These sites scrape personal information from local, state and federal public records, court records, social media and forums. They also purchase information from data brokers. Tap or click here for detailed instructions for removing your information from these creepy sites. For this entry in our weekly Opt-Out Tuesday series, we’ll show you how to remove yourself from TruthFinder.
Avoid people search sites at all costs, especially if it costs you
Don’t ever pay for any people search service. Most of these sites are scammy in nature. You may think you’re paying for one report and find that you’ve been roped into recurring charges. And never pay to remove your information from any site. This process must be provided for free. When opting out of a people search site, be careful which links you click. They’re often ads that lead you to another site that requests payment. We’ll provide accurate links to remove yourself from these sites with each Opt-out Tuesday report. Do you have older relatives who may not know about these sites? While you’re opting out yourself, why not do the same for them? Just type in their information as you would your own, and follow our steps to completion. RELATED: One tool to keep your online activity PRIVATE and opt out of intrusive cookies
The truth about TruthFinder
TruthFinder has been around since 2015. The site advertises itself as a simple way to find public records online, including criminal or traffic records, contact information, employment and education history and social media accounts. The site says that it helps “Americans reconnect with family and friends” by scanning hundreds of millions of records. But it doesn’t discriminate — crooks, hackers and scammers can access this information as easily as anyone else. Let’s get right to it and remove yourself from this site.
Deleting your data from TruthFinder
Remember that you’re not deleting your data from public records when you opt out of a site. You’re just removing your information from that site. People can still use other sites and sources to find information about you. Let’s get this one out of the way. Here’s how to opt out of TruthFinder.
Go to truthfinder.com/opt-out.
Enter your first name, last name, city and state in the fields at the top of the page and select Search.Find your profile in the list that comes up and select Remove This Record.
Enter your email address, complete the CAPTCHA and hit Send Confirmation Email.
Click the Confirm Opt Out button in the confirmation email.Wait at least 48 hours for your information to be removed. Try the process again if your data is still there after a few weeks.
For customer support, fill out the form at truthfinder.com/contact or call 855-921-3711.
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