You met someone online awho has your interest, and you’re going to meet them. Maybe you’ve already gone out once or twice, but something seems off. Whatever the case may be, you want to know more about them. We know precious little about the people we date today. Yes, we ask questions, and they reply. But how truthful are their responses?
On Checkpeople, you can run a quick free search of a person’s name and any additional information you have about them. You are better able to determine if they’re a good match by having enough relevant info on hand.
It’s always a good idea to run a background check. Here’s how to get the details you need.
Act on Suspicions
Don’t be afraid to check someone if they seem suspicious. Maybe you’re worried about invading their privacy, but your safety is more important. A search might yield a criminal record or a significant other.
If you feel like they’re not a safe driver and you’ve written their license plate number down, you can check for information about their car and if they’ve ever been in an accident.
Meet in Public
On the first or second date, meeting in public is mandatory even if you’ve talked on the phone or chatted many times. It’s best for your safety. Catfish scams are constantly on the rise. This is where people create fake profiles to perpetrate financial scams, to humiliate others, or out of sheer boredom.
Use Search Engines
A Google, Yahoo, or Bing search is a good place to start considering how much information is publicly available. Your findings might surprise you. Search engines yield enough information for cross-referencing even though you probably won’t get really important things like evictions or arrests. At any rate, the public info generated is a solid starting point for further detective work.
Check Social Networks
Their profiles on social media will improve your understanding of their hobbies or interests. It will be useful to know what kind of people they have as friends, which you will if their Facebook profile is public. To see if they have any characteristics or attitudes you find disagreeable, make sure to check their updates.
Go through their Facebook photos to see what they like doing in their free time. Facebook is still the richest source of info where social media are concerned.
Another good option to search through is Instagram. You’ll learn what your promising new date likes to do for fun.
LinkedIn will allow you to check out their work history. You can verify if things they’ve told you about their job are true, such as their current and past workplaces.
While it’s not as detailed as the other social media, Twitter can be useful when it comes to background information too.
Running a Criminal Background Check
You can run a criminal history check on your date very easily. Most criminal record information is publicly accessible. There’s a catch, though – you need to know where they may have committed and been convicted of a crime. That means you need to know where they’ve lived in the past. They might live in Chicago now, but they could have moved from New York or somewhere else. If they were convicted in another county or state, you wouldn’t necessarily find a criminal record, not to mention records of a crime committed in a different country.
You could ask them if they were born where they currently live. Just don’t pry; you don’t want to risk making them feel uneasy. They could have absolutely nothing to hide and be put off.
Final Thoughts
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences data shows online dating has changed the dynamics and often changes outcomes in terms of marriage. Almost a third of all couples today meet online. Moreover, people who meet online report higher levels of happiness than people who meet in more conventional ways. Yet, happy people don’t make the news – nightmare dates do. We can’t stress this enough: better safe than sorry.