Background Check Services                Last updated September 24, 2008

Instant Detective

Instant Detective is a bit off an oddball for us. When we first checked this site out back in 2006, it promised great things, but it turned out that when one signed on for a lifetime membership, one really was just referred to Records Registry, our number 1 choice. Why then bother with Instant Detective? You might as well sign up with Records Registry directly.

When we checked again on September 24, 2008, we find that the site that appears on our screen is called Government Registry - Online Records Retrieval, again something other than Instant Detective. What's up with this company?

We do not recommend this package. Other reviewers say it's a good package and we won't dispute that, but it does not appear to be honest and straight forward. Nevertheless, here's some info about it.

When we looked at this site, we were impressed by its simplicity. When the site comes up, there's a map of the US clearly showing all the different states. You click on the state that applies, and up come  lists of resources in alphabetical order, at the state level, at the county level, and at the city level. You then just click on the resource, and you're on your way.

The data base (or rather the number of links to various data bases) is very extensive, and runs from accountants and acupuncturists to veterinarians, including such important categories as births, deaths, divorces, day care centers, most wanted in [name of city], and sex offenders.

We had the impression that the out-of-US data base (Canada, the UK, etc.) was not nearly as extensive, but that the US data base was very large indeed. 

Conclusion

This is an easy-to-use do-it-yourself background-check site, but we are not inclined to recommend it because of misgivings expressed in the first paragraphs of this review.

           
                  $34.95