• Finding a long-lost relative often starts with a little Googling.
• If you’re going it alone, you’ll need time, ingenuity, and patience.
• Turn to Spokeo for a quicker, more in-depth method.

Sometimes, the passage of time and the speed of life take their toll, and you just fall out of touch with a loved one. In other cases, maybe you’ve done all the legwork to fill in your family tree, and turned up a name or two you’ve never met before. Or maybe you’ve dipped into a DNA analysis service and hit the jackpot, discovering relatives that you never even knew you had. The thing is, any of these cases can leave you wondering the same thing: how to find a long-lost relative.

The good news is, with easy-to-use online tools like Spokeo, your journey to find contact information for long-lost family members might just be quicker and more fruitful than ever. All it takes is a little online digging or a single Spokeo People Search to reforge lost connections or make entirely new bonds with long-lost family. Here’s how to do it. 

How to Find a Long-Lost Relative: Start with a Basic Search

While it may not always be the quickest or most effective approach, there’s no harm in starting your search the old-fashioned (or at least, old-fashioned as far as the internet goes) way: with a good old Google search. On the modern internet, it pays to widen your search net a little beyond Google, but in terms of how to find a long-lost relative, the basics of online digging are pretty straightforward:

1. Gather all of the information you know about your long-lost relative. This might include their legal name, nicknames or aliases, their age, career history, or the locations in which they’ve lived. If you’ve got any available, old phone numbers or email addresses can come in handy, too.
   
2. Search the names and locations with a search engine like Google, Bing, YANDEX, or DuckDuckGo. If the names, nicknames, or aliases don’t turn up results, try searching old phone numbers, online handles, or email addresses.
   
3. Widen your search net to social media sites, like Facebook, Instagram, X, Bluesky, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Depending on the site, you’ll be able to search by name, handle, phone number, or email address. If your contact info isn’t up to date, you may be able to find an old profile, or one that was created with the contact info you have. 

If you strike gold, you might find exactly who you’re looking for, friend them on socials, and start up a DM convo, or straight-up find their current contact info listed. But in an increasingly privacy-savvy online world, those scenarios can be rare. More likely, if you’re fortunate enough to find any leads based on your search, those leads will serve as a starting point for some real legwork.

Search Tips

To make your long-lost relative search more effective, you’ll need to shake up your search methods. Give these tips for how to find a long-lost relative a try to level up your search game:

• Remember to use quotes around phrases you’re specifically searching for, such as names (like “Jane Doe” or “John Smith”).
• Try a variety of name combinations, like including the middle name if you have it. Likewise, try searching both married and maiden names if available, or variations on first names (“Dan” for “Daniel,” “Libby” for “Elizabeth,” etc.).
• Add a birth date or death date to the name search if you have that info.
• If you have a picture of the relative in question, you can try entering that into a search-by-image Google Image Search, too.
• Search the name in publicly available online record databases for your locality, like birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, court records, and property records, depending on availability.

Basically, if you’re going DIY style, the “how” in how to find a long-lost relative boils down to some amateur detective work on your part. Found an employer name, but no personal contact info? It might be time to call or email that employer. Found their name on a group list, like a sports team or workplace announcement? Try searching the other names listed, and if you have better luck, contact them to see if they know your long-lost relative. Long story short, you’re going to need time and patience in equal measure.

The Better Way to Find a Long-Lost Relative: Spokeo 

But what if someone could do all of that detective work for you, easily and nearly instantly? Enter, Spokeo People Search. 

Here’s how it works. You enter a name, alias, phone number, physical address, or email address into our search field at Spokeo.com. Then all that legwork, searching, scouring, and cross-referencing? We do it for you, instantly, and in a volume that would take you years of Googling to match, as People Search searches billions (literally, billions) of records in a matter of seconds. Our deep-seeking engine will search for your long-lost relative’s name across:

• 6 billion consumer records
• 3.9 billion historical records
• 600 million court records
• 130 million property records
• 89 million business records
• Over 120 social networks

As a result of that People Search, Spokeo can turn up all kinds of helpful information to turn a once lost connection into a new family bestie (or at least a solved mystery), including available public data like:

• Names and aliases 
• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Birth information
• Current and past addresses
• Marital status and marriage records*
• Other family members
• Education level
• Property owned
• Assets and Estimated Wealth
• Criminal records*
• DUIs*
• Estimated salary
• Social network profiles
• Online usernames or handles
• Profiles on dating, music, or gaming sites
• Hobbies and interests

*Additional fees may apply

Frequently Asked Questions

Now that you know how to find a long-lost relative the old-fashioned way and the Spokeo way, let’s dig a little deeper with some of the most commonly searched questions from long-lost relative searchers: 

Can a long-lost relative be traced? 

Absolutely. You can do your own online legwork with search engines, social media, and public records, hire a private investigator (at an average cost of about $75 to $200 per hour), or dive deep across nearly 7 billion public records with a Spokeo People Search.

How do I find an unknown relative? 

This one’s a little different. If you want to find family members that you don’t even know about yet, rather than a long-lost relative with a name in hand, starting with genealogical research is likely your best bet. It’s a long road, but your two main sources here are federal, state, and county records (both physical and online), and services you can pay to analyze your DNA for ancestry matches.

How do I track down a missing relative? 

If a known relative is missing, that’s a job that starts with your local police department. Spokeo and your own sleuthing can help, but missing persons should always be reported to law enforcement first. 

How do I find a lost relative for free? 

Good news: starting a Spokeo People Search is free. Depending on what we turn up, we’ll tell you what kind of information we found, and then you’ll have the option of paying a small fee for a People Search report, with potential info and contact methods for your long-lost family member.  

Want to know how to find your long-lost relative? With a Spokeo People Search, we’ll take you from “long-lost” to “just-found,” all with a couple of clicks and just as many minutes. 

As a freelance writer, small business owner, and consultant with more than a decade of experience, Dan has been fortunate enough to collaborate with leading brands including Microsoft, Fortune, Verizon, Discover, Office Depot, The Motley Fool, and more. He currently resides in Dallas, TX.

• Medical identity theft is when someone steals your medical coverage information to fraudulently use it for themselves.
• Thieves commit medical identity theft to obtain healthcare benefits that are still billed to the victim.
• Physical theft, phishing scams, and data breaches are common ways this can occur.
• There are a number of signs you are a victim, such as unexpected medical bills, collection letters, prescription fills, and denied coverage.

As if medical care wasn’t stressful enough, scammers are doing their best to make things even tougher, this time through something known as medical identity theft. Let’s take a look at what it is, why they do it, and ways you can spot it before it’s too late.

What is Medical Identity Theft?

Medical identity theft is when someone steals your healthcare information (or uses your private information to sign up for healthcare plans) in order to gain medical benefits — such as receiving medical care, equipment, prescription drugs, etc. — all under your name. Essentially, they use your private information to get benefits, while you’re stuck with the bill, or worse, no access to medical care.

Why Do Scammers Steal Medical Information?

The details vary widely, but in broad terms, medical identity theft attempts to fraudulently obtain care or to extract money from the healthcare system through bogus claims. A few potential examples might include: 

• A person who can’t afford insurance buys yours from a scammer.
• A person who’s uninsurable applies for, and gets, insurance using your private information.
• A person who needs costly tests or treatments claims them under your coverage, using your ID.
• A person with a drug habit secures prescriptions from multiple doctors, giving each one a separate fake identity.
• Scammers file fake claims in your name with your insurer, or with Medicare or Medicaid, for services that have not been performed.

How Medical Identity Theft Occurs

While the end goal of medical identity theft is to fraudulently obtain benefits while pawning the costs onto the victim, scammers must first get hold of the victim’s private information. Here’s how that usually happens:

• Physical theft: Criminals will steal your Medicare or Social Security card and then use that information to commit medical identity theft.
• Scams: Phishing scams are the most widely used method by criminals, where they will pretend to be from an official organization (like Medicare or other health insurance providers) and trick you into giving up private information they can later use — often through links to spoofed websites or fraudulent phone calls. 

Data breaches: This one is harder to protect yourself from, as scammers with more advanced technical skills will occasionally break through security systems, revealing information en masse. While there isn’t much you can do to prevent this, keeping good online safety practices, like occasionally updating your passwords, can help keep your information safe.

Signs You’re a Victim of Medical Identity Theft 

Healthcare can be plenty confusing and stressful on its own, which is why it’s important to keep an eye out for certain signs that you may be a victim of medical identity theft. Here’s what to look out for:

1. Medical Bills You Don’t Recognize

If you receive any medical bills or insurance claims that don’t track back to care you’ve received, there’s a high chance it’s someone else posing as you.

2. Explanation of Benefits (EOB) Inaccuracies

EOB statements are given by health insurance companies, detailing information like health care received and corresponding billing. If you notice errors or items you don’t recognize, it’s likely a fraudulent claim has been filed under your name.

3. Collections Notices

If you know you’re up to date on all your healthcare bills, but keep receiving collections notices for medical debts (or unexplainable drops in your credit score), that’s a pretty big indication that someone is using your medical identity.

4. Notification of Benefits Limit Reached 

Some plans will have a limit to the benefits offered within a period of time. If you’re notified that you’ve hit that limit, but haven’t actually done so yourself, someone else has received services in your name.

5. Denied Claims Due to Preexisting Conditions You Don’t Have

If you are seeking care for a new medical issue, only to find you’ve been denied due to a nonexistent preexisting condition, you once again will want to look into the possibility of someone using your medical identity.

6. Unrecognized Prescription Refills 

While some people use medical identity theft to get free healthcare, others are simply trying to load up on prescription pills. If you find any prescriptions filled in your name that you were never prescribed, look into the possibility that your information has been compromised.

How to Prevent Medical Identity Theft

As with any type of fraud or identity theft, there are certain things you can do to help lower your chances of becoming a victim. While there’s no way to completely eliminate the possibility, the following practices can help minimize your risk:

• Keep sensitive documents securely stored (both physically and digitally).
• Don’t share your medical information with anyone other than trusted healthcare providers.
• Don’t click any unknown links or provide information to random callers. If you’re unsure whether an email, text, or call is from whoever they claim to be, either look up the official contact information or run a Spokeo search.
• Practice good online security, like using unique and complex passwords.
• Safely dispose of old documents with private information.
• Pay attention to data breach notices and take action to re-secure your account.
• Check your explanation of benefits statements and other medical/billing statements regularly and thoroughly.

FAQs

How am I affected by medical identity theft?

When people use your identity for medical benefits, there are a number of harmful repercussions. You can be denied necessary care, get stuck with large debts, deal with higher premiums, and suffer damage to your credit score.

Someone stole my medical identity. What should I do?

If you know you are a victim of medical identity theft, immediately contact your healthcare provider. You may also want to contact your bank to see if any of your financial accounts have been compromised, as well as check in with the major credit bureaus.

Cyrus Grant is a writer from Southern California with a background in law and dispute resolution. When he isn’t writing, he can be found deep-diving into the latest technology trends or simply spending time at the beach.

The good news is that it’s never too late to rekindle an old friendship. Spokeo put together five unique ways Americans can get back in contact with cherished friends, lost classmates, co-workers, and more.

1. Alumni associations and LinkedIn

Dedicated alumni platforms remain one of the most targeted tools for finding classmates. Many universities maintain their own alumni directories, which can be an excellent resource for those searching for old connections. To find old classmates or school friends who may not have opted in, LinkedIn can be another useful tool. They boast an alumni search function that allows you to filter by school, graduation year, and current location.

2. Mutual friends and family members (the Six Degrees method)

Before trying out any search tool, there’s a social networking component to consider. When trying to find someone, start by thinking about who you both knew, whether a mutual college roommate, a former co-worker, or a sibling. A single well-placed ask can move the needle on tracking someone down far faster than any database.

This isn’t just theory. Brown University published an analysis in 2024 outlining how human brains navigate social networks in such a manner that you’re typically only six social connections away from anyone on the planet. Put it to the test next time you’re trying to track an old connection down.

3. Social media searches using known details

Facebook remains one of the most useful platforms for people searches, partly due to how many active monthly users frequent it, but also because of how much detail is available on public profiles. Names, hometowns, and life milestones are all searchable. By filtering based on these data points, there’s a strong chance a person can be surfaced if they’re active on the platform. Instagram and TikTok are harder to search without a username but are more prominent social media platforms in 2026, if you know enough data on the person to find a profile.

For professional connections, LinkedIn is still the best option. The alumni search feature, in addition to its people search function, can allow you to filter by employer, school, and location all at once. For someone who has changed their career or moved, this can produce results that a single name search might not.

4. People search and reverse phone lookup services

People search platforms work by aggregating public records, including addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and sometimes social profiles. These tools are typically most valuable when other methods have stalled. A reverse phone lookup can also confirm whether an old number still belongs to the person you’re looking for. Combining a name with a city search can return the current contact details of an individual, even if they have been offline for years.

5. Niche online communities tied to shared experiences

Finally, some of the most active reconnections happen in spaces that are organized by specific events or experiences. A Reddit thread for alumni of employers, a Facebook group for veterans, or a Discord server for fans of a niche band are all examples. These communities self-select for people who happen to care enough about a shared experience to actively seek others who share the same interest.

The key with this strategy isn’t to think about what specific shared experiences you and the person you’re searching for had, but rather if there’s an existing community around that experience.

Sometimes, the hardest part is hitting send

Finding someone is often the easiest part of the equation. For some people, knowing what to say when someone is found is actually the harder part. Before reaching out to someone you lost touch with, think about sending a few warm messages to current friends first as a sort of trial run. The simple act of practicing can lower the psychological barrier enough that following through with your goal of reconnection may be easier.

This story was produced by Spokeo and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

Imposter scams accounted for nearly $3 billion of that total. Among people who reported losing money to a scam that started with a phone call, the average loss per person was $3,690.

The numbers are alarming, and what has actually changed is the sophistication of the scams behind them. The old generation of phone fraud featured an immediate ask, barely coherent script, and obvious pressure to take action. Now scams are more patient. A calm voice from what appears to be a real company number, a plausible reason for phoning, and a willingness to hold a conversation before making any type of ask.

short sequence of steps that take just about two minutes and actually help determine whether the person calling you is a scammer.

Spokeo has assembled this list using data and advice from leading institutions including the Federal Trade Commission, AARP, the Better Business Bureau, and the Federal Communications Commission to help you avoid becoming a victim to a fraudulent call.

Why “just hang up” isn’t enough anymore

Before diving into the roadmap, it’s worth outlining why the strategy of old doesn’t hold up today. The short answer is that the advice made sense for a simpler era. When calls followed the same structure of pressure, bad script, and quick ask, it all took about 30 seconds. Typically, callers would demand you wire money to avoid arrest, in order to quickly cause an emotional reaction in the hopes you agree and don’t think.

Modern scam calls are designed to sustain a conversation as opposed to ending it quickly. After all, a caller impersonating a utility company’s billing department wouldn’t demand payment right away. They would first establish context, confirm information they seemingly would have if they are who they say, and create a subtle problem that needs to be solved over multiple interactions. This makes just hanging up difficult for anybody, since it sounds plausible and could be real.

Artificial intelligence has also accelerated the professionalization of these scam scripts. A CBS News report outlined how Americans are now getting 2.5 billion robocalls a month. AI tools help scammers generate call scripts from aggregated data breaches and create personalized approaches that potentially even utilize real data like the last four digits of your account number.

The friction that used to separate fake calls from real ones is disappearing. What hasn’t changed is the underlying structure of the scam, and this playbook can give you the tools you need to identify what is real and what isn’t.

Step 1: Listen for pacing and pressure cues

The first 30 seconds of an unfamiliar call will contain more information than you think. While the content of what a caller says is easy to script, the pacing and emotional register of the call are harder to fake. Scammers work on a quick volume. They can’t actually spend a large amount of time on the call, which means the pressure to move towards an ask is usually detectable in how quickly they try to establish urgency or discomfort.

A real business call will not require you to make a decision during that call. It’s meant to convey information and offer ways to follow up. A scammer needs you to stay on the line and comply before you have time to think more about the situation. The urgency is always the tell.

Tip: Let the caller finish their opening statement without interrupting them. Then, follow up and ask for their name and the best number to reach them if you get disconnected. A real caller will answer without hesitation, but a scammer may resist a callback question.

Warning Sign: Any suggestion that you need to act right away, have to stay on the line, or avoid hanging up to keep your account in good standing is a pressure tactic. Legitimate callers don’t require you to stay on an active call to receive what they’re offering.

Step 2: Ask the caller to verify one detail about you

This is arguably the single most effective in-call verification step you have, but almost nobody thinks to use it.

The idea is extremely simple. Rather than being the one to answer all the questions and providing information, reverse the direction of the conversation. If a caller claims they represent your bank, employer, insurance company, or any organization you’re affiliated with, ask them to confirm something personal about you.

For example, ask questions like “What was the last transaction on my account?” or “What is the service address associated with this account?” While they may still be able to access the information as a scammer, it can give you a leaning indicator of whether they’re real or not.

The FTC’s 2025 guidance on fighting impersonation scams calls this point out directly. They state that government agencies, banks, and utilities will all generally have your account information ready to go and can verify it with you, but they shouldn’t need to confirm information they’re expected to already have.

Tip: Make the verification question something only your actual account would reflect. A recent payment amount, a specific service date, or a reference number from a prior interaction are all good options. Avoid asking for confirmation or information that the caller could have sourced from publicly available sites.

Warning Sign: If the caller says they can’t access the information you’re requesting or pivots to asking you to confirm your details instead, end the call right away.

Step 3: End the call and search the number directly

Whether or not the immediate call goes well, your next step should always be the same. End the call and search the number independently before taking any action the caller recommended. This step helps to remove you from the pressure of the live call and gives you a few minutes to think and research before deciding how to proceed.

Even a basic Google search of the full phone number will often surface complaint reports, forum threads, or more. The BBB Scam Tracker is an excellent public resource where consumers file reports on numbers associated with scam activity. A number that has generated multiple recent complaints is a reliable indicator of fraud. Neighbor spoofing, when a scammer uses a number with the same area code as our own, is often detectable with this method.

Tip: Search the exact number in quotation marks to force exact-match results on it. Scam numbers typically appear buried in forums with slight formatting differences, so quoting it will pull more results.

Warning Sign: A number with no web presence, business registration, or search results is a warning sign. Real businesses should have a searchable digital footprint, and a number with no result at all has likely deliberately been kept clean.

Step 4: Use a reverse phone lookup to cross-check the number

A basic web search will tell you what other consumers have reported about a number. A reverse phone lookup will add another layer to the result. This search checks the number against business registrations, carrier records, and contact profiles. This result will let you know whether the number is registered to the company the caller claims to be from.

If the lookup shows the number associated with a real business at a matching address, it’s a green flag. However, this is not conclusive. Caller ID spoofing can still route a call through a legitimate-appearing number. The FCCs STIR/SHAKEN framework is a call authentication protocol that’s been implemented by major carriers and has reduced the ease of basic spoofing. However, full implementation across smaller carriers is still incomplete.

Tip: Use the reverse lookup as a cross-check, not a verdict. A number that comes back clean isn’t necessarily safe as spoofed calls can pass through registered numbers. Simply use it to flag discrepancies rather than to clear calls you’re not sure about.

Warning Sign: A number the caller attributed to a major company that comes back as being related to a different business, residential address, or unrelated organization is a major indicator of spoofing or an impersonation.

Step 5: Call the company back through its verified main line

This step is the most reliable verification method on this list. A direct callback to a company’s published number creates a clean channel that can’t be spoofed or manipulated.

Utility impersonation scams are among the most common and the highest-volume imposter scams tracked by the BBB and Utilities United Against Scams coalition, and finding their real business number is possible with a simple Google search.

When you call back through the verified line, ask specifically whether a representative called you and what the subject was about. Most large organizations log outbound call activity and will be able to confirm whether the call happened.

Tip: Find the verified number before you actually need it. Add all the customer service numbers of your bank, utility company, and employer to your contacts. In a high pressure moment, having the numbers ready to go can remove one more step.

Warning Sign: Never use a callback number that the caller gives you and never use a number that appears in the contact line of the person calling you. Always find the number independently from the company’s official website.

Step 6: Report the number to the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau

If your verification process confirms, or at least strongly suggests, that the call was fake, reporting it is a quick and easy process that can save others. The FTC’s ReportFraud site collects government complaint data that federal and state law enforcement use to identify fraud patterns, prosecute operations, and issue consumer warnings. A number that gets a large amount of complaints will trigger investigative attention that it otherwise may not have received.

Similarly, the  BBB Scam Tracker site is a consumer-facing complement. By reporting data to both platforms, you can maximize the reach of your complaint.

Tip: When going to file the report, include as much detail as possible, including the full number, the date and time of the call, the name and company the caller claimed to be from, and the nature of the request.

Warning Sign: If you provided any financial information during a call you think was fake, contact your bank right away before filing a report. The report documents the scam, but your bank can stop any immediate damage.

Build the habit before you need it

These recommended steps take less than five minutes end to end, and the precautions that take the most time are the ones that matter the most. The challenge is to keep your cool during scam calls that are designed to pressure you into taking quick  action.

The best defense against imposter scams is to build the verification habits before you’re under any pressure. Run through the steps on a benign unknown call, such as a robocall from an insurance company, so the sequence feels automatic. Most victims of phone fraud acknowledge that something felt off on the call, but they didn’t know how to respond.

Scam volume isn’t going to decrease anytime soon. What consumers have that scammers don’t is the ability to pause. You can always end the call and check before responding. That small pause, when applied consistently, can provide you with actual protection.

This story was produced by Spokeo and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

While most people are generally going to hang up immediately, some people might be a lot more susceptible to this common type of scam call. In fact, these sketchy calls have even topped the Federal Communications Commission complaint list in recent years. It seems like as long as cars exist, so too will car warranty scams. 

Here’s what to look for so you know exactly when to pump the brakes.

What Are Car Warranty Scams? 

The all too common car warranty scam takes the form of a phone call, and the contents of that call can range from crude to convincing. At the lower end of the spectrum, an automated voice — reading from a script but claiming to be your car dealer, manufacturer, or insurer — tells you that your car warranty is due to expire soon (or something along those lines). They then ask you to follow a few button prompts to get more information and, of course, eventually make a payment. Spoiler: that payment will not be going to anyone remotely responsible for your vehicle’s warranty.

The trickier, more subversive phony car warranty calls come from real, human callers (i.e., scammers) who might even share accurate details about your car’s make, model, mileage, insurance, and current warranty. Using high-pressure sales tactics and some simple social engineering, they’ll typically ask you to confirm your private information (such as your social security number, credit or debit card details, or other banking info) and try to get you to purchase something like an “extended warranty.” 

As real human con artists, these callers will often use emotional tactics to drum up guilt or pile on pressure. They’ll often claim to have already sent you numerous requests by mail or urge you to seize a tempting “one-time-only” offer that you can cancel easily – or they may threaten to close your file altogether. No matter the tactic car warranty scams employ, it’s all a ruse to get the private information or money that the scammers ultimately want out of you. 

Car Warranty Calls: Red Flags

The bad news is that car warranty scams are a tale as old as phone scams themselves. The good news is, when a scam is this played out, we know all of the regular red flags that give it away as a con. Sketchy car warranty calls share a lot of red flags in common with general scam and phishing calls, but they also have some specific traits to keep an ear out for.

• If you don’t have an auto warranty to begin with, just hang up immediately. If you’re shopping for one, it’s safer for you to make the call to them. 
• Be wary of any automated messages claiming to be from your car dealer, insurer, auto loan company, or manufacturer. It’s virtually unheard of for any of these organizations to request payment from you via a robocall. 
• Likewise, note any suspicious generalities. If it’s a real car warranty call, it’ll tell you exactly what company it’s coming from, rather than a generic, completely unbranded call “regarding your warranty.”
• That said, don’t take caller ID at face value. Sophisticated scammers sometimes use simple tech known as spoofing tools to display local numbers, or even the number or company name of trusted warranty providers, on caller ID.
• As always, if a deal you’re being offered sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Buckle Up Against Car Warranty Scams

For the most part, you can stay safe from car warranty scams in the same ways as you can from similar phishing attacks or general scam calls. 

• Let suspicious or unknown numbers (or even car warranty calls in general, given the proliferation of the scam) go to voicemail.
• Cross-reference the information in said voicemail – like the number, the name of the company, your warranty’s expiration dates, coverage, and other details – with the real deal in your contract or the warranty provider’s website. 
• Ignore instructions from robocalls that prompt you to press a number on your keypad, as this is often a tactic used by scammers to confirm that they’ve reached an active number ripe for the taking.

The golden rule is: never, and we mean never, give out your valuable private information over the phone unless you’re absolutely certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’re talking to the legit business entity you’re trying to give money to.   

What To Do If You Miss the Exit

At the peak of their dubious popularity, criminals made about 13 billion scammy car warranty calls per year. While that number has fallen to the single-digit millions in recent times, it’s still an incredibly popular scam, which is all to say that there’s nothing to be ashamed of if you fall victim to it. Rest assured, you’re not alone. 

First things first: as soon as you realize you’ve given out your private financial information or otherwise made a payment to scammers, contact your bank. In most cases, especially if you haven’t abused the privilege in the past, they’ll allow you to stop an in-progress transaction or reverse a charge that has already gone through once you explain the situation. Even if there’s a fee involved, it’s likely that fee is cheaper than paying whatever the scammers ransomed from you. 

Your bank can also advise you on whether or not it’s necessary to put a freeze on your bank account or debit card, or to change your account numbers. Additionally, you can file a complaint with the FCC online – sharing your story might just help others avoid the same hassle in the future. 

Stay Safe Down the Road

Of course, once you’ve confirmed a number as a car warranty scam, block the number and mark it as spam. Likewise, don’t forget to dive into your phone’s settings to make sure that your scam call protection features are fully enabled (here’s how to do it on Android and on iOS). These features get more effective at filtering out bogus car warranty calls and all sorts of other phishing attacks and grifts as time marches on, so don’t sleep on them.

If you’ve got a phone number for a car warranty call that seems a little fishy, Spokeo’s got your back. Just enter that number into our Reverse Phone Lookup, and we’ll cross-reference it with billions of available public records from industry-leading data sources to find who that number really belongs to. 

Basically, Spokeo People Search is a big, cushiony airbag you can deploy when car warranty scam calls strike.   

As a freelance writer, small business owner, and consultant with more than a decade of experience, Dan has been fortunate enough to collaborate with leading brands including Microsoft, Fortune, Verizon, Discover, Office Depot, The Motley Fool, and more. He currently resides in Dallas, TX.

To Delete, or Deactivate?

Whatever your reasons for wanting to take a temporary or permanent pause from Instagram, understand that deactivating and deleting your account are two different things. And as such, knowing how to deactivate Instagram is a whole different thing from knowing how to delete an Instagram account on iPhone or Android. First things first: choose the form of your digital detox.   

What is Deletion?

Deletion is a much more permanent way of getting rid of your Instagram account than deactivating it. If you choose to delete your Insta, your profile and all of your photos and videos will be permanently removed from the platform, as will any trace of your likes and comments from the beginning of time. You’ll also lose your followers this way, so pro influencers and Kylie Jenner, beware. 

Before you decide to delete your account forever, consider downloading a copy of your Instagram history (which includes your pics and posts) for your records. Here’s how to save your Instagram history:

• Across devices, you can find this option in your Accounts Center, under “information and permissions.” 
• Hit the “Download your information option, and select your options (like a specific date range, photo quality, and download format).
• Then choose “Download to device” and “Create files.” 

After a few days, Instagram will email you a link to download a copy of your Insta history. 

What is Deactivation? 

While deletion is the nuclear option, deactivating your Instagram account offers a more temporary solution for getting away from your socials. Think of it as a way to take a vacation from Instagram. When you choose this option, instead of permanently deleting all your content, Instagram simply hides your profile, pics, comments, and likes until you choose to reactivate. 

And when you do reactivate, all of your content will be fully intact. Just like you left it.   

How to Delete Instagram Account on iPhone, Android, and Desktop

Whether you want to delete your Instagram account on the mobile app for iOS or Android, your mobile browser, or your desktop, the process is consistent across platforms. In any case, you’ll need to start by logging in to your Instagram. From there:

• On the iOS or Android app, tap your profile pic, then “More options.” If you’re using a desktop browser, choose “More” from the main page, then click the settings gear symbol. On a mobile browser, just tap the settings gear at the top.  
• Navigate to “Accounts Center.”
• Hit “Personal Details.”
• Choose “Account ownership and control.”
• Now select “Deactivation or deletion,” and then choose the account you’d like to delete.
• Finalize the decision with “Delete account,” then hit “Continue.” 

Keep in mind that it may take Instagram up to 90 days to fully delete your account (they tend to keep copies of the account on record in case of accidental deletion). If you willfully delete your account and change your mind later, you can always sign back up with the same username, so long as it hasn’t been taken by anyone else. 

How to Deactivate Instagram 

Just like deleting your account, deactivating Instagram can be done via the mobile app, your mobile browser, or your desktop browser. The only difference in the process between the platforms is that you’ll take a slightly different path to get to your Accounts Center. In any case, just make sure you know your Insta’s username and password, and have that info stored somewhere safe before you deactivate. (We’ll get into why this is important later in this article.)

How to Deactivate Instagram Account on iPhone, Android, and Desktop

Don’t hesitate to detox and deactivate when the mood strikes you. With these simple steps, you can temporarily deactivate your Insta whenever you want (as long as you don’t want to do it more than once per week – that’s Instagram’s deactivation limit): 

• On the iOS or Android app, tap your profile pic, then “More options.” If you’re using a desktop browser, choose “More” from the main page, then click the settings gear symbol. On a mobile browser, just tap the settings gear at the top.  
• Navigate to “Accounts Center.”
• Hit “Personal Details.”
• Choose “Account ownership and control.”
• Now select “Deactivation or deletion,” and then choose the account you’d like to deactivate.
• Press “Continue,” re-enter your password when prompted, then hit “Continue” again.  
• Choose your reason for deactivating from the listed options, and hit “Continue” once more.
• Lock it in – smash that “Deactivate account” button. 

How to Reactivate Instagram 

Having second thoughts? Feeling refreshed from your detox? Decided you actually can’t live without the abandoned profile your cousin made for his dog in 2017? No worries, reactivating your Instagram account is super easy. All you’ve got to do is log back into your account with your same old username and password – on any device, no matter where you deactivated the account – and you’re back in business.     

Hello again, makeup influencers, Brooklyn black box comedians, and teenage lip-synchers. We missed you.

Understand Your Digital Footprint

Whether you’re simply taking a social media break or are choosing to leave the platform entirely, if you have the urge to delete or deactivate your Instagram account, it may be time to take stock of your digital footprint (i.e., the trail of breadcrumbs you leave behind as you do your thing on the internet).

Spokeo’s search tools can help you get a full picture of your digital footprint, giving you the information you need to decide what social media platforms you’d like to have a presence on — and whether you should delete, deactivate, or simply make your profiles private. 

Doing so can give you some serious peace of mind…and help prevent catfish from taking advantage of your abandoned accounts.

As a freelance writer, small business owner, and consultant with more than a decade of experience, Dan has been fortunate enough to collaborate with leading brands including Microsoft, Fortune, Verizon, Discover, Office Depot, The Motley Fool, and more. He currently resides in Dallas, TX.