Is this normal?

I recently did an interview and investigator kept asking for more and more references in addition to ones already on the form. By the end of it, they had the contact information of at least (this is not an exaggeration) 12-15 people I’ve either worked with or been associated with in the past. Is it normal to gather this many names? I mean, are they legitimately going to contact that many people about me?

They always ask for more references than you’ve listed on the form. Anyone can list a “safe bet” on their questionnaire.

Very normal. That’s even a pretty low number.

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As a person who has been investigated many times over the years, I can say I’ve never had to dig up that many names!

Very possible they will contact that many people as they have to interview people associated with residences, education, employment, and other social references. For some investigations I’ve interviewed way more than 15 people.

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When I ask for that many references, it means your references are not responding, the contact information provided is wrong, they don’t know the information you thought they did, or they decline to be interviewed.

Always let the people you provide to the investigator know they might be contacted, it helps.


This was prior to any body being contacted, at least to my knowledge.

Agree with backgdinvestigator, your Investigator was probably getting extra names in case people do not respond. You would be amazed how many people simple do not respond to a call, text or email.

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Never had to give that many references over many investigations.

It always… depends. If I can find them on my own, great. If not, I am required to ask you for help, report who you gave me, then run the list until the coverage is met or the issue is discussed.

It’s all part of the process. We ask for “leads” to confirm you worked or lived somewhere, and leads who also are more like traditional references. If you filled out paperwork incorrectly (often due to the lack of explanation on PW of who we REALLY want, not your fault), we often need to get more people. And best to over-ask as 1) you may be hard to reach later if we need more names and 2) often your leads won’t take our calls or answer our emails and 3) the more names we have the better to get the fieldwork done properly and the case filed.