Have you encountered someone on a dating app that seemed like a perfect match, but were worried that they might be a scammer or a bot? Of course, there are plenty of tricks you can find online to spot suspicious profiles. But these methods are often subjective and time-consuming, and can’t actually rule out all the risks.

I’ll show you instead the easiest and most effective way to do a well-rounded search into the owner behind the account you’re looking into, 100% legit.

1. Reverse look up the username

Even if the dating profile is fake, you can always get a “real” username. Who’s behind that username, then? All you need now is a smart search engine to launch a reverse lookup.

BeenVerified offers you the powerful online service to dig out the background information of a social media account. It cross-references 50+ social networks and millions of public records to help you locate the real owner behind your target dating profile. Details like phone number and other hidden dating profiles and photos would be shown to you, if available.

Step 1: Go to the username search page of BeenVerified.

Step 2: Enter the username of your date below and click Search Now.

Step 3: Wait a while for BeenVerified to search through its database. You’ll be presented with a report on the account owner with all information organized, such as the real name and age, other related social media profiles, financial records and so on.

2. Run a reverse image search

Even if the account is fake, the scammer or the bot behind always needs a real photo for their profile picture, so that they could have a higher chance to hook up with someone. If you could find the owner of that picture, you can see through your online date directly.

When it comes to image search in social and dating areas, Social Catfish is just the right service for you. It digs deep into 120+ social media networks and millions of public records to help you find out key information that your date is hiding, such as other dating profiles, hidden photos, real contact information and so on.

Step 1: Open the image search site of Social Catfish.

Step 2: Upload the profile picture of your date and click Search.

Step 3: Sit patiently for Social Catfish to launch a thorough investigation for you. When the report loads to 100%, all the details of your date will be revealed on the webpage. Check on their real names, phone numbers, other dating profiles or whatever you need to judge if they match the account.

3. Check out the name

Most online dating platforms recommend their customers to use real names. With a genuine dating purpose, people actually take that advice. The romance scammers and the controlled bots are aware of the rule and usually make up an identity that seems real. And it gives you a perfect chance to check out the background information behind that name – to see if the real one matches your date.

TruthFinder is a people search tool that can reveal the real identities behind dating profiles. It searches through millions of public record source to locate records associated with the given name or address. The search result can provide not just the details of the owner’s available public information, but also possible secret photos and their profiles on other social media platforms. The available information should help you make a far better judgment on this date.

Step 1: Open the official website of TruthFinder.

Step 2: Enter the name (with the region or not) and click Search Now.

Step 3: A detailed report may be provided in just a few minutes.

Step 4: Purchase the right membership plan for you to review the report. The report could reveal the real person connected with the name typed in, along with their possible photos, other online identities as well as other available public records. Compare the information to see if this is your date or if you caught a possible catfisher.

4. Investigate on a free search engine

The popular free search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo have indexed the most abundant information online. Their algorithm is also powerful enough to draw out data that has implicit connections with your search terms.

So you can totally try your luck at searching the username of a dating profile directly on these free engines. Browsing through the listed results, you may find associated social media profiles and related photos. Cross-check them with the profile of your date and messages in your conversations. See if you can tell they’re genuine.

If the text search doesn’t give you satisfying answers, you could always try the image search on Google with the profile picture of your date. Follow the steps below:

5. Watch out for these signs

You should particularly watch out for such users on dating sites:

• They write very little details or have blank sections in their profile.
• They post no other photos than their profile picture.
• They send you links in talks.
• They claim that they are in a foreign country.
• They are too flirty and try to push forward too fast.
• They always refuse to talk on the phone / video chat.
• They talk like the conversations are automated.

These are the most sketchy signs of a fake dating profile. Though you cannot draw a 100% conclusion that the owner behind is definitely a catfisher or a bot, you should trust your intuition if you just don’t feel right.

But to eliminate your worries and doubts, there’s no better way than using people searching tools like BeenVerified or TruthFinder. They can reveal the owner behind your target account in just minutes.