Archives for September 2019

I saw an ad online somewhere about background checks through BeenVerified, and I was curious what would be there in my own background check.

Well, I had a good idea of what would be in there.

I was surprised when I got results, and also there were some items in there that were for another guy who shares my name.

One area that seemed funny to me was their list of possible aliases for me. Some were logical with including my middle name or initial, but then others were odd like Mickey Collins. That was one of my past dogs, but I never went by that name.

My list of previous phone numbers goes fairly far back – not as far back as my childhood home phone or my college number, but some records around 20 years old. I didn’t recognize some, but with lots of house phones and Google Voice over the years I’m not sure if they were errors or forgotten memories.

The email addresses include emails I had as far back as the mid to late 90s, including a couple on AOL.

My list of past addresses went far back, but there were some addresses in places I’ve never lived. I gave a thumbs down on those items where it says “Is this accurate?”. I am not sure if that eventually removes it from the record.

I am not sure why they provide a list of current and past neighbors, but that was interesting to me, because I didn’t know most of the names, so it probably wouldn’t benefit anybody knowing they currently or in the past lived near me.

The part that surprised me was the “Criminal & Traffic” section. I’ve had a handful of moving violations in my life and figured those would turn up, but they didn’t. Not sure what traffic infractions make the cut.

But I was surprised by an arrest that came as I result of a frat prank when I was in college. It was a misdemeanor and at the time I was told it would clear my record if I fulfilled the terms in my PBJ (probation before judgment). Well, I completed it and was off the hook, but apparently clearing the record doesn’t include the initial arrest. Doh!

My jobs and education have mostly good information, but a lot of the items are repeated in the list. I don’t know how they sourced this information, but it’s a bit of a mess.

They were spot on for my educational background – maybe that’s pulled from LinkedIn? Social media & websites were very partial for my sites, but they included lots of my social accounts.

When I got down to the assets there were properties and vehicles I’ve never owned, but they had my information, too.

Overall it was a neat process to see what others see in my background check.