Why do you need to perform a background check?

There are plenty of situations where a background check is required. For example, during the recruiting process, in investment decisions, when verifying financial credibility, or in sensitive industries such as law enforcement or OSINT investigations.

On the other hand, sometimes we just want to make sure the person we plan to collaborate with, work with, or even just meet is the right one. In that case, a background check can also be a useful solution.

Just remember: the information you find is not always complete or correct. Pay close attention to the details before putting someone in charge, and above all, recheck with multiple tools whenever possible.

Types of Background check

So we can divide background check into different categories based on use-cases and your needs:

  • People search (it can be based on reverse face search, name/email search or phone lookup)
  • Employment background check (for the recruitment process)
  • Education verification
  • Public records check (archives, mentions in government records)
  • Criminal records search (PEP status, sanction records, etc.)
  • OSINT-based investigation (online mentions, social media research, etc.)

How to do a background check in 2026? Best Tools & Advice

5 Best Background check tools in 2026

1. Lenso.ai for reverse face search

Lenso.ai is one of the best face search tools, powered by its own facial recognition engine. It’s a perfect option for a basic background check if you have a photo of a person. background-check-tools

On lenso, you’ll find not only possible face matches (under the “People” category) but also exact duplicates of the image (under the “Duplicates” category).

Each image comes with URLs to the original source, so you can easily check those websites and gather more information about the person, such as:

  • Name and surname
  • Where the person was involved
  • Mentions in public records
  • Workplace
  • Background history

Thanks to advanced facial recognition, you can even find images of the person from earlier years or in group photos and that can be helpful for uncovering details about relatives or associations.

Pro tip: If you have more than one photo, upload all of them and check the results. Different photos may bring up different matches, giving you even more information.

If there are no results, simply create a free alert on lenso. As soon as new images appear online, you’ll receive an email notification.

What is Facial Recognition and How to Search For Faces Online?

2. Checkr.com for employment verification

Checkr.com is an all-in-one recruitment platform for initial employment screening. It’s especially helpful for employers who want to be sure about the people they hire. Their services include:

  • background screening
  • education verification
  • driver’s license records
  • criminal record checks.

AI in recruiting - trends for upcoming 2026

3. Spokeo for name/email lookup

Spokeo is another tool that focuses strictly on people lookup services, such as name, email, phone number, and address. You can start your search with lenso.ai, and whenever you find a name from the image sources, you can cross-check and confirm it with Spokeo.

5 Best People Search Tools in 2026 | by AI-image-search | Medium

4. Truthfinder.com for public records

TruthFinder is another background check tool that helps reveal information from public records. It also offers a phone lookup option, so you can double-check if the phone number found on spokeo matches the one from truthfinder.

They also claim to search through:

  • social media
  • police records
  • civil judgments
  • contact information

5. Namescan.io for PEP and Sanction checks

NameScan.io focuses on advanced background checks related to anti–money laundering operations. They can help you research whether a person appears on PEP lists or sanction records, and they also provide identity verification services.

This can be especially useful for banks or government institutions that need to confirm whether an individual has ever been involved in criminal or suspicious activities.

Author

Julia Mykhailiuk

Marketing Specialist