Intelius
Reviews and Complaints

According to Renee Berg, Intelius Supervisor, Employee ID 8114, in a conversation 12/15/2010 at 12:28 pm:

Intelius is aware that the information furnished in all of their reports is information that is available on the internet for free. Ms. Berg stated that the information is pulled from a search of the internet and "aggregated" into the report that is requested.

Ms. Berg also stated that Intelius does not imply the information frnished is not available for free elsewhere.

Terms of Service:

Disclaimer Of Warranties. The information in the Intelius databases has been compiled from public records and other proprietary sources for the specific purposes of (1) locating individuals, property and businesses, and/or (2) providing general background information about individuals and businesses for verification purposes. Neither Intelius nor any of our data suppliers represents or warrants that the Information is current, complete or accurate. Intelius HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES REGARDING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICE AND THE ACCURACY, CURRENCY, OR COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION) ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ADDITIONALLY, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL WE BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION) ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS, OR ANY OTHER CLAIMS OF YOURS OR THIRD PARTIES, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. You assume all risks associated with the use of our databases and information.

Ms. Berg also stated that ALL Intelius information provided comes from free sources. The statement in the terms of service suggests a relationship with "our data sources" and also indemnifies those sources from responsibility. How do you indemnify a source that you do not have a contract with?

I did a random phone call verification on 3 common "pay for" sources of public records information. None of those sources list Intelius as a client. Intelius refuses to identify who they pay to provide their information.

Here is what Intelius states on their website is included in a Backgrond check:

What is issued within the Background Check?
Intelius provides instant and comprehensive Background Searches on anyone. This detailed search includes the following information:

Criminal Check
Bankruptcies
Small Claims
Property Info (If available)
Neighbors (If available)
Tax Liens
Judgments
Licenses
20 Year Address History
Mortgage
And Much More

The background check that I was charge 40.00 for had one address that was 15 years old for the name I was searching for. That person's address history showing addresses for 20 years prior is available for free on the internet because I found it. So, Intelius did not furnish me a 20 year address history which is a breech of what they claim on the website. In fact, it is a lie and the terms of service confirms it is a lie. I am surprised they don't add "if available" to that claim.

The report did not have lein information that appears on a credit report for the person requested in the state that the address is listed for. So, that verifies that Intelius does not have access to Virginia State court records that are public. The person does in fact have a judgement and a current lien as well as a 3 year old bankruptcy.

The Intelius "terms of service" state:

Intelius will use reasonable efforts to deliver the information services to its customers, and to compile information gathered from selected public records and other sources; provided, however, customer accepts all information "AS IS". All purchases are final with no refunds. Furthermore, Intelius accesses and is charged for information controlled by third parties and cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information.

Comments about these terms: If Intelius is paying other sources for information that can be had for free from the internet, they are complete idiots. Ms. Berg stated that all information they report is from "free" sources obtained in internet searches.

Ms Berg argued that since the terms of service disclaim any understandings that a consumer may get from statements otherwise on the website, Intelilius is not at fault.

Intelius is incorporated in Washington State. I would suggest that anyone who feels Intelius has used misleading and false statements on their website to obtain consumer monies call the Washington State Consumer Protection Division at this number and file a complaint:

[protected]

Attempted to do a search and website never worked properly and, therefore, no service was rederred to me.

They must have caught my account info and are now performing recurring charges on my debit card--I have no credit--and live on the income of debit card.

Serious negative living hardships have been created.

11/10/[protected] BILL PAY DDA INT*INTELIUS CM INT*INTERLIUS CM [protected] WAUS 1.95

11/10/[protected] (Same as above) 19.95

12/13/[protected] (Same as previous month)

12/11/2010--Spoke with Amy (CSR) and she soke with her supervsor, Germany, and they would only reverse 12/13/2010 charge and cancell account in January.

Already a victim of Identity theft which I informed them of.

Will be in contact with my bank.

An unauthorized charge appeared on my pa child support debit card statement on december 7, 2010 for $19.95. I did not approve this charge. I had no knowledge of this charge. I want reimbursed $19.95 plus compensation for stress, cost, and interest as quickly as possible.

They do not provide a solution to remove your personal information. I have been trying for weeks to get my information removed. I now have a case pending with TRUSTe (who actually puts their seal on the website), the local BBB, and a complaint with the Federal Trade Commision. If you want your information removed, I suggest you file a complaint with the FTC! Their fax number does not work and they will NOT respond to your emails.

AGAIN if you had a problem with Intelius.com, file a complaint with the FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION! This is the only way to stop it, once their is enough evidence for the authorities.

To Neil of Intelius customer service

I have called today at spoke to Tim without lastname as he stated that he doesn't provide his lastname and he is the only one in the call center by this name. The issue I am writing about was that Intelliues has been charging my debit card for $19.95 without my knowledge and doing research on my account, I have found two charges from October 15, and for today pending transaction. Tim have cancelled my account and was told that he will credit to me the $19.95 for this pending transaction. I am not interested with any type of program/membership/or promotions. The reason I have stumbled onto the website for US Search was to trace a phone number and that they were charging me .95 cents to get the information. I honestly did not click no boxes as I am very careful in being charged to what I agree and difinitely I don't have no intention of paying $19.95. I only agree to pay the .95 cents. I am asking nicely to refund me the charges made by intellius to my account on or about October 15, 2010. I don't have no intention to file a formal complaint with the state of nevada consumer affairs as well as to the state of where your company obtained your license. Please return my money for October 15, 2010. If you don't have the authority to refund my request, please forward it to the higher management. I have never heard nor I have received any refund yet but I will be pursuing to file my complaint with the State of Nevada Consumer Affairs or even to the small claim court. I am doing my best to work with them in a amicable way but their response of ignoring my request does not show any good faith.

I have sent at least 3 emails requesting that my service be cancelled and the fee refunded.

I signed up for the free trial for people search to find one telephone number that I couldn't get until I had accidently agreed to the identity theft service. I immediately requested that both services be cancelled and requested.

But 7 days later they billed me for both services. I did get a refund for one service but after 3 more requests to cancel, I am still getting billed for the other service. I find that their website is a complete rip off. It deliberatley takes you to other pages to get you to inadvertently sign up for other services. I didn't realize what I was getting into until they had billed me almost instantly. And, they say you can cancel online but I guess that doesn't work. Consumer beware!

As with others here who have lodged a complaint, I too have had my credit card charged for a service I did not authorize. I originally was looking to find the owner of a phone number who was also telling me they were going to start charging a fee on my credit card, but was informed it was a bogus number. So in turn I called to cancel my my subscription with Findanybody, which I found out is part of the Intelius group. I cancelled the subscription within the 7 day period and was informed there would not be any further charges, but still I have 2 seperate charges on my credit card from Intelius, and this happened in a period of two weeks. I went to the Intelius web site and got another number to call, but have been unable to get anyone to answer. My next step is to get in touch with the Attorney General and let them deal with this fraudulant company.

I only ask for one adress, and then, they charge me $ 19.95 dlls per month. we have four months charged and I change the number of my credit card but intelius persist to make the monthly charge.- I need my money back and I nedd to cancel this charges inmediately.
Thank you

Used their services to trace a call.When I got the bill from my credit card, they had conveniently added another 19.95 charge in addition to what I had been billed for trace. "Slavia" at Intelius said she could credit me $5.00 since a billing cycle had passed since charge. Asked if I remembered one of the website pages with a picture of something I didn't recall at all.She indicated that is where I signed up for this monthly charge.Have the invoice for the trace charge, but never bought so don't have invoice for whatever they are billing for now.I am disputing with Mastercard.Maybe they can get somewhere.

I performed a 3.00 search for an old friend's phone number and address on the Intelius website. I got an outdated address and phone number (around 10 years old), never finding an updated address and phone number through an Intelius search. The agreement stated that my account would be charged 3.00. About one month later my account was charged 19.95 by Intelius. When I called them, they told me that I had agreed to pay for a membership with them. Nothing was mentioned before, after, or during the search about a membership or a charge of 19.95. I told them that I wanted the charge removed, that I did not want a membership with a service I would never use again. I did not agree to it in the first place. Initially, the representative told me that they would simply cancel the account, but would not refund the 19.95. I asked to speak with a manager and the tone changed. The representative then told me that she would talk to her manager herself and see if the money could be refunded. Eventually, the representative came back on the line and told me that all charges would be refunded. I am waiting for the refund to show up on my account.

Beware! Don't trust Intelius agreements. There are most definitely hidden charges. Do not give them your credit card number; who knows how much they will deduct from your account in the end.

I signed up and paid for them to locate one person and now they are charging my credit cad $19.95 a month automatically wthout my concent.
Sandra Stahl

This company (Intelius) is a scam. First I did not get any more info than I got from the phone book. Second they charged me twice. Once you get a membership and get in if you click on another link within the site they charge you for that. I am going to try to have my bank reverse both charges. I would not use this service ever again. I will tell the customer service rep at Intelius I was not satisfied and that this site is rediculous. PLEASE DO NOT EVER USE THIS SERVICE UNLESS YOU LIKE THROWING AWAY YOUR MONEY!

I agree. this is a sherade, sham a scheme to rob you. i too have fallen victim to them and can not keep them out of my account. the info you get from them is not complete. their site is obviously set up to get your personal info to exploit you and steal from you.look out for them under these names: int*idprotect mntr svc, intelius-intelius.com . you may want to email your story to : us government - homeland security [protected]@uce.gov this is the federal multi-jurisdictional task-force assigned to investigate and prosecute internet fraud. unfortunately many of these web-sites are operating under many layers of fraudulent sham corporations outside of our borders where extradition agreements do not exist.

I called ValueMax about the unauthorized charges that I'm certain were a result of using the Intellius background check service. The first rep offered to cancel and refund the current month's charges, I said I wanted all of it credited going back to 2009 when they started charging my corporate card. Why this was overlooked by me and my company for so long is another issue I know. Anyway I asked to be transferred to a supervisor. The supervisor offered to give an additional 2 months credit. I said one simple thing "I want all of it credited immediatley as these are fraudulent charges"...and she immediatley responded "we will credit your card the full amount, watch for your credit in the next 3-5 days. This is the e-mail I received as a follow up:

From: [protected]@a.valuemax123.com [mailto:[protected]@a.valuemax123.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 1:22 AM
Subject: ValueMax Refund Confirmation for Membership # xxxxxxxxx

This email confirms that a refund/credit of $331.25 was processed for your ValueMax membership. Please note that you will see your refund on one of your next two statements, depending on your billing cycle. We thank you for your interest in ValueMax, and we hope your membership experience was a positive one.
If you have any comments or suggestions that might help us better serve our members, please feel free to email us at [protected]@valuemax123.com.
Sincerely,
ValueMax
Member Savings

If you do a background check on someone through Intelius.com you will start getting unauthorized charges on your credit card. One in particular from INT*IDPROTECT MNTR SVC. They indicate it is something you signed up for and it isn't. I also started to receive unauthorized charges on my card for CLKBANK.com after using Intelius. It is a company you want to stay away from.

I when on this website intelius.com last month to do a reverse phone number search, I was told I would be charged $4.95 for the search but that if it did not come back with any information I would be refunded.

To no avail nothing came back in the search and I was told I would not be charged but if I put in my email address they would send me any information that came available on the number I searched.

Needless to say, this month I see a $9.95 charge AND a $19.95 charge! I called customer service and was told that they would refund my $9.95 but could not refund the MEMBERHSIP FEE of $19.95 that I supposively signed up for when I entered my email address.

Upon further investigation I was charge $19.95 last month also! In the end Randy refunded me the $9.95 and says he will refund one of the membership fees of $19.95 which I have yet to receive so I am out $40.00 for a $4.95 search! BEWARE THIS SITE IS A SCAM!