Spokeo reviews

What a rip off,put a friends name in who is on many social media sites and you come back with nothing,got to laugh very poor site

They charged me for their service even though I opted out and they sent an email verifying that. This is a rip off. Had to have the bank remove an unauthorized charge, what a pain.

I paid the 2.95 for a one time reverse phone call.I didn't get the report that I wanted,so out of principal,I will dispute the charge and I also cancelled my card.Spokeo is a rip off.

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Randy,

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.

If you would like further assistance with your purchase, please contact our Spokeo Customer Care team at 1-888-906-0850, Monday through Sunday, 6am - 5pm (PST) or at CustomerCare@spokeo.com at any time.

Sincerely,
Spokeo

3 weeks ago

Like many others, I signed up to find out that I could not open the ordered report but was charged the $49.95. I called customer service and was told that I would need to install an updated browser to see it. I did this and still no access. I called back and I asked to cancel the service. They would do so but kept $9.95 stating that they could see the report so it was not their issue. A real rip-off. There are other options but all of these services make their money on the up charges to get any data once you have already paid the initial fee. Keep away from Spokeo and all the rest and seek out an individual investigator for this service.

This site is an incredible rip-off. It tells you that you can have a search for $.99, then, if you don't "cancel", WITHIN 7 DAYS they charge you $19.95.

WTF!

NEVER AGAIN F**K YOU, Spokeo

This site is a rip off. They fraudulently overcharged me to begin with then had a sister company called Biz shark continue to bill my account long after the contract ended. I am going to sue them for fraud. I would NEVER recommend this company

Was this review helpful? Yes 3

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Spokeo I. [Spokeo Rep] Dear Brandon

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 any way.

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

12/9/14

It is a worthless scam. They will bill you perpetually even if you just sign up for the $0.95 single search. The ONLY way to get them to stop is go to your bank and block the charges.

signed up for a free 7 day trial, cancelled the same day. Then a charge for 99cents and $14.95 appears on my charge card. Very uncooperative about reversing these bogus charges. Told them I was going to challenge it with the credit card company and they finally agreed to reverse the $14.95, but refused to refund the 99 cent "activation fee".

I paid for a simple phone number trace and days later a charge for $19.99 showed up on my bank statement!!! I have been on hold with them now for 20+minutes and have no reason to think ANYONE is going to pick up. I have emailed them and doubt I'll get a response. I WANT MY MONEY REFUNDED or I'm filing a chargeback! STAY AWAY FROM THIS SITE!! Do NOT enter your billing information or they will fraudulently charge you! TOTAL RIPOFF! SCAM, SCAM, SCAM. They should be shut down. Call your governor's office of consumer affairs! Have this company taken down and FINED for their unethical/criminal business practices!

I was attempting to check out a new relationship. I believe in being safe than sorry. The advertised fee is different from the actual charges. I was charged $29.70. then when I clicked on another button, I had to pay $4.95. One thing Spokeo, Check Public Records.com, and Checkmate have in common is that they charge one fee that the consumer think is for the designated service. Then they charge additional fees for information that appears to be in the advertised price. Public Records check is worst than Checkmate, so stay away from it.

I signed up for the 6 mths trial at a cost of 4.99, after 6 mths it would start automatically billing a 29.97 fee every mt. But instead what happened was they billed me for the 29.97 instead of the 4.99. It gave me very little information. If I wanted more, I had to agree to moor charges, something like 37.50 / mth. Trying to cancel is another issue. Every time I try to input my cancelation information the system crashes. After about 4 or 5 crashes it finally took the info but couldn't find anything on me.

This company is fraudulent! Do not waste your money! They lie about what they will provide but charge your credit card and then you have to cancel a subscription. Do not waste your money and time with this rip-off company.

These people know what they are doing, and it sounds to me like they just don't care. They have all the answers. I've called the BBB to complain and will continue to file complaints until they return my money. I certainly hope that if all the people who have had a bad experience with them, do the same. Maybe, we can all be responsible for putting them out of business. Local media in your area may be willing to help as well!!!!!!!!

I was charged after canceling. When I called to get my money back the operator wanted to ask questions about the searches I had made, i.e. "on such and such date you searched for such and such, did you find what you wanted?" I reminded the operator that my purpose for calling was to have my account refunded, not to discuss how I used the service. He insisted on going over what I had searched and when I refused he said "ma'am, I'm just trying to do my job here". When I objected to further questioning I was placed on hold. He returned to inform me I would see my refund in 5-7 days.
It appears as though Spokeo charges your account after you cancel with the intention of ripping you off in a manner that will work in their favor in at least two ways. 1., the consumer doesn't notice the charges until sometime down the line, and the company pockets the stolen money. And 2., if the consumer calls for a refund they will be forced to endure pushy sales tactics by the company's sales people to keep the subscription active.
I have seen reviews describing how Spokeo has made multiple small withdrawals from accounts over a long period (like a year) which add up considerably over time, even after the consumer called the company to re-cancel a cancellation, some of whom never intended to start a Spokeo recurring charge at all. I have found even more consumer reviews on other sites where endlessly long threads of customer complaints about Spokeo detail similar and other scams even worse than scenario I experienced. After learning what I have I now feel the need to make changes to my bank account (an extremely drastic thing to have to do) because that has been the only way some Spokeo victims were able to stop the company from continuing to rape their account after their Spoke account was supposedly cancelled.
I find their buisness to be100% unethical.

TOTAL RIPOFF---unless you want to pay $ for very very little info avoid this site---after entering a telephone number the site does a search and lists what data is available---name, address, etc etc, but once you pay the site only delivers one or 2 of the items it says was available---can you say BAIT AND SWITCH?!
AVOID THIS SITE!!!
I only gave one star because this site requires you to give a star rating---SPOKEO shouldn't have any!

It's such a crap, i paid 0.7 dollars for a 3days trial service or something, i am sure i didn't subscribe any other service, then after 2 months, it charges me 16 dollars secretly without even sending me an email, and the results you can get from them is totally useless, you can get everything they provide from google by yourself. And i found i am not the only one whose money got stolen by them, can't believe such crap from Stanford graduates. I wish i could give negative scores to them.

I wish you could give them 0 stars. I used the service to search an e-mail address. It found the person and their e-mail, and stated that they had 9 social sites they were registered on and all that came up was 1 FB that had been deactivated. Where and what are the other 8? Was only supposed to charge me for one time usage and when I rec'd CC statement was $29.70 charge. I called and they did refund $24 of it.

PAID 1.95 FOR A ONE-TIME LOOK-UP. NEVER GOT THE RESULTS BECAUSE THE WEBSITE WOULDN'T TAKE MY SIGN-IN. TRIED TO CALL...ON HOLD FOR 20 MINS SO I FINALLY HUNG UP. WROTE TO THEM BUT DIDN'T GET ANY REPLY. I'LL CHALLENGE THE CREDIT CARD CHARGE WITH MY BANK. THESE FOLKS SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO BE IN BUSINESS.

JACK H.

My poor unsuspecting husband used spokeo for a single search and the result was not only was he charged the single search of 0.95 which was fine, but when his credit card statement came, he was also charged $15.95, 4.95, $30 x 2, and a whopping $89.95! When he finally reached someone with customer service at least the guy that helped him sounded professional, and acted like he truly wanted to resolve things. We did get the $15.95 reversed, but was told the other charges were not related to them. Either someone at spokeo used his credit card information to make purchases, but how can we prove this without getting an investigator involved. I think the other reviews are right. Just don't get involved with them! It's too much trouble!

What lies!! I paid for the name and all I got was a map that said the number was coming from a certain city - not even a specific address.

I ordered a report as the search had a column "the results include" which had phone number checked off. Under the same column it had other things listed under "may also inlcude" . I highlighted the button for the report only, a cheaper price for a trial membership was an option. After submitting my payment information, I received a message stating what I was charged , which was a third price less than the report only and more than the trial membership report price, also stating that I was a Premium member. I first checked the report, as finding the phone number was urgent and the report did not have a phone number.
I signed out (you create an account to view the results online and did the search again, this time taking screen shots to show the search page with the phone number checked as well as the page with the report prices listed and called the Customer Care number listed on their email with the receipt for the report charge. You have to choose billing or tech support so I chose billing. The rep listened, said he was taking notes, and went through each concern. He even went to the search pages to see that it stated that the phone number was checked as available. He gave me his supervisor's email to emial the sceeen shots to his supervisor and gave me a refund. My emails to the supervisor were returned as undeliverable.
I called Customer Care again and spoke with a different rep that said that that email address might not be able to accept images. I expalined that that was the whole point of the email and explained that the web site was showing inaccurrate results. He then said that the small print
states that not all information is available (which isn't true). I said that they were doing false advertising and he then said that I needed to speak with their legal department and wanted to give me yet another email address. I repsonded that I didn't trust that email to work and wasn't going to waste more time dealing with them and would instead do a review online.
I am going to keep an eye on my creditcard statement. I also went back to their site, logged in, and took screen shots to show that I am not suppose to be subscribed to anything. I will keep the messages that my emails were undeliverable as well as my receipts. The irony is that they now have my name, current phone and email address for their database!

I agree with the other reviews that Spokeo IS FULL OF CRAP. It told me during a preliminary search of a phone number that it had information and could provide information such as owner, address, etc. Then I pay the money and it cannot find anything on this phone number. This is another SCAM. Do not use Spokeo. It is worthless.

Spokeo is TOTAL CRAP! You can get all the outdated info they provide for free on your own if you spend a bit of time. No value to this at all!!!

I looked up in revese one of my email accounts. It said I had 3-plus online profiles and 3-plus photos and videos. Not true. The only way you can get accurate information is to pay for a licensed PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR or through law enforcement. Lawyers also normally have software for this. As for billing your debit card or credit card relentlessly, the only way to stop this is to LOSE THE CARD. Not actually: Just tell your bank you lost the card and cut it up. They will issue another within 5 business days for a small fee. Then Spokeo can't hit your old card anymore because it's been cancelled by the bank. Bingo.

the service is worthless. No information was provided from the reverse phone number lookup. Then, after reading how these clowns at spokeo rip people off with continued automatic charges, I just had my CC cancelled and another one issued.

Sneaky! be careful! I wanted ONE backround check. I logged on one time , paid and canceled. One year later I noticed a strange charge on my credit card statement. It was this company! ripping me off for a year. They said I auto renewed every 3 months! scam!

BEWARE!!! If you haven't already made the unfortunate mistake of using Spokeo...then count your blessings, and RUN LIKE HELL!!!

Happily, I just received refund checks from Spokeo and Bizshark. Same company, same address. I worked with my credit card company, who went into action right ans credited my account for over $400! The credits and the checks came quickly.I never signed up for these and didn't study my credits card statements, husband ill, but when I did I was shocked.
Ask for your money back.

THANK YOU EVERYONE, All these horrible reviews are so helpful and personally saved me a rage that I just didnt need to have happen.. You wonder why the hell our dear and self serving authorities and our """"People's""""" gov. and politicians , dont shut obvious scandalous bast---- ,like spokeo , down. Too busy catering to their own special needs and concerns ... what a joke the infrastructure of USA has become... Worthless

SCAM....FRAUD. There is no reason to sign up for this thing. After the $.95 free trial, if you don't cancel (and it doesn't tell you HOW to cancel), they bill you $19.95/mo. The only way I got ahold of them was when I got my credit card bill with their phone number on it....by then, it was too late to cancel for the next month....$#*! is bitter!!!

A scam. I searched on an email address and it said it had 20 social media profile matches. You pay the money, and then it hasn't actually got any matches, it just says "possible" for each social media site -- so you have to look anyway. All the photos and blog posts were for someone else. A complete scam. PLEASE REPORT TO BBB if you have been scammed too.

I agree with the others, this site is a total scam!!! Do not use! I will be fighting the charges through my credit card company. They do not deliver what is promised, second day I went to get saved searches all the information I needed and had the 1st day was fee access only, they want more of my money than the initial 14.94 for 3 months to unlock everything, including address now. I'm usually not a sucker but this time they got me.

don't bother waste of time. Does not allow cancellation online, forces you to call, and then card is STILLED charged.

This company is a rip off. It does not do what it says it will and after cancelling the service and getting an e-mail conformation that it was cancelled and that I would not be billed again I continue to be billed and have money drafted out of my account.

I am writing this review to warn others about my bad experience with Spokeo.

I used their service for $0.99. I found it to be useless so I notified them to cancel my "membership" as soon as possible as their service is not needed and inaccurate. They assured me that my membership will be cancelled immediately and assured me that I will not be billed at all. However, they keep billing me and keep ignoring my messages and never even attempted to contact me at all. Not professional at all - they're ripped off and shonky.

The name of the person that initially contacted me is Song - sounds like Korean name. Both their customer service and e-mail address provided on their website did not return any of my messages and their phone just keeps ringing.

SO BEWARE OF SPOKEO - this company is dodgy. THEY HAVE NEVER REIMBURSED OR REFUNDED MY MONEY THAT THEY OBTAINED FRAUDULENTLY.

Had the same experience of not being able to find any paperwork trail for this site, but has anyone worked out how to cancel? I don't want to have to cancel a credit card over this.

This is a joke!! After promising "full information" in all categories, I paid for my three month subscription and found "information not available" in every category! It's a pyramid scheme. "Well, if we didn't provide you the information you wanted, perhaps you'd like to try our next higher membership level, and see if we"ll deliver".(Paraphasing)
If Spokeo offers access to all information, and doesn't deliver, how can this site still be in business?.

Useless, SCAM! They give you the option of signing up for 3 or 6 months...after minutes you find it is useless...but wait....it you pay more money....maybe you will get more info?...just trying to milk people for inaccurate info that you can get easily for yourself! Google or yahoo search is free and has more accurate info!

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.

Was this review helpful? Yes 7

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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

7/3/14

I used spokeo to find 1 number for $.95; I had the option for $19.95, but only needed to use the service 1 time. I was accidentally charged $19.95 and they credited my $19.95 back to my bank account within 2 business days after speaking for professionally to them on the phone. A courteous and humble spirit works well when speaking with folks about a refund.

I was very wary after looking at these reviews, but I needed the number. I paid the ONE TIME fee and did not go looking for the discount by signing up for a month and trying to cancel later. Which seemed clear in the instructions as the safe way to go. They said I could have the number for $1.95 and sure enough I got the number for $1.95 just like that.

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!!