Posted by rengel/CA on 12/21/11 11:31am
Msg #407204

Background Check Horror story

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ap-impact-criminal-past-isnt-182335059.html

Enough said


My .02

Reply by Yoli/CA on 12/21/11 11:39am
Msg #407205

Horrific! n/m

Reply by jba/fl on 12/21/11 11:53am
Msg #407207

Very interesting story. I have long known they are faulty and I totally mistrust them.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 12/21/11 11:55am
Msg #407209

I don't trust their accuracy either....but but

I'm surprised her D.O.B. w/ her social didn't reveal the discrepancy and clear it up. Skimmed the article and didn't say where that was mentioned. And poor lady - even after all this she's going to live with this forever...it's never going away.

In the second case, that's just bad filing on the court's part, IMO, to not make the dismissal possibly the first thing that comes up.

Reply by jba/fl on 12/21/11 12:06pm
Msg #407211

Re: I don't trust their accuracy either....but but

I only skimmed the article, but have saved to work on my argument to give as to why I will not have a background check done ever again. My last one showed something that was not me but I was never given the chance to dispute it and only heard roundabout about the problem. Fortunately it was a job I really did not want, and I have an unusual last name. There is a Julie Akyol in RI, a real estate type job, and she is the only one I know of. There could be more. Knowing now that even my courthouse may be and the FBI is rife with inaccuracies, as well as LexisNexis (1% is a lot in my book - Topeka, KS population!) makes my caution flags fly high.

I'm in my end days and don't want to go down such as this poor woman. Can you imagine - yes, and it is scary.

Reply by HisHughness on 12/21/11 12:15pm
Msg #407214

Re: I don't trust their accuracy either....but but

According to Google, I'm the only Hugh Nations in the entire United States, though there is a Nations in North Carolina whose middle name is Hugh. That has its advantages. On the other hand, it can be a real PITA when the alimony lawyers start looking for you.

Reply by Linda_in_MI on 12/21/11 12:32pm
Msg #407222

You can thank data miners for lack of confirmation

According to the story, that's the problem. Firms and companies want the information quick--like yesterday. So computers look for and find matches that may not be the real things. A lot of the data miners don't take into account things like date of birth or other vital information that would be obvious if a person was looking at the information.

It was good to see that a couple of states are rethinking how vital information is distributed or sold.

Reply by bpn/NY on 12/21/11 12:29pm
Msg #407220

The publicity she got from this story will get her a much better paying job

Reply by MW/VA on 12/21/11 12:33pm
Msg #407223

Yes, and some attorney will come forward and help her sue for a big settlement. :-)

Reply by ikando on 12/21/11 1:03pm
Msg #407230

When my name is Googled, there are women from California to New York listed. Even my company handle comes up as a person's name listed. Even my maiden name created problems on background checks. It showed up as a "lady of the evening" locally. I haven't reviewed the latest BGC I had done by NR, but will do so over the holidays.

I know my husband also has a common name. We're all the time getting calls from collection people looking for a much younger man who defaulted on his loans.

On another note, it's no wonder there are so many "wrong" names listed on the identification forms for closings when it's erroneous input that generates the computer output. An early phrase used by the baby computer business states, "Garbage in; Garbage out." That's all too true when everybody wants instant results.