An Advertisement on my blog got me thinking about this topic. The advertisements are to the left of my topic, under my "Followers". It's not the image/Amazon link on my topic, but rather the from the Ads added from a 3RD Party there as an AdSense member. To be able to monetize and offer up suggestions for books, different media and relevant merchandise (the Amazon links I post next to my topics), I accept this 3RD party can place ads on my blog. It's actually quite common, even with corporate and government blogs.
The particular advertisement that inspired me here, not available under the ads section right now, was about conducting a "Criminal Background Checks". How you could find out all you wanted to know about that new neighbor, employee, boss, new friend or lover... anyone.
I've actually tried several companies like this over the years. One or two I can say do what they claim, but several others are useless. Still, you never know, and not knowing about that new person can really gnaw at your neck. So, what to do? It's so easy to click the link these days...
But Be Forewarned... On the following link, CheckMate, aside from a small disclaimer when you first enter the site, nothing can prepare you for the results when you type in someone's name. And you'll get results!
Here, try it: CHECKMATE
OK, you tried it... now for around $40 dollars you get to click on the links to find out more, most likely not much more. And if you don't pay the money, you're left wondering...
When I first tried it - from a link on my own blog, multiple listings for people I typed in came up. I even typed in the state governor, and our State senator, and every time - it appeared there were "criminal records" linked to the person... but of course to find out those details I would have to pay. I didn't. I just was left to assume they were guilty of something - being politicians, and all.
What I did do was make the mistake of telling one of my housemates, a registered nurse, that several links were there about her. She freaked, burst into tears, and not because she was guilty of anything, but rather, her job demands a high level of accountability. The shear thought or indication of anything criminal or in bad judgement could cost her her job.
I was stunned and heart-broken over the fact I'd upset her with this website and it's links. What have I done, I wondered.
I wrote to a fellow blogger who happens to be ex-law enforcement. I asked him to try the site... I told him what happened. He wrote back and said:
"Yes, with the popularity of criminal justice databases online, there are several of these comprehensive background report companies selling services. It is important to remember that any agency claiming comprehensive background checks should be viewed as suspicious--since law enforcement, which has the best system, still has to search/jump through hoops using a variety of areas to conduct a criminal history (federal, state, local)".
"As you observed, this one is particularly misleading with their "supposed" criminal info once you pay the fee. They have been accused of being a scam several times online (here are two)--"
1) Complaint Review: Corporate Headquarters Instant Checkmate LLC
2) Instant Checkmate does not provide "background checks" and incompletely provides criminal records.
The secrete behind their back-ground tease? They use commonly available online data about where you have lived and currently live. That's it. Your record of where you've been sometimes goes back decades... they simply generate a record for every address you've lived at, plus some (meaning I found some errors).
Next time... Criminal Behavior... What is it, and why is it so common in our country?
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