ComplaintsforSpokeo, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  07/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  7/4/2024 clicked the link in an email showing a "95" offer. I was immediately billed $19.95. When I contacted them to request a refund, they immediately canceled the "trial" and stated that they were "unable to process a refund for this enhanced report as it doesn't meet the criteria for our refund guarantee". What they are apparently referring to as an "advanced report" is a long list of neighbors of the actual person I had tried to search.

  Business response

  07/08/2024

  Dear *****************************:
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo, on July 6, 2024 regarding our service and charges made on your account, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter.
  
  When making a purchase, we do our best to let you know about the kind of information we may have available. In addition, we gather our data from 12 billion public records, ranging from census data to public social media profiles. New information is added to our system every day. Spokeo does not originate or create data, so our data reflects that of the original sources. Spokeo does not guarantee data accuracy, and the data should only be used as a reference. We are, however, constantly working to expand and improve the data available on our site. New information is added to our system every day and I suggest you check back for new updates.
  
  Please note, while our subscription services do include, name, email, phone number, and address searches; any additional services such as historical records, court records, enhanced background reports, or higher search quotas are offered for an additional price. I apologize if this was unclear.
  
  I can confirm that this subscription has already been disabled back on on July 4, 2024. This discontinues all future charges for Spokeo.
  
  Upon reviewing your account, I see that this matter has already been handled with a Spokeo ******** Care agent also back on July 6, 2024, where a refund of $19.95 was processed. Please allow up to 7 - 10 business days from this date to see this refund returned to your payment method on file. An automated Spokeo email confirming these changes was sent to the email address on file for your records. If you did not receive that email, please save this one for your records.
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ******** Care team through our contact page, ************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks
  -Spokeo ******** Care

  Customer response

  07/08/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  The website spokeo.com aggregates personal data which everyone can access without my consent. Spokeo claims I can opt out my listing from search. The opt out page requires me to enter my profiles URL. This URL is only available if I search for my name and then make a payment to access the report. This limits my ability to opt out. The opting out process should be at no charge.

  Business response

  07/05/2024

  Dear *************************: 
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo on July 4, 2024 regarding the removal of your information from appearing on our site, Spokeo.com, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter. 
  
  Spokeo collects publicly available information from a variety of public sources, including phone books, social networks, marketing surveys, real estate listings, business websites, and other public sources (collectively "Public Information"). The listings on Spokeo.com contain only Public Information. Personal information, on the other hand, such as information that users provide to Spokeo about themselves or information about their use of Spokeo, is not included in the Public Information that is made available through the Spokeo.com people search. 
  
  Spokeo regards your inquiry as a request to have your Public Information removed from public listings available on Spokeo.com. As such, Spokeo has suppressed from public display on Spokeo.com the Public Information it believes to be associated with you (based on the information you provided about yourself in your inquiry). 
  
  Spokeo's database contains billions of public records, and Spokeo is constantly receiving new or updated records. When Spokeo receives new or updated records, Spokeo will endeavor to link those new or updated records to your privacy preference. However, should you in the future find another listing containing Public Information about you on Spokeo.com, please contact our privacy team directly at ********************************** so that we can ensure the new Public Information is suppressed from public display.
  
  If you're not comfortable publishing your listing, you have the option of opting out of Spokeo. There is no charge for this and is entirely free This can be done by clicking on the Privacy link located at the bottom of any Spokeo page, or by navigating directly to ************************************.
  
  To remove name, phone, and/or email/username listings, please follow the instructions below:
  
  1. Locate the listing you want removed, and right-click on the exact profile
  2. Copy the *** by selecting "Copy link address" from the menu
  3. Click on the Privacy link located at the bottom of our page, and click on the Opt-Out or navigate to ************************************
  4. Paste the ***
  5. Provide your email address (this acts as verification for the confirmation of the removal to be sent to your inbox)
  6. Type in the Captcha Code (type the code exactly as you see it)
  7. Check your inbox for the confirmation email, and click on the link at the bottom to complete the removal process
  
  If you encounter any difficulty with the process outlined above, I'd be happy to assist you in removing the listing(s) concerned. To ensure that I do so correctly, please provide the ***(s) of the listing(s) you wish to have removed.
  
  How to Obtain the ***:
  
  The *** can be found in the address bar of your browser. For name listings, please be sure to locate the profile by narrowing down the city and state and clicking on the exact profile. The *** should look like one of the following examples:
  
  Name profile: ***********************************************************
  Payment page: **********************************************************************
  
  Phone profile: ***********************************************;
  Payment page: ***********************************************************;
  Email profile: **********************************************************************************;
  Username profile: ************************************************************************;
  Payment page: *********************************************************************...
  
  Alternatively, if individuals cannot provide the Spokeo Listing ***, if provided with the name and full mailing address, we can still remove ones information at request.
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ************* team through our contact page, ********************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks!
  - Spokeo *************

  Customer response

  07/05/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My person information can be seen at ******************************************************** Please remove ************* ***** information from this page.See attached picture.

  Business response

  07/03/2024

  Dear *************: 
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo on July 3, 2024 regarding the removal of your information from appearing on our site, Spokeo.com, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter. 
  
  Spokeo collects publicly available information from a variety of public sources, including phone books, social networks, marketing surveys, real estate listings, business websites, and other public sources (collectively "Public Information"). The listings on Spokeo.com contain only Public Information. Personal information, on the other hand, such as information that users provide to Spokeo about themselves or information about their use of Spokeo, is not included in the Public Information that is made available through the Spokeo.com people search. 
  
  Spokeo regards your inquiry as a request to have your Public Information removed from public listings available on Spokeo.com. As such, Spokeo has suppressed from public display on Spokeo.com the Public Information it believes to be associated with you (based on the information you provided about yourself in your inquiry). 
  
  Spokeo's database contains billions of public records, and Spokeo is constantly receiving new or updated records. When Spokeo receives new or updated records, Spokeo will endeavor to link those new or updated records to your privacy preference. However, should you in the future find another listing containing Public Information about you on Spokeo.com, please contact our privacy team directly at ********************************** so that we can ensure the new Public Information is suppressed from public display.
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ************* team through our contact page, ********************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks!
  - Spokeo *************

  Customer response

  07/03/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************

• Initial Complaint

  06/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I used Spokeo to search for the owner of a phone number that was harassing a friend. After using the search, it said that it had located the owner's name and other information that I could access for $0.95. After purchasing the report, I learned that they actually did not have the owner's name or any of the other information they advertised. This was frustrating in and of itself but then the company automatically enrolled me in their monthly subscription and began charging me $29.95 a month. A quick ****** search showed me that I am not the only one this has happened to

  Business response

  07/01/2024

  Dear *****************************:
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo, on June 30, 2024 regarding our service and charges made on your account, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter.
  
  Please allow me to explain the charges associated with the services selected. Since all Spokeo subscriptions automatically renew to prevent service interruption, trials that were left unchanged, were charged on the service's renewal date. I apologize if this was unclear.
  
  Unfortunately I was unable to locate a Spokeo account with the information provided in your complaint to assist you with your concern. To help you further,  please provide the following information:
  
  - your full name, or the name(s) of any secondary authorized user(s) on the credit or debit card(s) charged?
  - last 4 digits of the credit or debit card(s) billed, or any expired or secondary card(s)
  ?- card type(s) ****** MasterCard, etc.)?
  - any other email address(es) (other than the one used to contact us)?
  - if PayPal, the email address associated with the PayPal account?
  - exact amount(s) charged and transaction date(s)
  
  Once the account is located and verified, I'd be happy to assist you with your concerns.
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ************* team through our contact page, ************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks
  -Spokeo *************

• Initial Complaint

  06/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I used their service once for $.0.95! Never did it say well change $29.95 every month to my PayPal account. They have charged me $29.95 for the past 3or 4 months. I contacted Spokeo via email and they would only give me one refund! What abou the rest??? I attached a screenshot of my charges and a statement from PayPal.

  Business response

  06/26/2024

  Dear *******************************:
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo, on June 25, 2024 regarding our service and charges made on your account, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter.
  
  Please allow me to explain the charges associated with services selected to your account. Since all ********************** subscriptions automatically renew to prevent service interruption, trials that were left unchanged, were charged on the service's renewal date. I apologize if this was unclear.
  
  I can confirm that this subscription has already been disabled back on on June 23, 2024. This discontinues all future charges for Spokeo.
  
  Upon reviewing your account, I see that this matter has already been handled with a Spokeo ******** Care agent also back on June 25, 2024, where refunds of $29.95 were processed for the dates of May 16, 2024 and June 23, 2024. Please allow up to 7 - 10 business days from this date to see these refunds returned to your payment method on file. An automated Spokeo email confirming these changes was sent to the email address on file for your records. If you did not receive that email, please save this one for your records.
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ******** Care team through our contact page, ************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks
  -Spokeo ******** Care

  Customer response

  06/26/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  06/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of transaction- 6/25/24 Amount of money paid- $29.95 I had agreed to a ONE TIME purchase of $0.95 on 6/17/24, and at no point did the website ever state that this was a recurring payment, nor did it ever say the "recurring payment" would be $29.95, so I was completely unaware that I would be charged this amount at all. I believed my business with the website was complete and was not on notice to cancel any subscription as they did not even send an email receipt upon "signing up" (which I did not).I have contacted Venmo, which was the service in which I was charged by, but they have not opened yet today and not gotten back to me as a result. Upon further research, this appears to be a common scam from the company.

  Business response

  06/26/2024

  Dear *******************************:
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo, on June 25, 2024 regarding our service and charges made on your account, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter.
  
  Please allow me to explain the charges associated with services selected to your account. Since all ********************** subscriptions automatically renew to prevent service interruption, trials that were left unchanged, were charged on the service's renewal date. I apologize if this was unclear.
  
  I can confirm that this subscription has already been disabled back on June 25, 2024. This discontinues all future charges for Spokeo.
  
  As a courtesy, I have gone ahead and approved an electronic refund of $29.95 via the Venmo platform today, June 26, 2024. Please allow up to 7 - 10 business days from this date to see this refund returned to your payment method on file. An automated Spokeo email confirming these changes was sent to the email address on file for your records. If you did not receive that email, please save this one for your records.
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ************* team through our contact page, ************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks
  -Spokeo *************

• Initial Complaint

  06/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Im trying to remove my personal information from their website. Despite, meeting the requirements of the website, it kept on saying that they cannot find the **** I want immediate removal of my information from the website. *****************************************************************************************************************

  Business response

  06/17/2024

  Dear *************************: 
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo on June 16, 2024 regarding the removal of your information from appearing on our site, Spokeo.com, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter. 
  
  Spokeo collects publicly available information from a variety of public sources, including phone books, social networks, marketing surveys, real estate listings, business websites, and other public sources (collectively "Public Information"). The listings on Spokeo.com contain only Public Information. Personal information, on the other hand, such as information that users provide to Spokeo about themselves or information about their use of Spokeo, is not included in the Public Information that is made available through the Spokeo.com people search. 
  
  Spokeo regards your inquiry as a request to have your Public Information removed from public listings available on Spokeo.com. As such, Spokeo has suppressed from public display on Spokeo.com the Public Information it believes to be associated with you (based on the information you provided about yourself in your inquiry). 
  
  Spokeo's database contains billions of public records, and Spokeo is constantly receiving new or updated records. When Spokeo receives new or updated records, Spokeo will endeavor to link those new or updated records to your privacy preference. However, should you in the future find another listing containing Public Information about you on Spokeo.com, please contact our privacy team directly at ********************************** so that we can ensure the new Public Information is suppressed from public display.
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ************* team through our contact page, ********************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks!
  - Spokeo *************

  Customer response

  06/17/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  06/14/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have an email confirmation from the company stating that I had successfully canceled my $30 a month subscription in January of this year (2024). It would appear that they instead did not cancel my account, and they have charged me continuously over the last 5 months. That has amounted to nearly $150 that they have been quietly billing to my account. I have just noticed and gone through the process a second time of cancelling my subscription with them in the app.

  Business response

  06/17/2024

  Dear ***********************:
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo, on June 14, 2024 regarding our service and charges made on your account, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter.
  
  Please allow me to explain the charges associated with the services selected. Since all Spokeo subscriptions automatically renew to prevent service interruption, trials that were left unchanged, were charged on the service's renewal date. I apologize if this was unclear.
  
  Unfortunately I was unable to locate a Spokeo account with the information provided in your complaint to assist you with your concern. To help you further,  please provide the following information:
  
  - your full name, or the name(s) of any secondary authorized user(s) on the credit or debit card(s) charged?
  - last 4 digits of the credit or debit card(s) billed, or any expired or secondary card(s)
  ?- card type(s) ****** MasterCard, etc.)?
  - any other email address(es) (other than the one used to contact us)?
  - if PayPal, the email address associated with the PayPal account?
  - exact amount(s) charged and transaction date(s)
  
  Once the account is located and verified, I'd be happy to assist you with your concerns.
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ************* team through our contact page, ************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks
  -Spokeo *************

• Initial Complaint

  06/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had ordered a report from spokeo.com which would cost me .95 cents. Upon paying for the report, a few days later ***** was charged from my account. I immediatlely went onto the site to find I was signed up for a subscription and stated to customer service that I did not authorize a subscription. I just ordered one report and expected to pay the .95 cents only. I didn't need nor use or had knowledge of a subscription. I was part of a gimmick very deceptive site. I requested a refund immediately and cancellation and was given only ***** refund. Again I had not used nor needed a subscription it should have been refunded fully.

  Business response

  06/10/2024

  Dear *****************************:
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo, on June 7, 2024 regarding our service and charges made on your account, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter.
  
  Please allow me to explain the charges associated with services selected to your account. Since all ********************** subscriptions automatically renew to prevent service interruption, trials that were left unchanged, were charged on the service's renewal date. I apologize if this was unclear.
  
  I can confirm that this subscription has already been disabled back on on June 1, 2024. This discontinues all future charges for Spokeo.
  
  Upon reviewing your account, I see that this matter has already been handled with a Spokeo ******** Care agent back on June 7, 2024. 
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ******** Care team through our contact page, ************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks
  -Spokeo ******** Care

• Initial Complaint

  06/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I used Spokeo one time on 4/11/24. I used the service to verify an address on a rental application and agreed to a one time charge of .95 to be paid from my Venmo account. I never authorized any other charges. On 6/5/24 I opened ***** and saw two unauthorized ***** transactions from Spokeo. I immediately contacted Venmo and then Spokeo via email and also Venmos app. After 9 emails to both companies without any response or resolution, I contacted my bank and filed a dispute claim with them. My bank is currently investigating the unauthorized and fraudulent transactions. I never signed up for a membership or a free trial, yet I was enrolled. My bank conducted a charge back to my account for both transactions, however I feel that Spokeo should be held accountable for their unethical practices and forced to stop this deceptive practice. Its stealing regardless of how they explain it.

  Business response

  06/07/2024

  Dear *************************:
  
  I received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau page for Spokeo, on June 6, 2024 regarding our service and charges made on your account, and I am happy to assist in resolving this matter.
  
  Please allow me to explain the charges associated with services selected to your account. Since all ********************** subscriptions automatically renew to prevent service interruption, trials that were left unchanged, were charged on the service's renewal date. I apologize if this was unclear.
  
  I can confirm that this subscription has already been disabled back on on June 5, 2024. This discontinues all future charges for Spokeo.
  
  Upon reviewing your account, I see that this matter has already been handled with a Spokeo ******** Care agent back also on June 5, 2024. 
  
  I apologize for any inconvenience, or hardship this matter may have caused. You are more than welcome to contact our ******** Care team through our contact page, ************************************* where we are available by phone, email, and chat 7 days a week from 5AM to 8PM PST. Please feel free to contact us directly should you have any future questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thanks
  -Spokeo ******** Care

  Customer response

  06/07/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩