Hello Readers,
As anyone who has been following BestBackgroundChecks.com for any length of time knows, the site has been on the scene for a number of years. During this time, we have encountered pretty much every type of scam, loss-leader, wannabe, and whatever else you can think of related to the background check industry.
The internet is so full of background check spam that even Google is having a tough time cutting through it all. Article directories like EzineArticles which are supposed to be a great source for information are just as bloated as everywhere else. The Better Business Bureau and The Ripoff Report are loaded with complaints from disgruntled consumers.
Employers are also being duped because many are too cheap to get a professional background check service. Unfortunately consumers don’t have access to professional services because of the more stringent requirements for conducting the search itself.
The reason I am writing this article is in regards to the fake review sites such as Consumer-Warning.org. They were around for a few years as well and pass themselves off as a consumer protection site using the similarity of their name to sites like ConsumerReports.org and others to garner reputability.
However, the main drive has absolutely nothing to do with consumer protection and instead focused on promoting the online background check service known as Net Detective. I don’t have so much of a problem with Net Detective as I do with the way its being marketed. The main ad consumer-warning.org was running is the one below:
The site received massive traffic through advertising and many people were lead to believe that Net Detective is the solution to all their background check problems. The price is also just right so that most people don’t bother with a refund, because they don’t think it’s worth their time.
The company offers two subscription models. The first one is a 3 year membership for $29.95 that offers unlimited searches. However it is basically a people search utility for searching addresses and phone numbers. It also provides a number of other services which are useless to most people.
The real stickler is that you will have to shell out $29.95 per month for access to their upgraded membership which allows for criminal records search, background checks, etc. The advanced membership is semi useful, but still isn’t as good as pay-per-search companies like BackgroundChecks.com, USSearch, Intelius and eFindOutTheTruth.
This may sound like a pitch, but the fact remains that Net Detective isn’t all it’s cut out to be. And the misleading ads by Consumer-Warning.org have left me livid on more than one occasion. Net Detective isn’t a terrible service, but the way it’s being portrayed by the site was/is misleading.
We offer Net Detective on this site, but only because it sometimes works and the company offers a 90 day money-back guarantee. Also, if you are an employer and looking for a cheap solution, be very mindful that the service is not FCRA compliant, and that you run a risk every time you conduct a background check without prior consent.
Categories: Scams
