Overview
Knowing if someone has a criminal record can be important if you are considering them as an employee, potential marriage material, potential babysitter, or any other reason why you wouldn’t want them in your life if it doesn’t come back clean. Just be sure to remember not to judge people too harshly for things that were done in the past because then you overlook the potential for people to change or start things over again fresh.
The Claim
Instant Checkmate claims that you can get with the push of a button you are effectively searching through billions of documents that are out there so you get a thorough search on the person you’re interested. They also say that their databases are kept current so even if something happened very recently, you’ll know about it. They say that the searches you perform remain anonymous, so you don’t have to worry about them finding out you’ve been checking them out.
In addition to any criminal records and mugshots someone might have, they claim that their service will also show you things as simple as a speeding ticket. The big stuff is of course covered, like felonies and misdemeanors. But they also get into other legal matters like lawsuits, tax liens, and judgements that have been placed against them. They will even give you the records for marriages and divorces.
There’s also a lot of other data they say might come up, which can help you compare notes to see if they are providing you with accurate information, like how old they are, and their address and phone number.
You can also get into some more stalker-style information, like how much they make per year, how much their home is worth, who their relatives and neighbors are, and how many properties they own. Keep in mind though that if a person doesn’t have these things, they won’t be included in the report.
They also say that they include a map of sex offenders in the area you search so you are getting a clear idea of where everyone is at. All of the information they provide is free to the public and available to anyone that asks for it, but this is a way to get it without having to sift through all of the data yourself, or find out which websites to go to to do the searches individually.
The Hype
There are a lot of different background checking services out there that have been popping up, as more and more companies figure out ways to aggregate the available data and bring it all into one place so you don’t have to. What they do is try to present their service in the best light to get the most number of people to use it instead of trying to do it on their own.
The Cost
For around $20 you can run an unlimited number of searches on Instant Checkmate for one month. They offer other plans as well, allowing you to bring the price down a bit by paying for more months upfront. And they also let you run a single report for $30.
The Commitment
This pretty much has to be considered a reduction in your commitment level, because trying to run a thorough criminal check on someone would take several hours and involve searches run on several different sites. By saving you a lot of time they are making it so you can get this done quickly and get on to other things.
Evaluation
Instant Checkmate provides a pretty extensive report, but you have to keep in mind that you are taking a chance here that they might not have too much to include in the report. But that is sort of the point. You want the search to come back clean so that you can hire them, or date them, or for whichever reason you’re running the check. It’s a way to put your mind at ease, and if something does come up you could potentially address the situation and move on rather than having it come up later on.
You could add Instant Checkmate to your list of background services to consider. $20 for a month of unlimited searches is quite reasonable, and this would come in handy if you want to run a large number of searches. If the reports come back clean, you can proceed as planned, and if they come back with a host of information on them that you can’t come to grips with, you can give them a wide berth.
Our Recommendation
When it comes to a background checking service you only need one good one, and once you have that in place you can just use it again and again for all of your searching needs. But finding the one that best suits what you need it for can be a bit tricky. You could try this one out for a month and see if it’s living up to your expectations, and then continue looking for a better service if you find you don’t like it.
Official Website: Instant Checkmate
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View Comments
Checkmate sucks. They keep on lying and charging. I wonder if I can call the authorities on them or the police shutting them down cause I searched up my info and they said I was 58 instead of my real age. They put me tickets and charges I never had at all. They didn't even get my Facebook account.
They are a bunch of scammers
Why users still make use of to read news papers when in this technological world everything is presented on net?
On our 20th anniversary, I got an email from him about how much he loved me and couldn't wait to spend another 20 yrs with me. Attached somehow was an email from one of the women he was cheating with, pissed at him for cheating on her. It dawned on me at that moment that he was cheating on me with atleast 2 other women, I needed to find out the whole truth. I knew tracking and spying on his phone would go a long way in getting these answers. I started researching, and even bought about 3 of these apps online but none of them gave me what I wanted. Luckily, I saw someone recommending - I N C F I D E L I B U S at G M A I L.C O M, who was able to help me get into my husband's phone (&even retrieved all his old &past messages/chats). I now have all the answers I need &enough evidence to confront him, all thanks to I N C F I D E L I B U S at G M A I L.C O M
A TOTAL FIASCO!
InstantCheckMate is just a big fraud. They will offer a $2.99 trial but they will charge the full prce of immediately a $34.95. Even you cancel your account they will keep charging you until you open a fraud claim by your credit card.
Their information is totally fake. They can’t even guesss the age of the person you are searching. They claim 57 years old for a person only 49 years old. The crimal background doesn’t show any offenses. They just indicate an offense occurred. Moreover they will force you to upgrade to Premium services for a better Report after paying $34.95 for the search. The premium report will not show either the offenses nor correct the age.
We wrote them that we were not satisfied at all from their services. They promised and clearly indicated that they have already credited $34.95 our account. They asked us to wait 5 business days for the credit to appear on our account. We contacted them to worn that we didn’t receive the credit after 11 days. They told us your already completed credit is NOW pending.
Reports.com supplies better information; moreover if you are not satisfied they immediately credit the fees to your account.
We will open a Freudian charge on our credit card. Moreover we will file a BBB claim against them.
They are just pain on the back. If you don’t want to get tricked by them, DON’T even bother with them.
I was planning to obtain the aggregated data from public record, and was willing to pay Instant Checkmate's advertised price. When I started the process, he price increased, so I navigated away from their page. Their "sticky banner" popped up offering me a $1 trial for 5 days for unlimited reports. That was okay, so I clicked it and filled out the form. I ran one report that held a lot of bad information (someone else with the same name). Another banner said that to get accurate and deeper result (I'm paraphrasing because I doesn't remember the exact wording), to click here. In all, I wound up with two bogus reports, 80% for the wrong people, and they tried to charge me over $50.00. When my credit card company sent me a message regarding fraud, I asserted that I did not authorize $19.99 and then $29.99 and another $2.99 - and they pended the charges. I called Instant Checkmate, and a rude lady told me to let her speak! I did, and she explained she would refund all 2/3 of the charges, and that I was mistaken in thinking I signed up for the $1 for 5 day trial. She interrupted me whenever I tried to talk, but I finally told her she was wrong. I signed up for $1.00, and that's all I would pay. She kept telling me I was confused, and since they had to pay the state for the records (which was another false statement), they couldn't refund the last $15 or $20 (whatever that amount was). I called her out, because they don't have to pay for public information. After telling me I was confused and that I never signed up for the $1 trial, I explained I had retired from a law enforcement agency, and knew she was lying. After researching this site, BBB, and other boards - turns out many, many people go through what I did almost verbatim. Their website keeps changing the dynamic, and you end up getting charged exhorbitant amounts for nothing. The information they aggregate (for free) is terrible, and they try to keep a portion of your money when you catch on - giving you some back to calm your angst. I've been a programmer for almost 30 years, and will return to the PC I ran this on to capture their pages - meaning I can prove they manipulate their website through simple forensics. This info will go to friends at the FTC and to the BBB. Avoid this company unless you want garbage at a premium price.
Complete waste of time. I found more reliable info on my own. Charges were made to my credit card that they don't make you aware of.
The fact that I cannot specify that I am a Junior or Senior or III is appalling.
Here you are, promoting your site to people to get the skinny on their friends. And they make the crucial mistake of not including that all important identifying detail. How many friends am I going to lose because I share a common name over this?
They didn't find my social media. Google searches work better.
Do not give them your credit card number - they will never stop billing you! This site is a complete rip off with all the hallmarks of a scam. The information you get for the $27 fee is totally worthless, and everything beyond that is a series of additional fees. I suspect I could have paid well over $100 to get what they promised up front, but if the quality of the info I did get is any indication I would have just gotten more junk. When I called threatened to report this scam to my credit card company, they said "as an accommodation we will terminate your service and stop billing you," when I said it again they said they would give a partial rebate, when I said it again they said they would rebate the last month's charge. I bet I could have gotten them to rebate the whole thing.
Ya instant check mate is a rip off. It showed only one previous address then said all the other info not available. But some where along the way when i clicked into one thing then backed out. It brought me to the home screen not done looking i clicked back ti where it was. Thats when it happened. They charged me a second $26.82 charge. They got a nice email from me. I only asked for the one $26 charge back cause even though they didnt do anything i did knowingly by the first go around so i figured theres my almost 30$ lesson. Dont use the site its not worth a $1