# Need to find a person **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645 "2011-01-14T21:32:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/1 "2011-01-14T21:32:02Z")
I need to get a valid address and phone for someone. It was suggested that I should use one of the on-line searches, but the company name I was given doesn’t seem to exist. When I look around, there seem to be several websites for doing this, with cost ranging from a couple of bucks up to $50. Many of those sites seem to link to [intelius.com](http://intelius.com), so I’m not sure if they’re just fronts or what. And it seems odd to find such a wide range of prices. Can anyone recommend a good choice? I’ve got a full maiden name, probable location, and approximate age. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/2 "2011-01-14T21:34:28Z")
[Dogpile’s white pages](http://www.dogpile.com/dogpile/ws/index/qcat=wp/_iceUrlFlag=11?_IceUrl=true) does pretty good, provided the individual has a land line (with a listed phone number). Just leave the city out, search only on name + state. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/3 "2011-01-14T21:48:17Z")
Evidently no land-line, which doesn’t really surprise me. Thanks for reminding me of Dogpile, though! I used that ages ago when it first came out. Looks like it’s grown up a bit; I’ll have to try it for a while. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/4 "2011-01-15T00:08:28Z")
[Spokeo](http://www.spokeo.com/) can give you a metric fuckton of information about someone. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/5 "2011-01-15T01:28:20Z")
If you get a lot of hits and you don’t know which one is the right one, then [Veromi](http://www.veromi.net/) is the best I’ve found. There’s enough info to find the exact person you want, but then they want you to pay. Instead, then you can go to Spokeo or Dogpile and get the one you want. It’s scary how much info Veromi has. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/6 "2011-01-15T02:08:03Z")
I usually start with [pipl](http://pipl.com/) and [zabasearch](http://www.zabasearch.com/). ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/7 "2011-01-15T02:20:58Z")
Yeah, everybody seems to have her listed, possibly more than once. And I don’t mind paying. I just don’t want to overpay needlessly, or pay for one that doesn’t have as good or current info. Grrr. Some of those have single-report prices, others only subscriptions. Now I’ll have to go look at them again. Grrr, I say. Thanks for the suggestions, guys! ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/8 "2011-01-15T02:28:40Z")
Doh! Got distracted and forgot… do any of those list cellphones? None of them seem to give phone numbers at all without paying, but I suspect any phone would be cell rather than landline. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/9 "2011-01-15T03:31:52Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > [Spokeo](http://www.spokeo.com/) can give you a metric fuckton of information about someone. It sure can! All this time I never knew that my wife was a man! :eek: Or that my house is worth about eight times what I thought it was! It’s a veritable fountainhead of invaluable information! ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-find-a-person/567645/10 "2011-01-16T02:05:23Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > [Dogpile’s white pages](http://www.dogpile.com/dogpile/ws/index/qcat=wp/_iceUrlFlag=11?_IceUrl=true) does pretty good, provided the individual has a land line (with a listed phone number). In my case it’s crap. (I’ve never had a listed number, and as of the 3rd of this month I don’t even have a landline). It came up with my street address (how, I know not). but provided a telephone number I have never, ever had. I checked with another site and found the number goes to a person with my last name (a person I am rather sure I have no relation to) but lives more than 40 miles away. FAIL!