# Those Search Engines for Finding People? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 1, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805 "2007-11-01T00:07:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/1 "2007-11-01T00:07:56Z")
I remember someone mentioned some awesome sites for finding people online. There was one where you could even find out their relatives’ names, which is rather spooky. Anybody remember what that’s called? My attempts to search the Dope keep timing out, perhaps my Halloween sugar buzz is affecting my google-fu. j/k, I have no google-fu. ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/2 "2007-11-01T00:50:59Z")
I recommend [Veromi.net](http://www.veromi.net/), which I discovered through **Fear Itself’s** post in the [found wallet](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=403719&page=1&pp=50&highlight=wallet) thread. I found some family members that had I’d been separated from for ten years through Veromi, and it did return relatives’ names, which is how I verified that I found the right person. And thanks a whole friggin ton to **Fear Itself**. You have no idea how much you changed my life with that one little post. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/3 "2007-11-01T01:13:36Z")
That’s it! Thanks! That was such a cool thread. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/4 "2007-11-01T01:40:30Z")
[QUOTE=pprgrl] And thanks a whole friggin ton to **Fear Itself**. You have no idea how much you changed my life with that one little post. [/QUOTE] Alright! That’s it for me. Goodnight everybody. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/5 "2007-11-01T01:52:30Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Alright! That’s it for me. Goodnight everybody. 😃 [/QUOTE] Yah, that post is the reason I paid up to become a member…I figured that if the SDMB helped me (albeit somewhat indirectly) to find my family, it was worth the 15 bones. ---
**Author:** ![Chasing\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@Chasing\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chasing_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/6 "2007-11-01T05:03:05Z")
That Veromi engine only seems to work for people living in the States. Is there a people engine for Canada? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/7 "2007-11-01T16:17:30Z")
I don’t know which engine it was, but my fiance’ helped me look up a buddy through some search engine her law firm was subscribed too. She wanted to know full name, parents’ name, and any previous addresses. She found him without a problem in like 15 minutes, despite him and his mom having moved to different states, and he even joined the Army. I was suitably impressed- it seemed pretty bizarre, but probably completely above-board. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/8 "2007-11-01T17:43:14Z")
[QUOTE=pprgrl] I recommend [Veromi.net](http://www.veromi.net/) [/QUOTE] Wow, that’s scary. On the one hand, I comfirmed that I’m the only “me” on the list, but yikes. Three different “identities” for me, and it lists my parents. Whoa. Whoa, and I looked up my brother? It doesn’t list our parents, but it lists our paternal grandparents. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/9 "2007-11-01T23:32:48Z")
In looking up my name, I found an entry for my deceased father, indicating an address for a town he never lived in… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/10 "2007-11-01T23:40:41Z")
There are errors in veromi. My name search indicates I lived in towns I have never lived in, but my brother did. Obviously, some erroneous conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/11 "2007-11-02T00:03:24Z")
[QUOTE=Chasing Dreams] That Veromi engine only seems to work for people living in the States. Is there a people engine for Canada? [/QUOTE] Woah. It may only work for the key people in the states, but I just looked up my dad at his last US state, and along with his listing there were “possible relatives” that included my mother, me, my brother, and my two sisters - and all our correct ages and middle initials - and only my mother and one of my sisters has ever lived in the US. Fuck, don’t like that, I don’t. How does _that_ work?! ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/12 "2007-11-02T01:21:56Z")
Heh. It’s listing my ex as being in his 50’s – I think they’ve confused him with his father, even though their names aren’t the same (other than the last name, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/13 "2007-11-02T02:35:31Z")
:::sniff::: It thinks I’m 62! I’m 36. It lists my evil step-mother, but not my Mom. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/14 "2007-11-02T19:28:57Z")
For those of you who have used such sites, did you pony up the money for additional information? I have always wondered how detailed/helpful the paid reports are. FWIW, the most recent city it has listed for me is from 4 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/15 "2007-11-02T19:34:19Z")
[Zabasearch.com](http://Zabasearch.com) is also pretty good for this sort of stuff and gives you more info without ponying up the money. ---
**Author:** ![Lovely\_Rosita\_meter\_senorita\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lovely\_Rosita\_meter\_senorita\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lovely_Rosita_meter_senorita_1)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/16 "2007-11-02T19:36:56Z")
My data is over 20 years old. They must have school records from somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/17 "2007-11-02T19:43:46Z")
[QUOTE=lorene] For those of you who have used such sites, did you pony up the money for additional information? I have always wondered how detailed/helpful the paid reports are. [/QUOTE] My husband once paid one of these sites (I think it was [Intelius.com](http://Intelius.com)) in an attempt to locate someone who owed him money. The site provided lots of data (including an interesting criminal history), but none of the info was current enough to result in contact with the desired person. It seems likely that these sites are better at finding people who are not actively trying not to be found. Distant relatives, old classmates, those kinds of people are locatable. Tracking down debt-evaders can be very tough even for professional skip tracers. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/18 "2007-11-02T20:22:50Z")
Holy crap! One of the people I looked at was my daughter (she’s not lost, I was just curious) and they even know that her boyfriend is living with her! ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/19 "2007-11-02T20:43:09Z")
Cool! There’s two other people with my same first and last name. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805/20 "2007-11-02T22:07:34Z")
I looked myself up on there, and not only is my age 12 years off, but the relatives are wrong. One of them is the ex-wife of an old boyfriend of mine, not even remotely related. They’re not big on accuracy, I guess. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-search-engines-for-finding-people/424805.md?page=2)