Dating online is no longer rare these days, due to the rise of dating apps and websites. While we sincerely hope to find true love on these platforms, we should also keep in mind that people on these platforms are a mixed bag. And there’s a chance we’ll be catfished or scammed if we don’t know who’s on the other end of the screen.

To avoid this, we can perform a background search to figure out whether an online date is really who they claim they are. This may seem hard to do, but relax –  it’s really not. In this post, we will show you how.

Verify an online date with multiple means and resources

Information about a person on the Internet is usually fragmentary, so you may need to use several sources to gather enough information. Also, some fraudsters are skilled at using well-crafted profiles for their sophisticated scams, therefore comparing info obtained from different sources can give you more confidence that your online date is genuine.

Here are some methods for verifying an online date:

Run a reverse image search

No matter how little you know about your online date, at least you’ll have a picture of them on the dating profiles. And this can be a start for verifying the person’s identity. With simply a picture, you can run the reverse image search with Social Catfish, a powerful online dating investigative service.

Social Catfish has image metadata including social profiles in the major social media platforms and even Google Images, so you’ll get accurate and publicly available results all in one place. 

1. Go to the Social Catfish image search page. Upload an image and then click Search. 
   
2. Wait while Social Catfish scans millions of social profiles. After that, you should see the person’s details and find apps and websites where the person has a profile.
   

Search on social media

Some online dating sites allow users to link their social media accounts with their profiles. If your date’s profile includes any social media information, you can visit the sites to see what’s in their accounts.

You can also search for their name on as many social media platforms as possible, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to find their accounts. Check the bio and content in the accounts to see if there is anything suspicious or doesn’t match up with the info you know about the person.

Do a Google search

Being the largest search engine, Google may be able to help you find some useful details to verify whether your online date is who they say they are. To start, you can search for the name together with the living city or birthplace and see what comes up in the results pages. Additionally, if the person claims to have a business or a job in a specific company, you can also Google that and then dig further from the search results.

But doing the search this way may take some time and patience because you must go through the search results page by page and carefully assemble the useful and relevant information.

Perform a background search with a people search website

If you want to do a background check on your online date and save a lot of effort, people search websites are a good option. A professional people search website can provide more detailed information about a person than you may be able to find on your own in a matter of minutes. If you’re unfamiliar with this type of service, we recommend the following:

• Option 1 – TruthFinder
• Option 2 – BeenVerified

TruthFinder

TruthFinder is a legit and trustworthy background report service that has access to millions of public records. With just a name or phone number, it can provide in-depth reports that may include possible relatives, work and educational history, financial assets as well as criminal and traffic records!

To perform a background search with TruthFinder:

1 ) Go to www.TruthFinder.com

2) Type in the person’s name in the search bar and click Search Now.

2 ) Wait as TruthFinder searches its public record sources. Once it locates a match, it’ll generate a report for you. In order to view the report, you will need to purchase a membership plan.

^{The above image is a sample report. Actual TruthFinder Background Reports may contain more or less information.}

BeenVerified

BeenVerified is also a good choice of background check tool when it comes to online identity verification or digital footprint searching. In just several clicks, you’ll get a detailed report about your online date, containing info gathered from billions of public records and 50+ social networks.

To do a background check with BeenVerified:

1 ) Type in the person’s phone number or name in the search bar and click Search Now.

2 ) It will take a few minutes for BeenVerified to search its database. After that, a detailed report will be presented to you.

Final thought

With all the scams that come with online dating these days, you can never be too careful. If you don’t want to waste your time on someone who uses a false identity, it’s always safer to use the methods listed above to verify whether the person is real first.

It’s entirely up to you how you research their background. But if you want to save some time and energy, performing a reverse image search with Social Catfish or a background search with TruthFinder or BeenVerified may be a better option.

_{*Featured Image by Tumisu from Pixabay}
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