How to Dig Up Dirt on Your Date
You don't need a private investigator or mutual friends to do a background check on a date. Being your own sleuth is all about knowing where to look—and what you're looking for.
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Improve your love life with the dating tips in these videos.
You Will Need
- Some free time
- And patience
Steps
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Step 1
Find out date's names
Find out all you can about your date's name—get any former married names, maiden name, nicknames, and middle names.
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Step 2
Google names
Conduct Google searches on all variations of your date's name—first name with full middle and last name, first name with middle initial and last name, et cetera.
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Run a search using last name first, first name last, in quotes.
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Step 3
Google email & phone number
Run Google searches of the person's email address and phone number.
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Step 4
Check Google images
Check Google images for pictures of the person.
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Step 5
Search social networking sites
See if your date has a page on MySpace, Facebook, or other social networking sites.
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Make sure web pages you find refer to your date, not someone with the same name.
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Step 6
Do background search
Do a background search by logging on to www.backgroundcheckgateway.com, which helps people conduct free investigations.
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Step 7
Check dating sites
Check Match.com and other popular dating sites for profiles of the person.
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If you know a lawyer, journalist, librarian, or other professional with access to LexisNexis, a powerful online database of published and legal documents, ask if they'll do a little digging on your behalf.
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Step 8
Check sex offender registries
Make sure your date is not a sexual predator by logging on to www.fbi.gov, which provides links to various states' online sex offender registries.
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Step 9
Go on a date
If you don't find anything alarming, appalling, offensive, or illegal, go out on that date—and draw your own conclusions.
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Nine percent of applicants to the online dating service True.com are rejected when the site's routine background check discovers they are married and/or have a criminal record.
