Luckily, we’ve come so far regarding awareness and caution—all because of technology.

The dating scene has always been a risky one; we can never know what we’re getting ourselves into when meeting new people.

If only there was a way for us to know from the very beginning whether a person is safe to date or not!

There is.

There are ways we can put our worries to ease with online tools that offer to run background checks.

We can get a better insight into a person’s history, life, and overall character.

Things to keep in mind before we start with the background check sites!

Though a lot of sites, apps, and methods that offer this type of service may be reliable, never stop being cautious.

Firstly, a lot of dangerous individuals capable of causing harm aren’t reported and/or don’t immediately show their criminal tendencies.

Just because we may not be able to find any dirt on people doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in the clear.

This could also be a technical setback on the background checker site/app we could be using at the moment.

Proceed with caution, especially if you don’t have any common friends with the person you’re about to meet.

Let’s look at some methods that help conduct a background check!

1. Garbo.

The Garbo site was founded by Kathryn Kosmides in 2018. She is a survivor of gender-based violence.

Through Grabo, Kosmides aims to make it easier for people to look up crucial information online.

Garbo is a quick and effective method to get important information about a date, such as criminal records and other dangerous behavior.

All the site needs is a first name and phone number, though, at times, extra information could be required for more specific results.

However, don’t be alarmed because similarly to other sites, the person you look up won’t be notified in any way.

Over the last couple of years, Garbo has partnered up with many big platforms, such as Tinder and Match to ensure their users’ safety.

A search costs $2.50, though, a few free tries are provided to people using online dating sites.

Note that Garbo is currently only available in the United States, hence, contains records only on individuals in the US over the age of 18.

2. Instant Checkmate.

If you’re wondering how to do a background check on someone you’re dating, the answer is clear: online websites.

Instant Checkmate is one of the best US-based paid websites that offer useful, detailed, and important information on people.

With Instant Checkmate, you can find valuable information regarding:

• Arrest records;

• Sex offender databases;

• Phone numbers;

• Addresses;

• Demographic data;

• Financial data;

• Police records;

• Other public records, etc.

All the site needs to access this information is a name, last name, city, and state.

Millions of searches have been conducted and the site has proven to be effective.

This makes it perfect for people who are hoping to do a background check on the person they’re dating.

Instant Checkmate also provides a reverse email address and phone number lookup that gives quick and successful results.

So all in all, this site is pretty solid regarding both product and service; it has everything we’re looking for.

With a $35.12 monthly fee, Instant Checkmate’s users have unlimited access to reports, as opposed to paying individually for every single search.

3. BeenVerified.

BeenVerified is another very popular choice when it comes to background checks.

You can do a background check on someone from the US on the BeenVerified page by writing down the required information.

This site has many great products in store for us, including data regarding:

• Criminal and court records;

• Contact info;

• Deeds;

• Property records;

• Professional background, etc

.

Not only that, but we can also look people up by their email, phone number, house address, and even vehicle.

BeenVerified provides its users access to billions of records from trusted and effective sources, including records of themselves.

This site is one of the popular picks amongst online daters who are skeptical regarding a match they met.

The BeenVerified site charges $26.89 per month, however, there are often promos, deals, discounts, and coupons available upon signing up!

4. National Sex Offender Registry.

You can also do a background check on your date on the National Sex Offender Registry.

The best part? It is an official site affiliated with the US government, and the searches are for free!

National Sex Offender Registry provides you with the opportunity to search registries in the U.S., The District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and Indian Country.

You’ll have three options or search methods available:

• Name Search;
  
• Location Search;
  
• Advanced Search.

You can give it a try on each option until you’re sure that you’re not missing out on any information about this person.

This is yet another genius way to practice safe dating!

5. PeopleLooker.

If you’re really curious to find out more about a date, then look no further as PeopleLooker will prove to be helpful.

PeopleLooker will grant you access to information such as

• Sex offender records;

• Criminal records;

• Addresses;

• Professional background;

• Contact information;

• Personal details, etc.

The site offers its users a variety of crucial information to assess a potential partner’s character before taking things to another level.

It’s quick, effective, and confidential—all while being easy to use.

You can look somebody up using their first and last name, phone number, email address, or residential address.

The site charges $22.86 monthly and with a three-month commitment plan, $18.28 each month.

6. Truthfinder.

Truthfinder is a safe dating background check site that allows users to get better—and more important—information about other people.

It’s very helpful when it comes to online dating as well—it’s quick, functional, and confidential.

Truthfinder works by collecting necessary data from federal, state, county, and city databases. Information like:

• Personal details;

• Criminal records;

• Contact information;

• Academic and professional background;

• Sex offender registries and statuses;

• Owned vehicles;

• Sexual offense reports;

• Social media accounts;

• Watchlists, and more.

Write down the necessary information needed to complete a preferred search ( people search, reverse phone number and email address lookup, background check, username lookup, or public record search) and we’re set!

Based on the service provided, a TruthFinder membership costs between $4.99 and $29.73 per month and is mainly available for residents in the United States.

7. Intelius.

Intelius is a site that allows users access to a lot of useful and essential information for $24.86 a month.

Its people search report includes information regarding:

• Criminal records;

• Court records;

• Traffic records;

• Assets;

• Email address;

• Employment/educational history;

• Related persons, and more.

Aside from people search, we can also perform reverse email address and phone number look-ups, criminal records searches, and background checks.

All of these will prove to be useful when getting into the dating scene.

It’s highly recommended to take safety measures before meeting up with an online date, and one of those measures is background checks.

And Intelius is one of the best sites on the market.

It’s easy to use and relies on trustworthy sources to dig up valuable information.

Intelius also takes special care of its users’ privacies—it doesn’t notify the people we run a background check on. 

8. Whitepages.

Whitepages is a US-based background check site and app that provides people with essential information.

With Whitepages, we can conduct a people search, reverse phone and address lookup, or/and background checks.

The tool requires only a first plus last name and a city, state, or ZIP code.

It’s fast, easy, confidential, and anonymous! 

Whitepages provide a variety of important information, including personal and contact details, criminal records, relatives, and professional licenses

Its user-friendly interface and successful, quick results make Whitepages one o the best background check sites for dating—especially online dating.

It’s trusted by over 30 million users every month and prices range from $4.99 up to $29.99 based on the plan you chose to use.

9. Dating Profile Finder.

Dating Profile Finder is a background-check dating app with 4.1 stars and over a few good reviews on Google Play.

Different from the rest of the background check methods involved in this list, Dating Profile Finder is an app.

It is an excellent app that runs background checks on potential dates we meet online; it finds valuable information regarding an online date’s history.

The Dating Profile Finder app gives information regarding criminal records, personal information, social media, and more.

In just a matter of minutes, the app will conduct an identity check on the person of our choice based on the limited information we decide to provide.

10. PeopleWhiz.

Another popular and productive background check app, PeopleWhiz searches public records and gathers them all in one place.

It’s an adequate site used for different purposes—especially dating. 

PeopleWhiz provides users with valuable data, like:

• Personal information;

• Arrest records and pending warrants;

• Family, criminal, and civil records;

• Sex offender registries, etc.

With this many pieces of information, we are sure to run a proper background check on a date, making this site a very helpful one.

To make the most out of PeopleWhiz and its services, a monthly fee of $27.99 is required, though, for a longer and more cost-effective use, the three-month and six-month plans are also offered.

Get all the available public information with the click of a button!

11. Social Catfish.

A SocialCatfish search is 100% confidential. Meaning the search(es) you make on the site will remain private.

Social Catfish is yet another site that provides us with useful information when doing a background check on a date.

It provides us with several search options, including searches by

• name,
  
• email,
  
• phone,
  
• username,
  
• address,
  
• and image.

Their services cost around $5.73 for 5 days to $27.48 as a monthly fee. Depending on the service you choose to proceed with you may pay more or less.

How to do a free background check on your online date?

Above, I listed some of the most effective and successful (but mostly payable) US-based sites that help conduct a sufficient background check.

However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t free alternatives that might help us in our mission.

Do note that because of how hard it is to obtain information and records on people, free methods may not give us exactly what we want.

1. Check a date’s social media.

Although we won’t be able to view the other person’s criminal records and other hidden information, checking their social media is an overall smart move.

If, say, you met somebody online and you’re wondering who they are and what they do, consider taking a look through their socials.

If a name and last name are provided, look your match up on social media and take what you find into consideration.

You’ll be able to see if this person is pretending to be someone else and if a person with such a name and last name exists and it’s real.

2. Use Google’s search bar to look somebody up.

Just like using Swindlerbuster for finding out if people are on dating sites, Google is one of the best free tools for background checks on people.

If you didn’t know this trick before, now you do!

We can simply go to Google and type a person’s first and last name in the search bar and get all of their social media information—if any.

For example site.com name and last name.

All available social media profiles under that name will show up, and if we’re lucky enough, we’ll find exactly who we’re looking for!

This is an especially smart move for online daters: always check a person’s socials before agreeing to meet up with them!

On the other hand, searching their name and last name on Google can be helpful enough.

If this person has been involved in crimes it will show up, especially if it made the news!

3. Reverse image search.

If you’re hoping to find out whether a person is catfishing you or if you want to find your date’s socials, use reverse image search tools.

How these tools work is that first, you need a picture of that person, you go to a reverse image search site, and upload the image.

After doing that, you’ll find visually similar pictures and accounts/links that use that same picture.

Duplichecker, Tineye, and Labnol are all very effective!

Keep in mind that with this method, we’re only scratching the surface; additional—and potentially crucial—information won’t surface.

4. That’s Them — free people search engine.

That’s Them is a 100% free people search site that allows us to find people based on information we know about them: name, address, phone number, email address, etc.

By putting down the details, you can get a person’s:

• Personal, basic data;

• Demographic data;

• Residential data;

• Contact data;

• Financial data, and more.

As we can see, a respectable amount of data is provided for us—enough to conduct an appropriate background check.

5. Public sex offender registry sites.

When meeting new people, one of our primary concerns is their ability to put us in danger.

Unfortunately, when dating—especially online—the chances of coming across a dangerous person aren’t all that slim.

If you’re worried about your safety, do consider taking a look at free and available sex offender registries online.

Some of the US-based sites include Family Watchdog. 

Look up your date’s name and location and see for yourself whether they’re a threat.

Better safe than sorry.

Before meeting with someone new, take the necessary precautions—remember, nothing is too extreme when it comes to safety.

As exciting as online dating—or dating in general—may be, take safety measures beforehand.

Look them up, run a background check, tell people your whereabouts; do anything needed to ensure your safety.

Remember: better safe than sorry.