By Nick Diamantides, Staff Writer
What do you really know about that person you just met on the Internet or at the local nightclub, or even at your church, for that matter? One single mom recently found out that the man she was beginning to date was an unregistered sex offender with a history of sexually abusing children. Luckily for her and her kids, she found out before it was too late, and now the man is behind bars.
The woman, who lives in Southern California, had dated the man once or twice, but decided to be on the safe side by running a background check on him. To do that, she enlisted the help of Information Brokers of America, a company based in Nevada with offices in Long Beach and Alhambra.
“We originally ran a child identity theft check for her kid,” said John Meche, who owns the company with his partner Marc Sexton. “Nationally, that has risen 10 percent in the last two years.” He explained that when a parent claims a child as a dependent for tax purposes, or receives welfare or food stamps, the federal government assigns a Social Security number to that child.
“That Social Security number ends up in the records of banks, doctor and dentist offices and a variety of government agency files,” Meche said. “All it takes is one dishonest person in one of those offices and that number can be used to steal your child’s identification.”
Meche noted that identity thieves will use the child’s name and Social Security number to incur debts that they never pay, and the child often does not discover it until he reaches adulthood. That could mean being liable for debts, or going through a nightmare process of repairing their credit history.
“We encourage parents to run identity theft checks once a year,” Meche said. “The earlier you discover it the better, and we only charge $30 for that service.”
The single mom described above had Meche’s company check her child’s name and Social Security number and it turned out nothing was amiss in that regard. Then she found out that Information Brokers of America also does background checks on adults.
“We call it a date-to-mate check,” Meche said. “It’s for people who are dating but don’t know who in the heck they are dating.” He explained that his company will check all the information on a person–ownership of real estate and vehicles, debts, bankruptcy, judgments, marital status, and criminal history among other things. He noted that none of the popular dating services does that, which means that you have to trust that the person you met through the service is being honest or have someone do some research for you.
The woman paid Meche’s company to do the research. “We ran the man’s name through the national criminal data base,” Meche said. “It turned out he came up with a record for aggravated assault on a child, indecent exposure, and one other sexual offense.”
Meche noted that while the crimes had been committed in Arizona, the man was required to register as a sexual offender in his new home state of California, but he had not done so.
“If we run a check on someone and find out they are wanted by the law, we report them to the authorities,” Meche said. “We tell our clients that before we initiate the check.”
Once Information Brokers discovered that the man was violating the law, company representatives notified the police, providing them with the man’s name, address and phone number.
“About four hours later the guy was taken away in handcuffs,” Meche said. “He’s behind bars now and will probably stay there for a couple of years.”
Meche said the incident took place about two weeks ago, but in order to protect the woman’s privacy, he declined to give her name or the city in which she lives.
Information Brokers also does background checks for employers who want to know the truth about someone they are considering hiring.
“In today’s world, knowledge is power,” Meche said. “Whether you want to protect your child’s identity, or get information on someone you might be hiring, or find out the past of the person you are dating, you need to get accurate information, and that is what we provide.”
To find out more, visit www.iboainfo.com or phone (562) 208-8888.
