Is People Looker a Scam?

If you’re thinking of using People Looker, you need to know whether it’s safe. Is People Looker a scam? 

Below, we explain whether People Looker is a scam and discuss some steps you can take to improve your safety while using this people search site. 

What Is People Looker?

People Looker is a people search site.

Anyone can use People Looker to find personal information about other individuals.

Users can search for others by first and last name, phone number, email address, or address. 

The website says it provides in-depth people reports, including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, photos, criminal records, court records, relatives, and more. 

People Looker also lets you see if there’s unclaimed money in your name. 

Additionally, the website has a B2B side called “PeopleSmart” that lets you find professionals. 

As per its terms of service, People Looker is not a private investigator service or a “consumer reporting agency” under the FCRA.

Is People Looker a Scam?

No, People Looker is not a scam. It’s a legitimate people search website. 

However, user reviews of People Looker are mixed as of this writing:

• 2.6 out of 5.0 stars (from over 200 reviews) on Trustpilot.
• 3.3 out of 5.0 stars (from over 900 reviews) on Google Play. 
• 1.9 out of 5.0 stars (from over 90 reviews) on SiteJabber.
• 1.8 out of 5.0 stars (from over 20 reviews) on Better Business Bureau.

Most people report mainly negative experiences, including surprise billing (and unexpected auto-renewals), difficulty cancelling (with some people saying they were still being charged after closing their accounts and that refunds were issued only after negative public reviews), and profiles containing inaccurate or outdated information. 

Because People Looker aggregates information from disparate public records, the accuracy of its data depends on the original sources’ update frequencies and may not reflect real-time changes.

A few users say the background report was accurate, customer service refunded them quickly, and data matched their own records.

People Looker is not Better Business Bureau accredited at the time of writing, but holds a “B” rating. BBB ratings reflect how the BBB thinks a business interacts with its customers. 

As of this writing, People Looker has received a total of 94 complaints on the BBB website, 37 of which have been closed in the past 12 months. 

Complaints describe opt-out frustrations, billing issues, and problems with account access and support.  

People Looker security 

In its privacy policy, People Looker briefly describes its security measures.

It says it uses “appropriate technical and organizational precautions to secure your personal data.” 

It stores data on secure systems and encrypts sensitive data (your name, contact details, passwords, and limited payment card information, e.g., the last four digits). 

It states that it does not store full credit card numbers and uses encrypted connections. 

People Looker privacy  

People Looker explains the kind of data it collects, why, and with whom it shares it in its privacy policy.

It collects the following information:

• Contact and account information you provide (e.g., name, email address, phone number, address, and payment information). 
• Service data from third-party public records (e.g., court records, property records, employment history, social media profiles, vehicle information, marriage/divorce records, etc.)
• Usage data from your browsing (e.g., IP address, device information, and pages visited). 
• Transaction and communication data. 

The platform uses this data for website operations, order fulfillment, marketing, analytics, security, legal compliance, and providing its data lookup services to customers.

It shares this data with group companies, customer support platforms, hosting providers, analytics services, payment processors, and advertising partners. 

People Looker also shares public records data with its customers as part of its service.

Data retention timeframes (i.e., how long People Looker keeps your data) range from two years (for marketing contact data and cookies) up to 10 years (for account data, transaction records, and communications).

It may keep data longer if required by law.

In the US, registering with the People Looker website means you agree to receive marketing emails unless you opt out. In the EU, UK, Canada, and certain other countries, marketing requires your explicit consent.

You can opt out at any time via email links or by contacting People Looker directly.

The platform says it won’t share your data with third parties for marketing without your consent.

You have certain privacy rights, such as the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, and object to the processing of your data, plus the right to data portability. You can also withdraw consent and file a complaint with a data authority.  

California and other US states have additional specific rights under laws like the CCPA.

People Looker says it does not sell personal data you give it directly (like your email), but it does sell access to public record data unless you opt out (more on that below).

The platform uses cookies for authentication, shopping cart, personalization, security, advertising, and analytics. You can manage preferences through People Looker’s cookie settings. 

Opting out of People Looker

Anyone can use People Looker to look up personal information about anyone, including you. 

That means that as long as someone knows your name, phone number, email address, or address, they can find additional details about you. 

The good news is that you can remove your information from People Looker.

Even though data available on People Looker can be used for legitimate purposes, such as reconnecting with friends or finding out who is behind an unknown number, it can also be used for malicious purposes, including identity theft, doxxing, stalking, harassment, and social engineering.

Leaked criminal chat logs reveal that criminals use people search sites to discover information about targets.

Read more about people search sites and data brokers in our guide on data brokers. 

Then, opt out of People Looker using our comprehensive, step-by-step People Looker opt-out guide.

And don’t forget other people search sites, like Whitepages and Spokeo, too. They also publish your personal information for anyone to see. 

We have opt-out guides for hundreds of people search sites that expose your details. 

Remember to repeat your opt-outs after several months. People search sites are known to republish people’s data as soon as they find more of it online. As a result, for maximum effect, opt-outs need to happen regularly. 

Or subscribe to a data broker removal service like DeleteMe to have privacy professionals remove you from people search sites like PeopleLooker and others, continuously on your behalf.

So, Should You Use People Looker?

Depends.

People Looker can be useful if you’re trying to identify an unknown phone number, want to reconnect with someone, or need a quick public-record lookup, and you understand that the information you see may not be accurate.

However, by using it, you’re supporting the same industry that exposes your personal data to strangers. We recommend that you opt out of people search sites like People Looker (see our PeopleLooker opt-out guide) or subscribe to a data broker removal service that will do so on your behalf.

How to Use People Looker Safely and Privately 

• Don’t automatically trust the information. Information on people search sites is not guaranteed to be accurate or up-to-date, so these sites are best avoided for important decisions. 
• Use a masked email address when signing up. That way, you reduce the amount of spam in your primary inbox and minimize your exposure in the event of a breach.  
• Don’t use People Looker for employment or tenant screening. People Looker is not a Consumer Reporting Agency as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Using its reports for employment, credit, insurance, or tenant screening is a violation of federal law and can subject the user to legal liability. 
• Opt out of People Looker. Remove your own personal information from People Looker by opting out manually (see our step-by-step People Looker opt-out guide) or subscribing to a data broker removal company like DeleteMe. 
• Recheck People Looker regularly to ensure your data hasn’t been republished. Even when you opt out of people search sites, they typically republish your data when they come across more of it. As a result, opt-outs are most effective when they happen regularly. Data broker removal sites, such as DeleteMe, continuously recheck people search sites like People Looker to ensure your details haven’t been repopulated. If you perform your opt-outs manually, create a reminder to re-check People Looker (and other people search sites) for re-exposed data. 
• Opt out of other people search sites and data brokers. People Looker is one of many people search sites that publish your personal information for anyone to see. See our opt-out guides for comprehensive instructions on how to remove yourself from hundreds of other sites that expose you. 
• Read the fine print. People Looker has recurring subscriptions. If you only need one report, cancel the service immediately to avoid being auto-billed in the future.
• Unsubscribe from marketing. By default (in the US), signing up to People Looker means you agree to receive their marketing emails. If you don’t want People Looker to send you marketing communications, use the unsubscribe link in its emails or send an email to privacy@peoplelooker.com to opt out. 
• Control cookies and tracking. People Looker uses cookies for ads, analytics, and social media tracking. When you visit the site, click “Cookie Settings” in the footer and turn off advertising, analytics, and social media cookies. Keep only “strictly necessary” cookies enabled. 
• Protect your People Looker account. The platform encrypts passwords and sensitive data, but you still need to take security precautions, like using a unique, strong password (not reused anywhere else) and not sharing your login. 
• Exercise your privacy rights. You can request a copy of your data, ask for deletion after you’re done using the service, and opt out of public data sales (US users). 
• Watch retention timelines. Even after you close your People Looker account, your data may be retained for up to 10 years.