Phone search: overview

The Phone Intelligence search type takes a phone number and pulls back the identity, records, and accounts linked to it — from a comprehensive US background check to enrichment served by several phone data sources. It is the natural starting point when your lead is a phone number rather than a username, email, image, or other identifier.

The UserSearch composer with the Phone Intelligence search type active and the Background Check (US) Module selected, showing the Country Code and Phone Number inputs and the Cost per search: $0.40 line

When to use it

Reach for Phone Intelligence when you hold a number and want to:

• Run a comprehensive US background check from the number — identity, address history, and public records (the Background Check (US) Module).
• Fan one number across several phone data sources at once and compare what each returns (the Phone (OneScan) Module — badged RECOMMENDED).
• Query a specific data source directly — OSINT Industries, Pipl (Social or Business), Predicta, or Epieos (the single-source Modules).

This search type exposes seven Modules. For the full breakdown of each — its data source, cost, and what it returns — see Phone modules & options.

Not a consumer report — no eligibility decisions

Despite its name, the Background Check (US) Module returns OSINT and public-records data. It is not a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) consumer report, and UserSearch is not a consumer reporting agency. Do not use its results — or any UserSearch result — to make decisions about a person’s employment, tenancy, credit, or insurance. Those are regulated uses that require a purpose-built, consent-based screening service. See Legal, ethics and OPSEC for the rules that apply.

The end-to-end flow

Phone Intelligence follows the same search composer flow as every other search in UserSearch — see How UserSearch works for the general model.

1. In the composer header, open the Search type selector and choose Phone Intelligence (shown with a phone-handset icon and a chevron). The active search type is drawn in the coral-orange accent colour.
2. Pick a Module from the grid. As in every UserSearch composer the grid is single-select — the chosen tile carries a coral-orange border, and selecting one deselects the others. Selecting a tile loads its description, its Cost per search line, and its query form. Background Check (US) is the tile drawn selected in the captured build; Phone (OneScan) is badged RECOMMENDED.
3. (Optional) configure OneScan’s data sources. The Phone (OneScan) tile carries a gear icon that opens a Choose Data Source modal, where you toggle which phone data sources run (and set the dynamic cost). See Phone modules & options.
4. Enter the number. Set the Country Code dropdown (observed set to “US (+1) United States”) and type the number into the Phone Number field (pre-filled with the dialling-code prefix, e.g. “+1”).
5. Confirm the Cost per search line beneath the input, then select Search Now (the coral-orange button with a magnifier icon).

Start with OneScan

Phone (OneScan) is the vendor-recommended starting point: one number fans out across multiple phone data sources and merges the results, giving broader coverage than any single-source Module in one run. You can always narrow it afterwards with its Choose Data Source modal. See OneScan explained.

What it costs

Every Module shows its price on a Cost per search line, denominated in Credits, drawn from your main (Global) search-credits pool. Phone Modules fall into two captured tiers:

• Fixed — a single set amount. Background Check (US) is $0.40 (the only Phone cost directly captured). The five single-source data-provider Modules are also fixed-cost, but their exact amounts were not captured.
• Dynamic — a range whose charge is the sum of the data sources left toggled on. Phone (OneScan) is dynamic; its captured range was not recorded.

Caution

Only the Background Check (US) cost ($0.40) was captured. The Phone (OneScan) dynamic range and the fixed costs of the five data-provider Modules were not captured, and no Phone Module was observed to be free. Confirm the Cost per search line on the tile before you run any Module.

See Credits & pricing for the full cost model.

What you get back

Running a search populates the Search Results panel on the right, with the standard header counters — Found (green), Enriched (orange), and Connections (white) — over a results table whose columns adapt to the Module you ran, plus a Details panel for the selected row. A Background Check (US) run is described as returning identity, address history, and public-records data, while Phone (OneScan) attributes each row to the data source that returned it.

For how to read and verify those results, see Reading Phone results and the general concept Found, Enriched & Connections.

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Related: Phone modules & options · Reading Phone results · OneScan · Credits & pricing

Verified against UserSearch v2.0.20