Question: Tell us about DetectFraud.comAnswer: We are a national background check company, offering the full menu of background check products, such as tenant, employment and public records research products. While we are primarily a B2B company, we provide many of our services to consumers.
Question: Why are background checks so important? Answer: Background checks are vital to businesses as well as to individuals. Companies cannot afford to be negligent in this area for reasons – such as negligent hiring law suits. Consumers also need to be prudent in transactions involving “the heart” as well as private business transactions. All too often, uninformed choices result in dire consequences. Someone once said, “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure”. These are truly words of wisdom.
Question: Makes sense… how do you go about doing a check?Answer: Okay… so you decide you want to exercise due diligence. That’s where the problem arises, as there are so many choices available. You only have to type “criminal records search” in any search engine and you will see for yourself. There is much deception out there. The question you must ask yourself is “what is your level of due diligence?” as all background checks are not equal.
Question: If you could expound on that.Answer: Well… I will first address a “best practices” check. The first step is to verify the subject’s identity, which is accomplished by conducting a SS# trace. This is of vital importance as many criminal record sources utilize name and date of birth only. Incorrect identifiers yield invalid search results.
The trace also detects possible aliases and provides an address trail. Once the identity has been verified, each address jurisdiction should be checked at the county court level as well as the federal level. Valid aliases should also be checked. To complete the check, a national criminal database should also be conducted.
Question: Sounds expensiveAnswer: It can be, dependant on the counties searched, as some counties charge access fees, and the transient nature of the applicant may yield multiple residential jurisdictions. A full due diligence check will usually range between $35 to $100, however, such a search provides a high level of confidence and decreases liability exposure.
Question: What about national criminal checks. Pricing is a lot cheaper.Answer: That’s true – but you get what you pay for. These checks are privately owned and maintained criminal databases, however, they are not truly national checks. That’s where the deception comes into play. The only true national check is the FBI NCIC check, however, this check is only available to law enforcement agencies.
The database checks are the closest to a true national check, however, there are limitations, such as how often the database is updated and the source of criminal records. For example, some states may only offer a sex offender registry or department of corrections search. What this means is that felonies that have not been supervised by the DOC or misdemeanors are not reported. For jurisdictions that only report sex offender crimes, no other felonies are reported. While database checks are vital to a background check, it should never be used as the sole source of a background check.
Question: What separates your organization from the competition?Answer: Due diligence. Our philosophy is to provide businesses and consumers with choices that address their level of due diligence and cost restraints. As an information broker, we provide access to the largest number of criminal record sources available.
Thanks so much for your time Ivan, it's been a very informative interview
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