We live in a world where you can get a date for tonight on Tinder without leaving your couch. But how well do you really know the new person you’re dating?
Whether you met on Tinder, Grindr, Bumble, Instagram, Match, or any one of the dozens of other social media / dating platforms available today, you probably don’t know everything about your new fling.
Sometimes, it’s nice to keep things casual. But if you want to get more serious, then you need to know who you’re dating. Remember: 60% of all violent crimes in America are committed by loved ones or acquaintances.
With that sobering thought in mind, let’s take a look at how you can easily learn more about the person you’re dating.
1) Google Their Name, Phone Number, Address, And All Other Personal Information
The first and easiest step is to use a search engine like Google to learn more about the person you’re seeing.
Yes, this can feel a bit stalker-ish. But hey, you’re doing it to protect yourself.
If you’re dating someone new, then you’re probably already Googled their name at least once. Google their name again and look at news stories mentioning their name. Make sure they’re using a real name that shows up in search results. Look at the images tab to find things that may not show up in the general search – you may be surprised what you find.
You should also be wary if they’re using a name that’s suspiciously common – like John Smith or James Miller (sorry to all the real John Smiths and James Millers out there). A common name isn’t enough to immediately make you suspicious of that person. However, if they have a common name and you can’t find any specific information about that person online, then you may want to take a closer look.
After Googling their name, Google their phone number. Typically, phone number searches won’t reveal anything but websites with lists of all phone numbers in a region. However, you can sometimes find an old business or other organizations with which your new friend is/was associated.
You’ve come this far on your stalking binge, so you might as well go all-in: Google every piece of personally identifiable information about the person – like their address, workplace, and anything else you find or can think of.
Even if you don’t turn up anything nefarious, you’ll at least know a lot more about your boyfriend/girlfriend the next time you get together!
2) Search For A Criminal Record
This might seem a bit intense for a new relationship, but it’s something thousands of men and women do every day.
Running a criminal record search on someone is perfectly legal. There’s nothing to stop you from doing it. Criminal records are public records, and that means someone like you is allowed to look at them.
Today, online services like CheckCriminalRecord.com have made finding someone’s criminal record incredibly straightforward. These criminal search services let you enter a name and find out everything you need to know about that person’s background.
You can check their background in a specific state and county. Or, you can scan the entire country for results.
All searches are performed anonymously and they leave no trace. One criminal records search can turn up information about someone’s criminal record. Or, even things like parking tickets, misdemeanors, and charges that were dropped can appear during a public records search.
We specialize in checking public records and criminal records for new boyfriends and girlfriends. In fact, thousands of people have used our service for precisely that reason.
To get started today, fill out the person’s first and last name using the online form on CheckCriminalRecord.com.
3) Casually Ask About Their Daily Schedule
Is the new person you’re dating really a lawyer at that big law office downtown? Or are they really just a janitor at a bar?
The next time you hang out, ask about their daily schedule. Maybe see if they can meet up to grab coffee on a lunch break, for example. Ask what they did today. You’d be surprised by how many people lie about their jobs. Some people are just insecure about their jobs, while others are hiding something more nefarious.
4) Gently Probe Their Positions On Key Issues
You may think somebody is “the one” – until you hear their stance on abortions, capital punishment, immigration, or some other contentious issue.
Now, it’s probably not a good idea to ask these kinds of heady questions on a first date. But over the next few dates, it’s important to casually probe about serious topics – after all, these are thing that make or break a relationship.
But you want to do it gently.
Instead of coming straight out and saying, “immigrants are the scourge of our nation”, for example, start with something a little softer like “Trump sure has some interesting ideas on immigration, hey?”
5) Talk To Them About It – There Could Have Been A Mistake Somewhere Along the Way
Ultimately, you could find a lot of bad information about someone while Googling or checking their criminal record – only to realize you’ve been looking at the wrong person the whole time.
In other cases, criminal records can be mistakenly placed under someone’s identity, potentially ruining their reputation for life.
If you’re concerned about the results you found, then talk to that person first before doing something drastic – like breaking up over one search result. In some cases, there’s a good explanation. In other cases, there may have been some error along the way.
And then there are some situations where the person was deliberately trying to hide something really bad from you. You never know until you check.