When a skip tracer attempts to locate a subject, often the inclination is to head straight for the paid searches. There is no argument that products like LexisNexis, TrueFace, Aegis, and FirstSweep provide top-rate location information on people and can further prove identity using Social Security Numbers, but to use these premium tools on every subject is not cost effective. The deeper the search, and the more dead ends you hit, the more expensive the search will be, up to and exceeding $50 in some cases.
In one skip tracer’s experience, the private investigator she worked for insisted that a paid search be run on every new subject when the case came in. The trouble was, this added up to a large bill every month and the information obtained was sometimes several months old. By the time a subject’s information hit the credit bureaus, the person had already moved on. When the owner hit dead ends, he would give the information to the skip tracer to try something else.
Thinking outside the box, the skip tracer knew not everyone likes to leave a paper trail, but most people on social media are quite open about their daily activities. Through a few quick searches on the most popular social media sites, she was able to quickly locate residence and workplace information on most of the targets that came across her desk.
Will You Be My Friend?
While folks are becoming more aware of their online privacy today, it is still difficult to keep every piece of personal information off the Internet. Depending on your licensure, as a skip tracer you may be well within your legal rights to use a pretense when trying to locate a person. Licensed Private Investigators have this right and can easily pose as another person to befriend someone on social media. This will grant them access to the personal information shared only with friends, leading the skip tracer home.
While there are debates about the ethics of using social media to locate people, the fact remains that many people will put anything online without regard to their own privacy. It is easy to leave a trail leading to where a person lives, works, and hangs out, who their friends are, and who their closest relatives are. For this reason, skip tracing via social media, especially as a first attempt, is a highly effective and affordable way to locate subjects without spending money that the case may not justify.
