...public records, what does that mean, they are records available to the public, not just Spokeo. This may be a "small percentage" BUT ITS THAT SMALL PERCENTAGE THAT KEPT ME FROM BUYING INTO IT.

This is the worst scam I have ever encountered they repeatedly charge you 14.95 for a premium membership you cant seem to cancel! Yet they want to charge you for a number look up no one should EVER use this service if you want to call it that .... Give 14.95 to charity it would be a lot better than giving your money away and it's tax deductible!!!!

Spokeo Sucks! I signed up for the trail period but did not give me the info like it said. I cancelled the same day, but I was billed $14.95 for 3 months. I called them that I canceled the same day I signed up for the trial period & why am I charged a monthly fee? They said that there are other places listed on their web site for other services that I should have gone to to cancel also. I told the woman that their web site is very deceptive because I didn't sign up for anything else. The woman (Nilaja) said they would cancel my subscription & refund $29.90 for the last 2 months. I just hope they do what they say & I don't have to cancel my credit card.

If you go to their site they will sneak monthly charges to your credit card. You think that you are using the site on a one time basis and they continue to bill you monthly.

I purchased their three month trial and cancelled when I was supposed to. have been charged for 14.95 for 6 months sometimes multiple times a month. I have emailed and called the comp repeatedly. They told me it would be corrected 2 times and they haven't refunded me a penny. The worst part is they are still charging me!!!!!

SPOKEO- This is a site which support scammers and whom they give your personal info from credit card and their scammers steal your money. I read in Privacy- Spokeo does not sell, exchange, transfer, or give this type of Personal Information to any other company without Your consent. Spokeo, do not lie us about it.You give our private info to SPK*BZSHARK. Why and how they know my credit card info. I never gave my private credit card info to them, I gave it to Spokeo only. Explain us why you give our info for them, I think we must to collect all our messages and write to a police about you. Million people use Spokeo and all lost their money because of your FRAUD Sister SPK*BZSHARK. Maybe a court will find who is who? You are THE GREAT HIDDEN SCAM - SPOKEO. I will write and report your SPK*BZSHARK which you support and give info from our credit cards. SCAM !!! Spokeo, Start to give back money from your friends back to our credit cards. Stop to scam us!!!

I have had the same experience as most of the other reviewers. Signed up for a "free trial" then got billed. A customer service rep. then told me "I must be mistaken for a trial of Bizshark" now a month later I get billed for Bizshark, I have no login, no receipt for a transaction, and no record of ever having signed up for this "service". This is a huge SCAM do not get into this mess. Their supposed offering is totally bogus. Look at these reviews!

Paypal CONFIRMED that there were MANY REPORTS LIKE THIS: I knowingly purchased a two month subscription to Spokeo, then cancelled and checked the following month to make sure no further automatic charges were incurred. There was no charge. What happened next was not automatic. For the next two years random charges were put through my Paypal account, sometimes three months apart, sometimes two or four. I incurred 78.00 worth of charges. I called Spokeo, and they apologized for the charges and admitted they were incorrect. One month was refunded to my Paypal account, two months charges were refunded by check. When I called about the missing 45.00 they explained that now their policy is not to refund incorrect charges past a year. If I had not done my Christmas follow up on all charges made in December, I would still be incurring charges. Note that these were random charges. Check your account regularly every month after, not just the month they were allowed to charge to your account. They pulled a quick slip. PAYPAY is investigating.

Don't waste your time with this crap. I wanted information for just one telephone number and got screwed. The number I searched came up with 'info available' in every field, but as soon as I paid for the report there wasn't one single field that didn't say 'information not available'. I complained, and was told by Ethan H. in customer support told that their disclaimer absolves them from any responsibility to provide the information requested, even if the site says it is available. Don't believe all of the alleged endorsements on that site, because it SUCKS!

I selected the .95 cent one day service. Was then charged $19.95 and they will not return an email. I read there response on her that they say they make it clear that it's a trial and you will be charged for a year after 1 week. BS, I looked around when I purchased the .95 cent service to make sure it was just that charge. They will not do anything to help you...beware!

BUYER BEWARE....BIG TIME
I was intrigued with their claims and price..but shocked with what I was billed and the lack of performance. IT DOESN'T WORK IN CANADA by the way....only email addresses. This is the worst thing I was sucked into buying....and their guarantee...."if you are not happy we will refund your money....FORGET IT!
Read the small print on this one...I called within hours of signing up to cancel because it didn't work in Canada, and they won't cancel or refund my money. $40.00 US. I am into it until August and have not got a thing or need anything from their supposedly service.

I was quite interested in Spokeo's service, but had heard from several people that their information was spotty at best.About a week ago, I was almost ready to register, but noticed you get a limited number of searches a month. That number was never clarified on Spokeo's site. I sent an email through their site to Customer Service. Hearing nothing by the next day, I called their 800 number...twice. Both times, I was on hold in excess of 20 minutes each time. I'm STILL waiting for a return email about my inquiry. If the service is this bad before they get your money, I can only imagine what it would be like after.

You are billing me for a service I never requested and are not responding on any of my emails trying to resolve the issue!

Please STOP billing me for Bizshark™ !!!

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Amanda E.
Thank you for your comment. The Bizshark service you are referring to is an optional 30-day trial which is advertised on our website. This service does require acceptance of their terms, which is stated on that advertisement page. There is also an option to say no thanks and skip this optional add-on. Again, I apologize if this was unclear in anyway.
Please contact our support team at customercare@spokeo.com and we will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1 week ago

I signed up for the free trial, cancelled immediately since I didn´t like the service, nevertheless was charged for months....so I had to cancel my credit card...

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Jorge R.
Thank you for your comment. I'm sorry to hear that you are seeing a charge following cancellation. Seeing additional charges might mean that your account is still active. Please contact us at customercare@spokeo.com so we may assist you further.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

5/20/14

Not only was the information inaccurate, but I received a $14.95 charge from Bizshark. They claim I opted in their membership when I signed up for Spokeo. There is NO WAY I opted in for Bizshark. What a scam! They are supposed to refund my money. Hopefully this is the end of it.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Susan B.
Thank you for your comment. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you. The Bizshark service you are referring to is an optional 30-day trial which is advertised on our website. Since many customers tend to mistake us for them, sometimes charges will be incurred. This service does require acceptance of their terms, which is stated on that advertisement page. There is also an option to say no thanks and skip this optional add-on. Again, I apologize if this was unclear in anyway.
Please contact our support team at customercare@spokeo.com and we will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

5/12/14

In June of 2013, I paid a one time fee for using spokeo for some research I was conducting for the nonprofit I work for. I didn't think of it again. Today I checked my credit card statement for the first time in months and I see I am being charged $14.95 once a month for the last 8 months. I called the 800# associated with the charge to be told I opted in to be a member when I did my spokeo charge. Based on the large number of bad reviews online, I believe they automatically opt you in - you have to opt out in some hard to find fashion. They would only refund 2 of the 8 months of charges. What a terrible company, getting their money by stealing it from hardworking citizens. I would remember signing up for a trial period of bizshark and the welcome email they claimed wthey sent - I asked for it to be sent to me again but have yet to see it or get a call back from a supervisor. Someone needs to shut this website down for deceptive practices!

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Melissa B.
Thank you for your comment. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you. The Bizshark service you are referring to is an optional 30-day trial which is advertised on our website. This service does require acceptance of their terms through a two step process , which is stated on that advertisement page. There is also an option to say no thanks and skip this optional add-on. Again, I apologize if this was unclear in anyway.

Please contact our support team at customercare@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.

Sincerely,
Spokeo

4/29/14

Hey, it's pretty obvious its a scam. All I did was test numbers I knew didn't exist, and they, YAY, had information on them for a price. Everybody knows there is no such exchange as 555.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Wrathtard B.
Thanks for your message. I would like to clarify about the 555 numbers as you are partially correct. Only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are now specifically reserved for fictional use and there are other numbers that begin with 555 that are in fact real numbers. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us directly.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

2/6/14

NEVER NEVER CLICK ON SPOKEO. IT WILL NEVER LET YOU NAVIGATE OFF THE PAGE. Do you morons really think that by trapping people and forcing a total COMPUTER SHUTDOWN just to stop your PRISON OF POPUPS that anyone would give you one PENNY of their money? I HOPE YOU GO OUT OF BUSINESS.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Angry S.
Thanks for your message. The experience sounds very frustrating and I am sorry you had to go through all of that. I would like to mention that Spokeo has only one such pop up ad and it can easily be navigated away from by clicking "cancel" on that pop up. It sounds as though your computer may be infected with spyware, as we have not heard of anyone else with this issue. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

2/6/14

Same as the others - it's a scam. I paid $1.95 and got nothing in return, even though it said there was a match. oh wait - after I clicked "get results" they did offer me the chance to pay $2.95 to get what I was supposed to get for $1.95. Fool me once...What a scam.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Blue G.,
Thanks for your message. The issue you are describing sounds like you may not have been logged in. Once logged in the system will recognize that you are a paid user and not request another payment. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

2/6/14

Okay, this may or may not be a scam site (as in the owner is knowingly being deceptive), but you are certainly not getting anything for your money. They of course have their blanket disclaimer that there are no guarantees on the results, so in other words spend your money at your own risk. I fortunately didn't get the membership, just a one time lookup. Wish I would have came here first.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Nursultan,
Thank you for your message. Sorry that your search did not bring you the results you were looking for. It may be possible that one of our representatives can assist you in locating the information you are looking for. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/30/14

Said there was complete info on number I entered. Paid the one-time fee and the report came back with absolutely no info except the town. Rip-off, rip-off, rip-off.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Mary,
Thank you for your message. Very sorry to hear that our search did not pull up full and complete information for you. When the site says "We found a match" it's because we found the phone number and some of the fields were filled, such as the city. Unfortunately, the information that is important was not there. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/30/14

Ditto ALL of the above 3 pages worth of DO NOT SIGN UP reviews. I stupidly signed up before checking this site, and I completely regret it. Their site cannot even find things that Google can find - it's a complete waste of time and money. I looked myself up on here, and it found absolutely nothing - and I have all kinds of public web exposure. I think the only person who works here is the one who writes the apology responses for all of our complaints!

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Katie,
Thank you for your email. Sorry to hear you feel that way. Our service is very successful for thousands of customers. The reviews you read here are a small percentage of our over all customer traffic, but it is true that we do not always find what we are looking for. Since we are reliant on public sources to be complete, if they are not, we will not get full information. I'm really sorry that it did not work as you had hoped. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/30/14

Don't waste your money. One star is the least I could give, they deserve none. I was doing a reverse phone lookup. They implied they found information and after I paid they sent a report saying they couldn't find the owner or address. All they could tell me was the city. Well duh, the area code tells me that!

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Paul,
Thanks for your message. You were told that we had "found a match" because some of the fields were filled, unfortunately, not the fields that were important. I'm sorry that our service did not meet your expectations. Our phone listings typically can provide more information. However, certain numbers are simply not found in our phone directory and may not yield full or accurate results.
Our Terms of Use states clearly that we are a People Search Engine, and do not create, maintain or modify any of the information you see. Instead, this information is gathered from a multitude of sources, such as social networks, public records, phone listings, marketing surveys and more. For this reason, we cannot guarantee full or accurate information for every name, phone number or email address you search for, as the results vary so much from person to person. Spokeo's data reflects that of the original sources, and our engineers are working hard on new algorithms to improve our data accuracy. I do apologize again for the inconvenience.Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/30/14

Total scam! trying to help a young Girl find her real parents and this site lured her in to think she had a chance to research, and possibly get some info about who, where and why she was put up for Adoption. You People are just plain Mean! Why do you have to rip off Young Folks,I'm
not very pleased , you cause people to think they might have chance to answer some questions they desperately need answers to.. Shame on You. I Swear dose anyone have a consideration about the next Kid, Young Adult, Human Being. I get more and more cynical everyday ,do you folks really need to steal hopes and dreams as well as our hard earned money. Ha Ha you got over on us! we choose to trust and unfortunately look where that gets Us.. Shame on You (I know your laughing because we are not as sophisticated as you all) This Young Girl had her hopes Up. You be proud of yourself, I'm sure your Parents would be!)

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear David,
Thank you for your message. I am very sorry to hear that the service was unsuccessful in finding the young girl's parents. Finding long lost relatives is one of our most popular uses. In fact there is a group of people who volunteer to help search for separated families using Spokeo services. I highly recommend you look into the Spokeo Search Angles, as they have helped many families reunite. Here is a link: http://spokeoangels.com/ . I really hope you both the best of luck in your search. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us back, we would be happy to assist you.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/23/14

Like many others who reviewed Spokeo, I paid $1.95 and received zero information. BUT I emailed them and received a response and full REFUND within a few days. So they DO refund (at least in my case). HOWEVER, if they are going to charge for information, they should let you know UP FRONT what data they CAN provide (name, address, phone etc) and also what information they DO NOT have, so that you won't have to PAY just to find out that they don't have anything to give you for your money. Then you could decide if you want to pay for the info, without paying only to discover that they have NOTHING new to sell you for this particular individual. Without this feature, you can't tell if you are getting what you want or if you get nothing - in which case it could be considered a SCAM for those unwilling or unable to get a refund.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Nick,
Thank you for your message. I am sorry to hear that our phone search was unable to provide you with the details you were looking for. I am glad however that we were able to assist you with a refund. As we are a paid premium service, there are no free searches and since we do not monitor or maintain the information, we simple gather it for you, we can not guarantee any search results. If you have any further concerns, please feel free to contact us. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/23/14

Total SCAM!!! Before I paid the $1.95, Spokeo showed me an aerial view of home I did the free search of a phone number for, to make me think they had a street address. After all, how can they have an aerial view of a home but no street address to go with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS A TOTAL SCAM!!!!

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Chris G.
Thanks for your message. I apologize for any confusion caused and would be more than happy to clarify. Our site showed "We Found a Match" because several of the result fields were populated. However, I'm sorry to hear that our service was unable to meet your expectations and provide a full name. Our phone listings typically can provide more information. The aerial view is a bing.com map view of that zipcode since an address was not provided. It is showing you the general area from where the phone number comes from. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/23/14

Spokeo IS a scam. Paid to get information about myself. I own properties, been paying taxes for 20 years, lived in three major metropolitan areas, have credit cards, etc etc etc...and yet, I go nothing. No information found. These people didn't even bother to look. You pay, and now your money goes to a black hole and never gets back. I contacted Spokeo twice by email, at the address they provide for contact! and got no replies, no answer, and no resolution. Be very careful with these people.

By the way, I Google myself and get plenty of information already within the first few links, including my own current phone number. I make this clarification just in case Spokeo decides to "answer" below (as they use to do with other reviews) claiming that it only aggregates publicly available data. My data are out there, all over the place. And I was hoping Spokeo would be able to get something else that I missed.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear SA H.
Thanks for your message. Spokeo is only able to access public records. If you have records out there that have been made private, we will not be able to access them. Also keep in mind that some documents are never made public such as tax records. Spokeo is designed to locate contact information and demographic data on the area. I am sorry if the service did not meet your expectations and we wish to assist your further with any other concerns. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/23/14

First i checked out to see my own information my home information was correct " SCARY " How in the heck can a company do this . It could cause someone to seriously be hurt. I expect several law suits in the future . What if you are being stalked or trying to leave bad relationship ... Second i found there ad for catching a cheater. Well i wanted to see if i am a cheater LOL. so i entered my own e-mail address and guess what they found me on 71 potential site. Total LIE, i am not on anything but facebook. If i paid them money and joined they would reveal this false information. I know i am not a cheater just had to know what that delivish company had on me. In closing i find this the most crazy thing in the world, it is dangerous, encourages stalkers , rapist , murders, child molesters. All with the clik of a mouse and 3.95 you lose all your rights! I dont know about you but i am smoking MAD!

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Tricia,
Thanks for your message. At Spokeo we take privacy concerns very seriously and offer several ways to have your information removed from the website. This can be done for free and without the need of having a paid subscription. Catching a potential cheater is a very popular reason for people to use our site and the ad you saw was stating that we search through 70+ social networks, it does not say that we found 70+ social sites for you. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/23/14

Charged for information that it would not deliver. Called for refund, on hold for 20 minutes, gave up. Sent e-mail, no reply. A complete fraud!

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Gerald,

Thanks for your message. I am sorry that you were on hold for so long. We have been experiencing some high call volumes the past few days. Please call or email us and we would like to assist you in resolving this issue. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.

Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/16/14

Mostly - the information was very limited and inaccurate. Especially with my own information. I sent updates 2x and it still stayed incorrect.

BUT the worst thing was when I signed up to this site, they also signed me up for another site - my credit card was charged for BizzShark for 2 What a rip off. Since it was near the holidays I thought it was something I ordered until it showed up again this month. What crooks. I canceled Spokeo but continued to be charged for BZshark.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Spokeo User,
Thanks for your message. Spokeo showcases the power of information aggregation. Pulling information from both online and offline sources. Since we do not monitor or maintain any of this information, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of that information. We, as you, are at the mercy of those sources. Again I apologize for the service being unsatisfactory.
In regards to the other service, we do have affiliates that advertise on our page. It is possible that you may have inadvertently selected to begin Bizsharks 30-day free trial. Please contact our support team at support@spokeo.com with mention of this complaint and our representatives will be happy to resolve the issue.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/16/14

paid for a one year subscription and more than 85% of the time received inaccurate information. What a joke! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY. Also, you can click on the privacy link at the very bottom of the screen (where it is grayed out with the other links) and remove what information on yourself is inaccurate. just follow the instructions on the screen. This is definitely a scam. Fortunately I was only charged for the one subscription and nothing further like those I've read about. I'm sorry to hear that all of you who posted got ripped off monthly.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Cybil,

Thank you for your message. I would first like to assure you that we are not a scam and that the results gathered are coming from public sources. If those sources are outdated or inaccurate, unfortunately that is going to be what we gather and what you see as a search result. We have many subscription options, some are monthly others are not. It is up to the user to select the level of service that they require.
I am also glad you pointed out the Privacy link at the bottom of our page. It is there to assist in removing any information on yourself you do not wish to be public. Please keep in mind that information removed from our site is still out there from its original source. Thank you again for your comment and for using Spokeo.
Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/9/14

I was charged twice, and didn't get the information I was promised (name). I was told I would get a refund within 3 business days. This is a total waste of time.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Troy,

I'm sorry to hear that you were charged twice for the same search but I am glad you got in touch with us to resolve that issue. I'm also sorry to hear that our service did not meet your expectations. Spokeo showcases the power of information aggregation, as the data is gathered from a multitude of different sources, such as social networks, public records, phone listings, marketing surveys and more. We also organize the information so that it makes sense for you, as a user. However, machine aggregation has its limits. Since there is no human involved, the data is not verified and might not be accurate. Moreover, many sources do not refresh their data often. Our Terms of Use states clearly that we are a Search Engine, and do not create, maintain or modify any of the information you see. For this reason, we cannot guarantee full or accurate information for every name, phone number, email address or username you search for, as the results vary so much from person to person. Spokeo's data reflects that of the original sources, and our engineers are working hard on new algorithms to improve our data accuracy. I do apologize again for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/9/14

Someone I was thinking about dating (and had called on my cellphone) decided she was going to use this service to "do a background check." She looked up my number (a pay-as-you-go Samsung cell phone bought at Wal-Mart). I have no idea what kind of info. that came up, but she started calling me a liar, a fraud, and bunch of insane crap. A word to the wise when using this service: some cell numbers are RECYCLED. Thanks for ruining my life, Spokeo.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Larry,

I am really sorry to that this happened to you. Dating can be very difficult especially with all the information that is available on the Internet. Spokeo showcases the power of information aggregation, as the data is gathered from a multitude of different sources, such as social networks, public records, phone listings, marketing surveys and more. We also organize the information so that it makes sense for you, as a user. However, machine aggregation has its limits. Since there is no human involved, the data is not verified and might not be accurate. Moreover, many sources do not refresh their data often. Our Terms of Use states clearly that we are a Search Engine, and do not create, maintain or modify any of the information you see. For this reason, we cannot guarantee full or accurate information for every name, phone number, email address or username you search for, as the results vary so much from person to person. Spokeo's data reflects that of the original sources, and our engineers are working hard on new algorithms to improve our data accuracy. The refund amount you may have been offered is based on several factors, one of which is how many searches have been performed and will reflect on that amount. I do apologize again for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/6/14

DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! I went on the sight to use it for free, but discovered it did not give very good info, so I decided to pay for it to get the info that they were not displaying. I check on some of my friends to discover their information was 6 months to over a year old. How is this reliable? The next day I asked to cancel my subscription and they are offering me $11.00 of my 23.00 payment back. Stay away from this sight. I usually check reviews, but failed to do this and am now sorry for that. Do not use them!

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear John,

Thanks for your message. I apologize for the confusion. On our website, basic results are available for free. However, for more comprehensive, in-depth information, you are presented with the option of signing up for our Premium Content. I'm sorry if you were under the wrong impression and hope to assist you in whatever way possible.
Spokeo showcases the power of information aggregation, as the data is gathered from a multitude of different sources, such as social networks, public records, phone listings, marketing surveys and more. We also organize the information so that it makes sense for you, as a user. However, machine aggregation has its limits. Since there is no human involved, the data is not verified and might not be accurate. Moreover, many sources do not refresh their data often. Our Terms of Use states clearly that we are a Search Engine, and do not create, maintain or modify any of the information you see. For this reason, we cannot guarantee full or accurate information for every name, phone number, email address or username you search for, as the results vary so much from person to person. Spokeo's data reflects that of the original sources, and our engineers are working hard on new algorithms to improve our data accuracy. The refund amount you may have been offered is based on several factors, one of which is how many searches have been performed and will reflect on that amount. I do apologize again for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/6/14

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!! Read the other reviews. This is a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE "service" they provide. I even tried searching myself and all the information was either non-existent or wrong. I emailed them twice that I wanted my money back because the information they gave me was consistently wrong and they never even responded to me at all. I would not recommend this site to anyone.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Lisa,

Thank you for your message. I am sorry that we have not yet responded to your email but we would very much like to resolve this issue. You may also contact us by phone if the email has not yet been responded to.
I'm also sorry to hear that our service did not meet your expectations. Spokeo showcases the power of information aggregation, as the data is gathered from a multitude of different sources, such as social networks, public records, phone listings, marketing surveys and more. We also organize the information so that it makes sense for you, as a user. However, machine aggregation has its limits. Since there is no human involved, the data is not verified and might not be accurate. Moreover, many sources do not refresh their data often. Our Terms of Use states clearly that we are a Search Engine, and do not create, maintain or modify any of the information you see. For this reason, we cannot guarantee full or accurate information for every name, phone number, email address or username you search for, as the results vary so much from person to person. Spokeo's data reflects that of the original sources, and our engineers are working hard on new algorithms to improve our data accuracy. I do apologize again for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Spokeo

1/6/14