The booming dating apps make it easier to meet prospective mates. And people are getting into relationships rapidly before they know each other well. However, people appearing “too perfect” may raise the need for caution¹. To make sure your potential boyfriend or date is transparent about their identity and not hiding information like criminal or traffic violation history, a background check is necessary.

Before getting started:

To make your searches more effective, you’ll need to gather as much information as possible about your boyfriend. You don’t have to obtain all the details. But the more you know and provide, the more likely you’ll find the right person and abundant information. 

• Full name
  It’s simple to get and it’s a fundamental piece of information for any background check. 
• Age and location
  Knowing the approximate age or location enables you to narrow down the search results efficiently if your boyfriend uses a common name.
• Contact information
  A phone number or email address, even if it’s an old/unused one, is associated with a plethora of public records and details about its owner. With this information, you can also find your boyfriend on a variety of social media platforms where these details are associated with accounts. 
• Social media username
  People often use the same username across multiple platforms. So if you’ve got a username, whether it’s from social networks, blogs, or dating sites, you may be holding the key to a lot of data.
• Images
  A reverse image search can help you identify if someone is who they claim to be. However, a reverse image search may not always be accurate, so it’s recommended that you pick up several high-resolution images that clearly feature your boyfriend’s face. 

3 ways to background check your boyfriend

You can use a dedicated background check service, which is reliable, thorough, and convenient, or do the fact-finding through local courthouses and social networks yourself.

Method 1 – Get a background report

We’ve tried several background check services, and here are three that top the list.

Option 1 – TruthFinder

Truthfinder is a powerful tool for dating background checks. By crawling millions of public records from government agencies and online sources, it can provide a plethora of available information on a person, including his employment history, marital status, criminal & traffic records, possible judgments, financial details, and more when available. 

1. Go to TruthFinder. Type in your boyfriend’s name and click Search.

2. Wait until the report is compiled. Once done, open it (a subscription purchase is required) and scroll through each section to get better insights into your partner.

Option 2 – BeenVerified

BeenVerified is an all-around people search engine with diverse search tools. You can choose to search by your boyfriend’s full name, phone number, or one of his social media usernames. It sifts through criminal and court records, property records, as well as a trove of personal details, and aggregates it into one easy-to-read report.

1. Go to the BeenVerified page.

2. Type in your boyfriend’s real name and click Search.

3. Within minutes, you’ll receive a full report that may contain the person’s contact details, address, criminal records, social media profiles, and so on.

Option 3 – Social Catfish

Social Catfish is a dating investigative service that aims to prevent catfish. If you’re dating online but the person refuses to meet in person, you may reverse search his images to see if he used stolen pictures and identities.

1. Visit the Social Catfish homepage.

2. Choose your preferred search option, fill in the query, or upload an image, then click Search.

3. The scanning process may take a couple of minutes. When completed, open the report. If the profile is inconsistent with what the person claims or uses stock photos, it’s a warning sign.

Alternatively, you could take advantage of free tools like Google Images, TinEye, and Yandex to pinpoint the source of an image.

Method 2 – Look up criminal records manually

Check local criminal records

Criminal records are considered public and typically include misdemeanor and felony convictions, pending charges, acquitted charges, and any ongoing criminal proceedings. 

Many states have digital databases for those data and allow for online requests. Simply type the state where your boyfriend lives (e.g. New York) + criminal records to locate official resources. Open the website, start a new record request, and follow the on-screen instructions. You may need to provide your boyfriend’s name, birthdate, and address along with a valid reason for the request.

You can also visit the local courthouse or police department in person to inquire about someone’s criminal records.

Check mugshot

You may find the mugshots of your boyfriend online if he has a criminal history. Type the person’s name + mugshot in the Google search bar and see what turns up. If it fails to deliver desirable results, you can navigate to the Images tab to see all the related images.

Check sex offender data

To check if your boyfriend is convicted of sex crimes, you could search his name on the National Sex Offender Registry, a database for nationwide sex offender data.

Method 3 – Track his social media accounts

Social media can reveal a lot about an individual like their addresses, jobs, hobbies, and friend groups. What’s more, by analyzing their online activities such as the posts they made and their interactions with others, you might have a better understanding of their personalities. 

Start your investigation from major social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. They are built in with a search bar where you can directly look for a matched profile by your boyfriend’s full name or a possible username you think he might be using. 

Why it’s important to run a dating background check

Online dating can come with various risks such as fake profiles or catfishing. By performing a quick background check, you can delve into various aspects of a person’s life and past, proactively identify red flags, and protect yourself from dealing with deceitful individuals.

Avoid romance scams

Romance scammers are good at fabricating impressive personas and crafting stories to manipulate your emotions and extract money. To ensure peace of mind, you could check if your potential date lies about their marital status, education, jobs, and assets. And see if they have a shady financial history including tax liens and declared bankruptcies.

Protect your safety

People with criminal histories, particularly those associated with violent or harmful offenses, may pose a potential threat. So if their background report reveals arrests, convictions, or even sex offender registry, it’s essential to assess whether it’s safe to move forward.

A Redditor emphasizes that a background check is “not about trust, but about staying alive” when recounting the story of her best friend – she discovered, after enduring three years of abuse from her boyfriend, that he had five previous arrests for battery².

Conclusion

Conducting a background check on your boyfriend will give you a complete picture of who the person truly is and foster trust in a relationship, especially when certain behaviors raise suspicion. If you uncover anything that triggers insecurity, consider having an open conversation with your boyfriend. Communication is always the best approach to address uncertainties.

Have any questions or suggestions about this post? Please feel free to leave a comment below.

1. Relationships [strawberry2]. (2011, May 8). Background check for someone online? [Online forum post]. City-data. https://www.city-data.com/forum/relationships/1273912-background-check-someone-online.html ↩︎
2. r/TwoXChromosomes [3opossummoon]. (2023, August 17). Always background check your new boyfriend… [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/15t9jiq/always_background_check_your_new_boyfriend/ ↩︎

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