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
• Search Tips
• Results Display
• Source Documents
• Next Steps

Quick Start

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

• Search using the nine-digit SSN
• Search using Last Name, First Name, and State
• Search using a 10-digit Phone Number.
  Note: You may use seven digits, with or without a State
• Search using a Last Name, First Name, State, and DOB.
  Note: It can be a full or a partial DOB.
• Search with a DOB and First Name.
• Search using your subject's unique LexID number.
  
  You can also search with Additional Subject Information:
  
  
• Search using your subject's name and the first name of a relative. For example, if you are looking for John Doe and you know he has a relative with the first name of Jane.
• Search using your subject's name and include a name they may have previously used or may be currently using. For example, Jane Doe may have previously been known as Jane Smith.
• Search using your subject's name and state of residence as well as any previous state or states (maximum of two) in which they may have resided. For example, Jane Doe in Florida and previously resided in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
• Search using your subject's name, city and state and include the name of another city and state in which they may have lived. For example, Jane Doe in Sunrise, Florida, and Tallahassee, Florida.
• Search using your subject's name and the last four digits of their Social Security Number. For example, Jane Doe and 1234. You may even use a partial first name.
• Search using your subject's last name and first and middle initials. For example, J. D. Doe.
• Search using your subject's name and partial street address. For example, Jane Doe on Main Street, Anywhere, FL.

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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

Even though SSNs are the most reliable identifier for an individual, they are not 100 percent dependable because some records may not contain a subject's SSN. Therefore, a record for an individual may not appear when searching using SSN only. Conducting a second search using Name and State provides additional coverage.

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

• When searching with middle initial, 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.
• If you are unsure of the spelling of a person's name, try checking the Phonetic Search box which will search for phonetic variations of the subject's name if no exact match is found.

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 or yyyy format may prove helpful.

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Results Display

Returned elements include some or all of the following:

• Full Name – First, Middle, and Last
• DOB
• Age
• Gender
• SSN
• LexID
• Address – Street Address, City, State, and Zip
• Dates – The date range in which the address is reported
• Phone – Phone number with owner’s name from the Electronic Directory Assistance

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 or under 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 an sign appears to the right of or under a Social Security Number it indicates the SSN is incorrect for the individual.

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

If an sign appears to the right of or 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:

• SSN belongs to a person reported as deceased.
• SSN issued prior to the input date-of-birth.
• SSN is invalid.
• SSN was issued to a non-US citizen.
• SSN was issued within the last three years.

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

• SSN is a Relative's SSN.
• SSN was linked to more than 2 people.
• SSN not recently reported for subject.
• SSN potentially randomly issued by the SSA.
• SSN potentially randomly issued by the SSA, but invalid when first associated with the consumer.
• Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)

If a blue flag appears below the SSN, it may be associated with the following:

• 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 Indicator

If a record has an icon to the left of the subject's name, it means the subject has been reported deceased. Move your mouse over the "D" and a text box will pop up with the date of death. 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 likely current address, you may try his/her associates, landlords, relatives, or neighbors.

Address Risk Indicator

The system may display a yellow flag below an address if the address falls into one of the following categories:

• Mail service affected in zip code due to natural disaster
• Multi Unit Dwelling
• Business
• PO Box
• School/College/University
• Trailer Court
• Rural Route zip
• General Delivery
• Nursing Home
• Retirement home
• Hunting, Trapping, & Game Service
• Newspaper Facility
• U.S. Postal Service
• Shipping Agent
• Packing & Crating Facility
• Telegraph & Other Communications
• Mobile Home Site Operator
• Rooming or Boarding House
• Sporting or Recreational Camp
• Trailer Park or Campsite
• Tax Return Preparation Service
• Credit Reporting Service

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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 a Person Search or 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:

• Click on the top right to print the source information summary.
• Click to close the pop-up source information summary box.
• 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.
• Click the minus sign by Collapse All or by a specific component to close the details sections.
• Click after clicking the plus sign(s) to print the full or partial source details.
• 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:

• Name
• SSN
• DOB
• Address
• Phone

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:

• Source – a list of named sources of a component. Example, Person Locator 1. See below for details.
• # of Occurrences – the number of times a component is found within a named source. For example, if the number of occurrences for Person Locator 1 is 3, it means the same record is found three times in that source.
• Dates Seen – the time range a component was first and last seen within a named source. The format of this piece of information may vary depending on the availability of data. For example, you may see November, 2006 – December, 2009; or January 2, 2006 – March, 2009; or November 13, 2008 – February 1, 2009. It is also possible that you see only one date (for example, Dec, 2000) instead of a date range.

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.

• If you see Person Locator 1 (or 2/4/5/6), that indicates the data is from one of the consumer bureaus.
• Historical Person Locator is data extracted from a historical phone database.
• Phones covers records from electronic Directory Assistance listings and combined phone sources.

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Next Steps

There are a few things you can do with the results records. You can copy/print/email one or all records, export the results list to Excel, search deeper on elements with hyperlinks, setup alerts, launch Relavint, and order reports.

Note: There are two kinds of alerts - Person Alert and Case Deconfliction Alerts. Please reference their unique help topics 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 copy/print/email all records on the list:

Export the Results List to Excel

Make sure you have Excel installed on 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.

Search Deeper

In the results list, Full Name, Address, and Phone Information contain links for further searches.

1. Click the desired link. A Search Selection box opens that contains all the possible options for further searches.
   Note: The search options vary depending on the element you pick for further searches. For example, the Search Selection box has more options for an address than for a phone number.
2. Make a selection from the Search Selection screen. The system automatically performs the search selected and populates the results in the same window.

If you click a particular hyperlink in the Next Steps column, say, Relatives, you get results right away in a new window.

The Indicator 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.

Launch Relavint

1. Click the Relavint Report link or the icon. 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 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 available on the results list: Comprehensive Report (which covers every aspect of the subject), 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), Court Search (which allows users to check the possible criminal records of a subject at any given address or period of time), and Other Reports (which breaks up the sections of a Comprehensive Report into separate reports).

To see a sample report before ordering, click the See Examples link on the far right on the same row as the report links/icons.

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

1. Click the Comprehensive Report link or the icon. 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.

• Select Report Type – The default is Interactive Web Page. This type returns reports with links for further research if necessary. Or use the down arrow to select a different format.
• Save report for later access - If you check this option, this report will be saved to the Report Manger in My Account in PDF format and will stay there for seven calendar days. You can access this report anytime within the seven-day limit by clicking the View Report icon . If you do not check this option, you will need to re-run the report to access the same information.
  Note: If you check this option once, it will be checked by default next time you run a report. You can decide each time if you want to turn this feature on or off.
• Prompt me for these options for each report – Check this option if you want to see the Request Report window every time you run a report. If you uncheck it, next time you will be brought to the Entitlements Report directly. You will not have a chance to change the report options at this point.
  Caution: It is recommended that you leave this checked all the time. Once you uncheck it, when you need to see the Request Report window, you will have to change the specific Report Options by the Preferences tab of My Account:
  1. From the My Account screen, click the Preferences tab. Note: If this is your first time since login 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 the page.

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