In the digital age, finding information about other people is of paramount importance for many reasons. Whether you want to find out who is texting you, if your online date is real, or just learn about a new friend, it is necessary to search for info online. That way, you will be calmer about those who surround you. But what are the most effective ways to do this? Here are a few ways to find information online on someone you have doubts about.
1. Use a people search engine
People search engines are the first method to try. To find info about someone there, you just need to search someone’s full name, phone number, email address, or regular address.
Simply go to Nuwber, a people search engine, and type in the details you have. The platform aggregates and presents data from various sources, including public records. Here is what you will find:
- Dates of birth
- Contact details
- Address history
- Property history
- Business details
- Professional licences
- Financial records
- Criminal records
- Judgments
- And much more.
2. Leverage the old-fashioned Google search
Many companies have tried to overtake Google’s dominance in the online search industry, and so far all have failed. The reason is quite simple: googling is one of the fastest ways to access much of the information the world has ever generated, including someone’s personal details.
If the person of interest has an established presence on social media, has written some works, or has ever been a member of any organization, there’s a good chance you will find some intel on them. Nevertheless, some people like to keep a low profile and are hard or impossible to find with a search query.
To increase your chances of finding someone on Google, try some search techniques such as using longer search queries that include a person’s location, workplace, educational background, or other reliable details that are connected to a particular individual.
3. Set up a Google Alert
If you have tried searching for data on Google and did not succeed, set up a Google Alert for the new results to show up in Google Search. Simply go to Google Alerts, enter a topic you want information about, and click Create Alert. After this, you will get emails whenever the matching results are found.
4. Check out their social media profiles
Most people use social media platforms, with 62.3% of the world population having at least one social media account. This means there is a good chance that the person you are searching information about has an online presence on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, or LinkedIn. Once you have access to someone’s profile, you may be able to find data about their social circles, interests, and professional backgrounds.
Depending on what type of info you want to find, some platforms will be more useful than others. For example, LinkedIn can be of particular use if you want to know more about a person’s professional life. The platform even has a section called “Endorsements”, where you may see feedback from people who have worked with the person in question.
5. Turn to the reverse image search
Another search strategy is the reverse image search. It can come in handy when other methods have failed. To use this approach, you will need to have at least one photo of the person of interest.
Then to Google Images and upload the photo. The search engine also allows you to paste the URL of an image to provide the results where the same or similar images are found. If a match is found, the platform will take you to the profiles, articles, or websites associated with the person.
6. Utilize public records
Before the Internet, people often had to rely on public records to find details about someone. This strategy can still be useful in some situations and, of course, it no longer necessarily involves going to institutions where public data is stored.
The examples are court, birth, and marriage records and statistical data. They give access to several types of official documents, including information coming from marriage and divorce records, voter registrations, and property ownership.
7. Ask an AI chatbot
Regardless of what people say about AI, it is an effective method to find data. One of the most popular chatbots is ChatGPT, so if you are having a hard time locating the necessary details, try this option.
You may not necessarily find something or a lot, as AI chatbots cannot provide you with recent information. However, it is still worth a try, especially when all the other methods did not bring any results.
8. Go to niche websites
Niche websites are specialized in gathering intel on particular topics. For instance, if you are looking for someone who has an academic career, you can use platforms such as Google Scholar to find their publications.
Bottom line: Finding information about strangers has never been easy
Privacy has become a hot topic in the last two decades, and rightfully so. While people have different opinions on how privacy laws should work, one thing is clear: your public life can now be accessed by almost anyone from the Internet. This also means that it has become increasingly easy to find data about strangers, especially if they do not put a lot of effort into keeping a low profile.
If you need to quickly assess the probabilistic extent to which you can trust someone in a particular context, all you need is a name, a picture, a phone number, an email address, or a regular address.
Search strategies, however, need to be used strategically. While you may be able to find a lot of information about someone, only some of this information is actually relevant to you. For example, if you want to know if you can trust your future business partner, you may want to skip browsing through their comments on X and focus on what matters.
