Is Instant Checkmate A Scam?
Last month, an unnamed woman in Texas invited a man named Dylan Ericcson to her apartment after meeting him on Plenty of Fish, an online dating website. Ericcson seemed like a catch. After all, he said he was a San Antonio firefighter — however, that statement later turned out to be a bald-faced lie.
That woman never would have expected that her date would drug her drink, causing her to go to the hospital.
Situations like these are real dangers when it comes to online dating. Whenever we invite people into our lives — whether we’re looking for romantic partners or purchasing something on Craigslist — we are forced to trust complete strangers.
So, is Instant Checkmate a scam? Read on for the truth.
How Instant Checkmate Works
Instant Checkmate was created to give people the ability to background check others. After all, you have the right to know whether or not someone has a secret past or a dangerous criminal record before you meet up in person.
When you run a background check, Instant Checkmate searches U.S. public records in local, state, and federal databases. Public records can include information like:
- Criminal records
- Professional and business licenses
- Sex offender registration
- Birth records
- Residential addresses
Instant Checkmate compiles the available public records about the person you’re searching for, and displays the results into one, easy-to-read report. That way, instead of having to request documents at your city or state’s public records office, you’re able to background check someone from the comfort of your own home — and all at the click of a button.
Here’s What People Are Saying About Us
Since the site first launched in 2010, Instant Checkmate has become one of the largest people search engines in the world. We are proud to have an A rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and Instant Checkmate has even been featured on the Discovery Channel!
The web development company that built Instant Checkmate, The Control Group, is based in San Diego and was recently honored in three categories at the 2015 American Business Awards in Chicago. Instant Checkmate won Silver for the Innovation of the Year.
Additionally, the San Diego Union-Tribune named The Control Group as a winner of its 2015 Top Workplaces Award — for the second year in a row.
Instant Checkmate Gives Back To Its Community
Profits from Instant Checkmate benefit organizations like Together We Bake, a training and personal development program for women recently released from the corrections system.
Here are just some of the other ways we’ve given back to our community this year alone:
- Donated funds to the San Diego Walk for Children with Apraxia of Speech
- Donated Spheros coding robots to a low-income school in the city of Escondido
- Helped Syrian refugee students prepare for employment through the International Rescue Committee (IRC)
- Sponsored the Girls Inc. Professional Women’s Speakers Series
- Donated funds to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
In short: we take community service and corporate social responsibility seriously.
The Truth About Instant Checkmate
When you enter your information to buy an Instant Checkmate report, the registration page lists a series of Frequently Asked Questions that lay out our pricing options. Instant Checkmate offers different plans based on how long you want your membership to last. Each plan gives you access to unlimited standard searches. So, look up as many people as you want!
Instant Checkmate is not free because we pay to access the information we provide from public records. This is also why we offer different types of reports.
What You Can View In Standard vs. Premium Reports
When you purchase a membership, you can run as many Standard Reports as you want. If you want access to additional information, you can always upgrade a single Standard Report to a Premium Report for an additional fee. Here’s what they provide:
Standard Reports
- First and Last Name
- Date of Birth
- Age
- Phone Numbers
- Current and Last Known Addresses
- Persons Living at the Same Address
- Census Data
- Satellite Imagery of Properties
- Possible Relatives
- Possible Arrest and Conviction Records
- Social Media Profiles and Other Online Accounts
- Blogs
- Possible Photos and Videos
- Astrological Sign
- Horoscope Compatibility
- Traffic Records
- DUI arrests
- FAA Licenses
- DEA Licenses
- Nearby Sex Offenders
Premium Reports
- Civil Judgments
- Corporate Affiliations
- Watercraft Owned
- UCC Filings
- Properties Owned
- Voter Registration
- Old Phone Numbers
- Email Addresses
- Tax Liens
- Bankruptcies
- Professional Licenses
- Weapons Permits
- Hunting/Fishing Permits
- Foreclosures
- Date a SSN Was Issued
- Possible Neighbors
- Business and Personal Associates
Please note: Your Instant Checkmate membership will automatically renew for the same term, unless you cancel before the start of the new term.
You can cancel your membership at any time by calling our US-based member care center 24/7 at 800–222–8985, by emailing webcancellations@instantcheckmate.com, or by visiting our cancellation page.
Instant Checkmate Is A Resource
Is Instant Checkmate a scam? No, it’s not. We were created five years ago with one goal in mind: to help users become more informed about the people in their lives.
Since the site first launched, we’ve worked hard to bring our users new features that can be accessed for a small additional fee, such as PDF downloads, report monitoring, reverse phone lookups, and our latest update: reverse email searches. These product enhancements make the possible uses of our data virtually limitless.
Ready to get started? Run your first report today!
Originally published at www.instantcheckmate.com on November 26, 2015.
