Broker check
Is Intelius legit and safe?
Reviewed July 26, 2026
Short answer
Intelius is a long-established, legitimate people-search company with a documented history of aggressive billing practices. In August 2010 it paid $1.3 million to settle a Washington State Attorney General action over post-transaction marketing that enrolled consumers in third-party subscriptions they did not knowingly agree to. Its free opt-out works and covers three sibling sites.
| Type of site | People-search sites |
|---|---|
| Cost to remove yourself | Free |
| Time to submit the request | 10 minutes |
| Account required | No |
| Typical time to disappear | about 48 hours (can take several days) |
| Enforcement actions we found | 2 documented - see the public record below |
Is Intelius a scam?
Not a scam, but the historical complaints were specifically about money. Washington's Attorney General found that consumers were being signed up for paid memberships they had not knowingly agreed to, and that the company continued after receiving thousands of complaints. The conduct was settled and prohibited in 2010. Removing your data is free and involves no payment at all.
What Intelius actually is
Intelius sells background reports and people-search lookups compiled from public records and commercial data, covering addresses, phone numbers, relatives, and court and property records. Intelius, TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate and US Search are all PeopleConnect brands and share a single suppression portal, so one request can cover all four - which is unusually convenient for an industry that normally makes you file everywhere separately.
Where Intelius gets your data
Public records - property, court, voter and directory data - enriched with purchased commercial data. Intelius was among the companies examined during the wider scrutiny of this industry in the early 2010s, including the Senate Commerce Committee's 2013 report and the FTC's 2014 call for transparency and accountability in data brokerage.
Is it legal?
Intelius states it is not a consumer reporting agency and that its reports may not be used for employment, tenant or credit decisions. That disclaimer is not self-executing, either. In September 2023 the FTC penalised TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate $5.8 million for operating as consumer reporting agencies while marketing background reports for employment and tenant screening - the label a site gives itself does not decide the question.
What Intelius exposes about you
- Full name, age, and date of birth
- Current and past addresses
- Phone numbers and email addresses
- Relatives and associates
- Public-record details and social profiles
The real risks
- A documented history of billing practices a state Attorney General found deceptive, so read any checkout page closely.
- Reports combine address history, relatives and court records in one profile available to any subscriber.
- Data accuracy is unverified, as with every site in this category.
- Listings reappear as public records are refreshed, so removal needs re-checking.
Intelius's public record
August 2010
Intelius settled with the Washington State Attorney General for $1.3 million over deceptive post-transaction marketing conducted with Adaptive Marketing. Nearly 19,000 Washington consumers were enrolled in membership programmes without realising between July 2007 and July 2008. Nationwide, more than 800,000 people were enrolled in one such programme in its first year of bundled marketing while only 54,181 used any benefit, and were billed roughly $62 million. Attorney General Rob McKenna said Intelius "chose cash over candour". The settlement barred Intelius from accepting advertising from the third parties involved and from passing consumer financial details to others for billing.
Washington State Attorney General, August 2010December 2013
The US Senate Commerce Committee published a majority staff report on how the data-broker industry collects, compiles and sells consumer information, part of the wider scrutiny that also produced the FTC's 2014 transparency report. Intelius was among the companies named in reporting on that scrutiny.
US Senate Commerce Committee staff report, December 2013What to do about it
You can remove yourself for free, and you do not need a reason. Our step-by-step Intelius opt-out guide covers the current process - about 10 minutes, no payment, and no account needed in most cases. Expect to repeat it every few months, because these listings rebuild from public records. If you would rather see which sites list you before starting, the free exposure scan checks the major brokers, known breaches, and public profiles tied to your username without storing anything.
California residents have a stronger option: the state's free DROP platform sends a single binding deletion request to every registered data broker. Everyone else can see what your state allows.