4 ways to lookup someone’s email and social media accounts
Source – Forbes
You were at a professional conference a few months ago and met someone who can help with a professional problem. Or maybe someone offered you an interview, but you lost their business card. While it may be easy to track them down, getting their contact details or social accounts may prove more complicated. Most companies have very strict privacy policies and will not disclose employee contact details over the phone. With almost six billion email accounts in the world, and billions of social media accounts, how to find a particular one?
1) Use an Online Search Service
Sites like CheckPeople, Pipl, or White Pages all offer to find specific information about someone. If their email is publicly available (for example, on a company website), you’ll find it with just a few clicks. Regardless of their privacy settings, if they have social media accounts, they are extremely likely to appear in the search. But not online search services are the same. While they use very similar technologies, they have very different privacy policies and pricing structures. Some offer unlimited searches for a one-time fee, while others have “freemium” models. If you are new to the online search world, visit UnMask.com to get unbiased reviews of each service. Learn more about how they operate and choose the one that you prefer.
2) Search by Platform
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and many others have search bars where you can look up someone by name. Because there are billions of accounts on each site, your chances of getting hundreds of results for one name are high. Thankfully, most platforms will display results organized by relevance. The first ones are those who are more likely to be close to you, live in the same city or those with who you share contacts. Take results with a grain of salt and verify that you have the right person before sending a message or attempting to connect.
3) Google
This giant search engine boasts 63K searches per second and at least two trillion searches per year. So your chances of getting lucky through a Google Search are high. If a simple search proves no good, use their advanced search feature and fill in with all the information you have. You can restrict your search by language and location, among others.
4) Use your Network
Verify among your contacts and ask for the information you need. This has especially good results if you are looking to get someone’s professional contacts, as you’ll probably be in the same industry.
In some cases, the need for someone’s social accounts and email addresses can be related to safety or legal issues (such as missed child support payments). If this is the case, you have more resources available, but the first step is to contact your local authorities. They have access to professional databases, that are restricted to law enforcement agencies, and can help you find someone a lot faster.
If you believe your safety or your children’s safety is at risk, it is a big mistake to play detective and try to find someone on your own. There are several national and international organizations specifically dedicated to finding contact details of online predators, and they are better suited to find the right person and know how to act afterward.
Cyberstalking and harassment are considered violent behaviors and have consequences, so be clear about your intentions for looking for someone’s contact details or social media accounts. If someone has clearly refused to give you their personal information, it is not okay to look for other ways to get it. Remember that, even in the online world, rules and laws apply, and you can get into serious trouble for violating someone’s right to privacy. Respect other people and stay safe online.
