Snooping on a partner can seem uncomfortable, especially if you haven’t gotten anywhere near serious about them. Finding personal information out can be perceived as too intimate.
However, a quick online background check can reveal withheld and important information, such as excessive debt or even a significant other.
You can use background check resources, such as Unmask.com, especially if you’re someone who wants to be well-informed about whom they’re seeing.
The Benefits of a Quick Google Search
A quick search might be able to tell you many interesting details about a partner, including what they majored in and where they grew up. Use everything you know about them to search: not only their full name, but also phone number, date of birth, and address.
You could combine their job, place of birth, the school they went to, their name, and their current location. You might get something beyond their social media.
Perhaps you don’t know all or, in fact, any of these things. If they entered their phone number on their Facebook profile, a Facebook search would yield their last name. Connecting a name to a face will be useful.
Being Prudent or Cyberstalking?
The jury is still out on the fine line between the two. Some people are strongly in favor of online searches on a new partner, and others are opposed to them. Nobody can argue that staying safe is important. On the other hand, we risk seeing something like a weird sense of humor based on social media posts, which is easy to take out of context.
Some people have no qualms about admitting they “stalk” new partners because they don’t trust people. This can come from a traumatizing experience in the past or simply from overindulging in Dateline specials. Whatever the reason, googling someone is not illegal, and neither is running an instant background check online.
Some want to be informed of their partner’s political views in advance because this is something that’s important to them. To others, posting a racist or sexist meme on social media is a deal-breaker.
Other Tools
Apps like Stud or Dud can be used to access publicly available information. These tools can pull up work records, criminal records, court records, and property ownership records.
A quick online search can yield a surprising date of birth. Some people look a decade, even 15 years younger. The fact that you’ve been out with them a few times isn’t enough to reveal their true age.
Beware the Skeletons in the Closet
Some people would still rather learn about a person during the date and not in advance. If you’re only joining them for one drink, you don’t need to know everything about their past.
However, others insist doing research is important because you don’t want to find out something unsavory when you’re already in a committed relationship.
Final Thoughts
Few people come without any kind of baggage from their past. A background check makes it possible to look into their history and any potential issues that come with it. It can reveal financial troubles, a history of addiction, a bad employment record, or even a criminal record.
People should address such instances before getting serious. Hiding something like this can be a bad sign. A background check reduces the chance of falling victim to a scam, fraud, or another issue that will prove to be a costly mistake in the long run.
