BeenVerified.com created by the “Android Application” to change backgrounds on the board. No doubt you’ve seen the commercial for BeenVerified late one evening on a cable TV station. It shows several actresses speaking about some guy they met internet and how they decided to run a background check in it, then the commercial states you can look up anything on anyone at no cost. Towards the end of the commercial, it then mentions a trial service. You can view their current ad on the BeenVerified website.
I have no idea what it’s with these late night adverts and suspicious services like ‘speed up my computer’ or ‘easy debt reduction’ but they appear to be more fraudulent than legit. To begin with, this service is not free at all. Downloading the application lets you do one free search a month, but it didn’t even work for me. If you use the website, it asks you for a bunch of personal data before showing you any information.
Learn more about why this application, along with the BeenVerified website and service, is a big waste of time.
Functions
The BeenVerified application for Android appeals to the snoop in most of us. Their advertisements imply that the service could be great for searching for info on strangers, such as people you meet online. It would likely appeal to employers who needed a cheap and simple way to dig up info on prospective employees by running a quick check on them to see if they are being truthful on their resume or job application. Who would not want to know someone else’s secrets if they could be discovered without that person ever knowing?
With this particular application, all you have to do is search an individual’s name. You can specify the state they reside in, if you know it, but it’s not required. If you have their e-mail address, it’s searchable. You can even let the app tie into your phone contacts and run a background check on everyone you know.
To the Android Market, this app currently has a 2.2 out of 5 rating after 255 rates have been given. 155 people have so far just given it one star. Look at next section of this review and you will find out why it’s getting such poor ratings. In short, it does not work as promised. One reviewer even stated that they have a comprehensive criminal history and looked themselves up and found nothing.
Really does It Work?
Through my work, I have a great many friends who’re cops. I also have close family members who work in police officers. Due to my connections, I sometimes learn a little more inside information about local events than what others might hear on the news or read in the papers. As such, I know of quite a few people with extensive criminal histories. I know what they’ve been arrested for and I know that some have served time. The majority of this is public information if you dig around on Google archives for new stories on arrests and convictions.
To check this application, I did a search for somebody who I know is a convicted felon. This person has done time for credit card scams and other offenses related to stealing. The man is a thief and has had his name and picture in the local news media more than once over the past few years. I figured that if this app actually worked, then this person would surely turn up a hit, but they didn’t. Absolutely no criminal activity was reported, though it did give me the guy’s home address.
If this application fails to report someone with multiple felony prosecutions that have been documented in the press, then I consider it broken. You will get more details out of a Google search with the person’s name in quotations than you could from using this application. In fact, I did such a look on Google and the first result was for a local news story telling of this guy’s newest arrest and it mentioned his previous conviction for bank fraud. He being on probation at the time!
Last Rating
Downloading this application gives you credit for one free search per month, so I used that credit and resulted in nothing. If my free credit for a search on a known felon shows nothing, why would I want to pay them money and supply my personal information and credit card number for a service that clearly fails as promised? Google searches are free and turn up more details, anyway.
In the end, BeenVerified is really a bust. Sites like RipoffReport.com feature numerous complaints about the services – mainly coping with credit card charges that still come after the service was cancelled. Perform a Google search for ‘BeenVerified Scam’ and you will get a bunch of hits on blogs and message boards from users making complaints. The sole sites I found that seemed to be in support of this service also linked back to it and one used an annoying browser redirection script with a suspicious pop-up window, so be careful if you go searching up additional information on this.
