Yes, in the sense that matters for fraud: it is a real company, it delivers the reports it sells, and its opt-out works. Its record is not spotless - it settled FTC charges for $800,000 in 2012 over how it sold profiles for employment screening and over employee-written endorsements presented as independent.

Often only partly. People-search profiles are assembled automatically from third-party sources with no human verification, so mixed-up relatives, addresses you never lived at, and outdated phone numbers are common. Being wrong about you is not a defence for publishing you, and it is one reason opting out is worth the ten minutes.

Can employers legally use Spokeo to screen me?

No. Spokeo states it is not a consumer reporting agency, and FCRA-regulated decisions - hiring, promotion, tenancy, credit - may not lawfully be made on its reports. Whether every employer respects that is another matter, which is why the FTC has brought cases in this area.

How do I remove myself from Spokeo?

Find your listing, submit its URL through Spokeo's opt-out page, and confirm via the emailed link. It takes about five minutes and costs nothing. Our Spokeo opt-out guide has the exact steps, and note that name variations and old addresses can each produce a separate listing.

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Is Spokeo legit and safe?

Reviewed July 26, 2026

Short answer

Spokeo is a legitimate, long-established US company, not a scam - and it is also the one major people-search site with a federal enforcement action on its record. In 2012 it paid $800,000 to settle FTC charges that it sold consumer profiles to recruiters and employers in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and that it posted endorsements written by its own staff while presenting them as independent. It has a free opt-out that works.

Key facts about removing your information from Spokeo
Type of site	People-search sites
Cost to remove yourself	Free
Time to submit the request	5 minutes
Account required	No
Typical time to disappear	24 to 72 hours
Enforcement actions we found	1 documented - see the public record below

Is Spokeo a scam?

No. Spokeo is a real business with real offices, and paying it gets you the reports it advertises. The historical FTC case was about how it sold data and how it advertised itself, not about defrauding the people it charged.

What Spokeo actually is

Spokeo is a subscription people-search service that aggregates public records, phone and email directories, and social-network data into a single profile keyed to a name, phone number, email address, or physical address. Its consumer pitch is reconnecting with people and vetting strangers; the practical effect is a searchable dossier on most American adults.

Where Spokeo gets your data

Court and property records, voter and directory data, phone and email listings, social profiles, and data purchased from other brokers. The FTC's 2012 complaint is unusually informative on this point: it described Spokeo assembling profiles from hundreds of online and offline sources and then marketing them, from 2008 to 2010, specifically as an employment-screening tool.

Is it legal?

Spokeo now states it is not a consumer reporting agency and that its reports may not be used for employment, tenant, or credit decisions. That position exists partly because of its own history: the FTC alleged in 2012 that Spokeo had in fact operated as a consumer reporting agency, and that it failed to ensure the data was accurate, failed to limit it to permissible purposes, and failed to tell users about their FCRA obligations.

What Spokeo exposes about you

Full name and age
Current and past addresses
Phone numbers and email addresses
Relatives and associates
Property records and linked social profiles

The real risks

Profiles combine your address history, phone numbers, email addresses, and relatives in one place behind a low-cost subscription.
Records are frequently stale or wrong, and an inaccurate profile can be as damaging as an accurate one.
Listings regularly return after removal as the underlying data is refreshed.
Its data has historically been marketed for screening uses the FCRA regulates, which is exactly the scenario where an error costs you something concrete.

Spokeo's public record

June 2012

Spokeo paid $800,000 to settle FTC charges that it marketed consumer profiles to the human-resources, background-screening, and recruiting industries in violation of the FCRA. It was the FTC's first case addressing the sale of internet and social-media data for employment screening. The Commission also alleged Spokeo posted endorsements of its own service written by employees, presented as independent reviews.

FTC press release, June 2012

What to do about it

You can remove yourself for free, and you do not need a reason. Our step-by-step Spokeo opt-out guide covers the current process - about 5 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.