BeenVerified Review: Is It Legit, Accurate, and Worth Your Money?

You’ve definitely heard about BeenVerified. It is a people search site that claims to provide details about a person using their name, phone number, email, or username. The platform gathers information from public databases like social media platforms, government records, and online directories.

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Is it effective? HeyLocate team decided to test.

It’s crucial because verifying people’s identities is a must before dealing with anyone new nowadays. New data from the FTC shows that reported losses to fraud have increased significantly, reaching $12.5 billion in 2024.

In this BeenVerified review, we investigate whether the platform is a legitimate and safe tool for background checks and how to use it.

BeenVerified is a U.S.-only service and explicitly restricts access from outside the United States in its terms of use. The service cannot be used to search for information on individuals residing outside the U.S., nor can it be accessed from international locations.

If you are located outside the United States, BeenVerified’s services will not be available to you, and any information in this review is provided for educational purposes only. For background check services in your country, please research local alternatives for people search that comply with your jurisdiction’s privacy laws and regulations.

What is BeenVerified?

BeenVerified started as a site to verify your background information. It was founded in 2007 by Josh Levy and launched in 2009 by Ross Cohen.

The site pivoted to consumer-focused background searches in 2009, followed by the launch of the Background Search App for iPhone.

BeenVerified also launched various apps for iOS and Android, including a vehicle search app and NumberGuru reverse phone lookup service.

The BeenVerified app has over 1M downloads from the Google Play Store and thousands of followers on Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram.

Is BeenVerified Legit and Safe, or a Scam?

BeenVerified is a legit and safe site. It has a 100% Trust Score on Scamadviser.

Our Whois search revealed that the website’s domain was registered in 2006 and will expire in 2026. Furthermore, it has a valid SSL certificate, which means it encrypts user data for safety. Moreover, SiteLock check did not detect malware or vulnerabilities on the BeenVerified website.

BeenVerified is not a consumer reporting agency per the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). It prohibits the use of its services for employment or tenant screening purposes.

Lastly, it is upfront about its subscription-based services. Hence, you will not be charged for any report later on.

BeenVerified has been featured in popular publications, such as The New York Times. Thus, it has the tell-tale signs of a reputable company.

How Does BeenVerified Work?

BeenVerified can access public data on people using different search options. Since the service has been proven legal, we can now try it. Let’s check out how each search type works on BeenVerified.

People Search

With the people search tool on BeenVerified, you can check any available information about a person by their name. You can verify anyone like that, just be sure to use information within the law.

During my test, I entered the person’s name and their state in the people search bar. If you’re not sure where the person lives, you can skip the State filter.

BeenVerified provided me with four potential results. I selected the first search result, which displayed their full name, date of birth, current location, and aliases.

BeenVerified listed the person’s contact information, including their phone numbers, location, and email address. It found ten family relatives, social media links, and usernames.

I found BeenVerified can be fast and accurate if you know a person’s name and location to narrow the search, especially for people with common names.

Phone Number Search

BeenVerified’s phone number search is a more precise way to verify a person’s identity. Since you cannot register a phone number to multiple people, you can use it to confirm if the person you met online is who they claim to be.

Within my test, the BeenVerified phone number search yielded a single result, displaying the person’s name, location, and contact information. It showed me the phone type, service provider, and the area code location.

BeenVerified also showed me if the phone number had been reported for spoofing and its threat level. Thus, it is one of the best tools for finding potential scammers.

Email Lookup

The email lookup feature on BeenVerified is great for verifying an email address. It can also help you to learn about the person who sent the email, including their name and social media profiles.

You can use email lookup to search for long-lost friends when all you have is their email address and want more contact information.

My email lookup on BeenVerified yielded results indicating that the email address was associated with a work email. It displayed the owner’s name, location, education, and links to their websites and social media profiles.

I could go directly to the person’s linked social media accounts. This way, I could put a face to the email address owner. Similarly, you can identify who has been emailing you or vet a potential business partner before meeting them.

Property Search

When you want to purchase a property, BeenVerified’s address lookup can reveal crucial details that could help you make your decision.

You can verify the owner, discover the title transfer history, identify potential legal issues, and mitigate fraud or disputes. Not to mention looking up someone who just moved in next door. A property search is all you need.

BeenVerified may help find the property owner and the people who potentially live there. In my search, I got a detailed report that you won’t find on other data platforms.

BeenVerified listed the possible owners and property records, such as the deeds, building permits, liens, equity, and loans. I appreciated being able to view the property’s value, size, land use, location details, and a Google Maps screenshot.

BeenVerified was a valuable tool for conducting property searches. It can also prove handy for prospect research if you’re a real estate agent.

Username Search

Usernames nowadays are more unique than names and can be associated with only one account. For this reason, you are likely to match a username to the exact owner using a username search.

I searched BeenVerified with a username, and it revealed all the social media sites where the username was used. I clicked on the link button to see the person’s profile.

Also, I could see the username’s owner. A full report revealed their full name, aliases, location and email addresses, contact details, occupation, and family relatives. BeenVerified displayed the person’s associates and assets, which could be helpful when looking up a potential business partner.

Vehicle Search

It’s a unique BeenVerified feature, as a rare background search service has it. A vehicle search may help you determine the actual owner of a vehicle.

You can conduct a vehicle search on BeenVerified using the car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to check for available information on registrations, recalls, warranty claims, insurance coverage, and theft history.

I entered a vehicle’s VIN in the BeenVerified search bar.

The search results displayed the vehicle’s model name, the last reported mileage, and its estimated market value. The vehicle history report indicated that the car had no reported accidents or damage, had two owners in 16 years, had no open recalls, and had a clean title.

I liked the owner details, as they indicated when the vehicle was purchased and the name of the lien holder. However, it did not include details of the car’s value at the time of purchase. Nonetheless, it listed all the features and specifications, including engine size, trim, installed options, and packages.

As a vehicle buyer, you can do your due diligence on BeenVerified. It can provide comprehensive data access to a vehicle’s condition before you send a mechanic for a thorough inspection.

Unclaimed Money Search

One more rare feature that BeenVerified has is an unclaimed money search. This aims to help you find out if you have money held by the state. If, for some reason, you overpaid a bill and the money was not returned to you, it may still be held by the state, and you can collect it.

BeenVerified’s unclaimed money search option encourages you to check all the states you’ve ever lived in. Just enter your first and last name and state in the search bar.

If you find money that matches your address, you can file a claim to initiate the process to get back your money.

Family and Ancestry

You can add relatives to your family tree on BeenVerified and conduct obituary and ancestry searches. This feature can be useful when looking for long-lost relatives or if you want to know your heritage.

Monitoring Hub

For not searching for the same person twice, there is the monitoring hub. It is a feature that keeps track of a report and notifies you of any changes.

It also includes your own monitoring to help protect your identity.

You can set up alerts for identity and credit record activities, protect your identity using identity theft insurance, and scan your email to see if it has been found in a data breach.

Other BeenVerified Features

BeenVerified has many more unique features. Some are still under development because we noticed they don’t work as expected. They include:

• Contact Pro allows you to get a contact report. Currently, I have not found it any different from the name search.
• Fraudscan can verify contact details: phone numbers, emails, IP addresses, and URLs. This feature seems to work, but the results were not displayed properly.
• Neighborhood search can tell you about other homes in an area when you search for a particular address. Again, during my research, the tool did not appear to have any data.

BeenVerified App & Accessibility

BeenVerified is available as an app for Android and iOS. You can download the app on iOS devices running iOS 14 or later and Android devices running Android 4.0 or later.

The BeenVerified app offers various search methods, including contact information, online profiles, unclaimed money, a dark web scan, and property records. It can also look up phone numbers on the Apple Watch by speaking the number.

How Much Does BeenVerified Cost?

BeenVerified is subscription-based. It offers flexible pricing options, including monthly and three-month subscriptions.

On the three-month plan, a BeenVerified subscription costs $36.89 or $23.98 per month. A paid trial, for $1, allows you to access up to 100 reports.

You can cancel your subscription before the next billing cycle. Otherwise, BeenVerified will automatically charge you a monthly fee once the trial is over.

If you wish to request a refund, please contact BeenVerified customer support via email at support@beenverified.com. BeenVerified handles refund requests on a case-by-case basis. Moreover, if you paid through Google Play or App Store, you have to request a refund through the same channels.

Does BeenVerified Notify the Person You Look Up?

BeenVerified does not notify the person you search. Your searches are completely anonymous, and the information you search for is only viewable on the BeenVerified platform.

That means anyone can do such a search about you without you knowing. It’s all about publicly available data, but if that makes you uncomfortable, you can remove your records from BeenVerified through a quick and easy process.

How To Opt Out of BeenVerified

Click Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information in the footer section of the page.

It will open the BeenVerified Opt-Out page. From there on:

1. Enter your first and last name in the search bar. You will see the available records.

2. Click Proceed to Opt Out beside your record. It will open a new page.

   

3. Enter your email address so that BeenVerified can send you the verification email.

User Reviews of Beenverified

BeenVerified has numerous reviews on reputable review websites, including TrustPilot and SiteJabber. It has also garnered notable mentions on forums such as Reddit and Quora. The Trustpilot review site rating number is 2.9 stars from 2,455 reviews and 2.4 stars from 309 reviews on Sitejabber.

BeenVerified reviews show most users have had a satisfactory experience. Users on Reddit find that it works most of the time. Some say it has high data accuracy, while others find it can provide outdated data.

Nevertheless, we discovered that BeenVerified has a super responsive customer support team that replied to all reviews on Trustpilot.

Negative reviews suggest that users are dissatisfied with the lengthy customer journey they encounter when visiting the website. It appears that you must wait for the search process to complete before being prompted to pay the subscription fee.

BeenVerified Customer Service

If you’re unsatisfied with BeenVerified or have a question, you can submit a request through the BeenVerified Customer Support page. You will be asked to provide your email address, Member ID, and the details of your request or inquiry.

The BeenVerified Help Center has answers to most of your questions, whether about billing or public records, what payment methods it accepts, whether you can run a single report without paying for a subscription, and other details.

I asked BeenVerified to clarify some sections, and here is their response.

In addition to the contact page, you can also reach BeenVerified through live chat in the footer section. You will see a Contact Us box. Choose the Chat with us Live option. It will take you to the live chat page.

Unfortunately, live chat is through the BeenVerified bot. It could not help me with any of the questions I had.

How to Cancel BeenVerified Subscription

If you decide to cancel a BeenVerified subscription, you can do so in three simple steps.

1. Log in to your BeenVerified account and scroll to the bottom.
2. Click Contact Us, then choose Cancel my Account > Continue.
3. You will see a pop-up. Click the Yes, continue to cancel. This will confirm you have unsubscribed from BeenVerified.

BeenVerified Pros and Cons

After such a thorough review, let’s summarize the specific advantages and disadvantages of the BeenVerified platform.

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Conclusion

My BeenVerified review found the platform practical for quick background searches. You can count on it when searching for valuable information about most people.

I found it particularly useful for reconnecting with long-lost loved ones. This is because it has a vast database that spans decades.

BeenVerified’s search options allow you to search for information using any details you have, regardless of how small.

Most importantly, it offers search tools that are not available on other search sites, such as vehicle and property listings. You don’t have to hop between different websites or visit physical offices to find public records.