LibGuides: Backgrounding People &amp; Companies: Backgrounding People

Social media searches

Finding People Fast
A guide to finding people and verifying information using social media.

People finding databases: Newmark J-School Users Only

Spokeo
Search by name, phone, address, or email to confidentially lookup information about people. Contact Information, Personal Details, Location History, Family and Associates, Social Media Accounts. Newmark J-School users, please check your email for access information. If you do not have an access email, contact research@journalism.cuny.edu for assistance. [NOTE: we do not have access to criminal record data on spokeo. Try accurint instead]
Data Axle (formerly ReferenceUSA ) J-School Subscription
Search by name, address, and phone number on each of these modules separately:
Standard White Pages search all phones listings, only updated annually
New Movers searches forwarding addresses supplied to USPS, updated every three months
Consumers/Lifestyles searches marketing info that private companies provide to the USPS
US Businesses (current), US News Businesses (new), US Historical Businesses (non-active businesses) search by business name or executive/owner name

PropertyShark

Database of all things related to a certain property. https://www.propertyshark.com/ It searches NYC and NYS for real estate information by owner (it also unmasks real owners of LLCs), address, and parcel ID. It combines public records and proprietary commercial data into one report. Remember when you are looking at these docs, that a seller, attorney, address for buyer, business address of buyer, etc., can all lead to more information in other databases.

To help you find a full property report or conduct an owner search, make an appointment with one of us here, or email research@journalism.cuny.edu.

Accurint People Search

After you have tried all the other available people finding tools, the Research Center can search Accurint for you. To help you find a contact or background a person for reporting, make an appointment with one of us here, or email research@journalism.cuny.edu.

People finding databases: Free

FamilyTreeNow
Search by name to find addresses, phones (including cell phones), businesses, and relatives.
TruePeopleSearch
Search by name to find addresses, phones (including cell phones), businesses, and relatives.
Nuwber
Search by name to find addresses, phones (including cell phones), businesses, and relatives.
Voter Registration Records
Free research tool of more than 70 million voter records. Only has select states, including NJ and CT, but not NY.
Xlek.com - Free Public Data Search
Free public data searches, including voter registration, property, corporate registration, campaign contributions, financial cases.
That'sThem.com
People search engine, find addresses, phones, emails
Whoxy
Free domain search by company, name, including historical. Many domains are registered through a third party, but try searching the historical filings in case they ever registered using their own info. Can also see all the domains owned by a person or a company.
BRB Links to Free Public Records Sites Across the US
Links to government agencies that provide free online access to public record information

Finding email addresses, phone numbers

Hunter.io
Free plan allows for 25 website searches per month. Hunter lets you find professional email addresses in seconds and connect with the people that matter for your business.
SignalHire Chrome Extension
SignalHire Chrome extension works with LinkedIn and reveals emails and phones in a screen, over LinkedIn profiles. After you add chrome ext for SignalHire, sign up at the SignalHire website to activate an account for 5 free searches per month.
RocketReach
You get 5 free lookups per month. Sign up with your Gmail and add the Chrome extension. It can be used with LinkedIn or searched directly on RocketReach.
Lusha
Sign up for a Lusha.com account. You get five free searches per month. Download the chrome extension and use as a screen over LinkedIn profiles.
Lusha Chrome Extension
Download the chrome extension and make sure you are logged into LinkedIn and Lusha.com. The Lusha icon will pop up on the right side of a LinkedIn profile page.
LinkedIn Advanced Search
Use SignalHire or RocketReach to reveal LinkedIn contacts.
Improver.io
Create login to Improver and download the Chrome extension. Use in LinkedIn the same way as Lusha. 10 free searches per month.
Improver Chrome Extension
Download to use in LinkedIn

Vital Records

Vital records, like birth, death, marriage, divorce, etc., records are not available in NYS unless your name is on the document or you have a court order.
VitalChek can order vital records online from some states/counties, there is usually a fee.

Employment and Education

LinkedIn Advanced People Search
(Click on "All Filters"). Searches for users by name, location, title, current or past employment (it's often good to talk to past employees when current ones can't or won't talk to you), and keywords.
LinkedIn Alumni Search
Add the name of a school into the search box, and then click on the alumni tab. You can search a specific date range and keywords like the name of a concentration to find classmates.
Facebook
Filter a person's friends by work or university. Replace the word "anything" with a name, or word to search.

See Finding email addresses, phone numbers. These tools will all help you find work colleagues too.

NYC Civil List
Names, titles, and salaries of NYC employees.
NYS Employees Phone Directory
SeeThruNY
Find salaries of NYS employees.

Licenses and Professional Misconduct

Licensing Sources in State Agency Databases
Links to State Licensing Databases, so you can search by name or business.
NYS Professional Misconduct Enforcement Database
See if your state has something like this.
NYS Division of Licensing Name Search
Search for licenses by licensee name or business name.
NYS Office of the Professions Licensing Verification
Dataset updated daily, search by name or business.
NYS Attorney Search
Database of NYS attorneys registered to practice before NYS courts.
Martindale Hubbell Attorney Search
Free online database off attorneys, search by name, practice area or location.
ABA State Bar Directories and Attorney Finders
Links to state bar member directories.

Nonprofits and Companies

Use the Guide Nonprofit Organizations - research sources for reporters to identify nonprofits people are associated with.
Once you know if a person owns a business or their employer's name, you can use the backgrounding private or public companies to go deeper.