Background check – Avoid being scammed

Have you met someone online and not sure whether they are genuine? If so, then you must consider running a background check to separate fact from fiction.

1. Are they the person they claim to be?
2. Are they purposely hiding important information from you?

These are critical questions you must ask, especially if the concerned person is making romantic advances, offering you a job or asking for money. If are talking to someone online and find their behaviour fishy, they could be leaving out details about themselves.

For instance, when you connect with a person on a dating app or site, he/she could be using a false identity to build a connection with you. This act is known as catfishing, where an individual impersonates someone or uses a fake profile to interact with people.

In certain cases, catfishing can lead to identity theft and even loss of money. Therefore, running a check on the person’s background can save you a lot of time, money and effort as you can learn more about the true identity of a person. You simply have to take into account: Romance Scamming has become a big industry. 

What is a background check?

A background check is a verification process, undertaken to ascertain if a person is actually who they claim to be. The information provided by them is examined and their online profile is scrutinized.

Such checks often take place when an employer is looking to hire new employees (employment background check), checking applicants as new tenants or checking business partners. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) must be observed here when a credit report is prepared.

However, this article is primarily about checking people you have met via the Internet.

Running background checks could bring to light a person’s

• education qualification
• employment
• social media aliases
• complete bankruptcy filings
• credit reports
• court records
• and even criminal record.

This process allows you know more about a person’s past and present activities.

Why should you opt for a background check?

In present times, when people mostly rely on the internet to connect with other people, conducting a background check is of paramount importance.

If you encounter any of the situations stated below, you must consider performing a complete screening:

1. The person approaching you does not have a photo on their profile
2. They often talk about their financial setbacks and ask you to help out
3. For all you know, your online date could be a sex offender
4. The person has multiple accounts on social media
5. They might be hiding about their tax frauds, drug charges or other criminal activities
6. The concerned person is offering you with lucrative job opportunities
7. They claim to frequently travel overseas for work and avoid giving you any important information
8. They share outlandish stories about their lives and ask you too many personal questions too soon
9. The person in question is asking for your photographs or videos.

How to run a background check?

A background check conducted by a private investigator could reveal important, previously withheld detail, including a criminal charge or a secret lover.

However, if you want to investigate yourself, you can follow these steps to dig up information about a person.

1. Use search engines

Since a lot of information is available for public access, the first place you should look into is on your favourite search engine. The search results are not background checks in the true sense of the word, but nevertheless provide an initial overview. 

You will be surprised with the data that

• Google
• Bing
• or Yahoo

provides you with. For best results, try searching their full name in double quotes with additional phrases like school, university, boyfriend, girlfriend, divorce outstanding debt, etc.

While your search may not turn up details like whether they have been previously arrested or evicted, but you will find sufficient data to cross-reference his or her claims.

2. Resort to social media

Scouring through social media profiles will give you better insights about a persons interests, hobbies and friends. Check their social media activity to notice patterns or indiscrepancies. This is a kind of a do it yourself online background check.

Facebook

This is the best online space to begin your search. Facebook has the most number of users, so there are high chances you will spot your subject here.

If the profile of the concerned person is public, you can easily dig up a ton of dirt. You can scroll through their photos and learn more about the sort of company they keep.

Any specific group memberships or page likes can help you understand their interests and inclinations. However, if his or her Facebook profile is private, you may not be able know much.

In that case, switch to a different network or hire a private detective.

Twitter

While Twitter may not offer you detailed background information about a person, you can still use to glean some useful up-to-date data.

Even though it is keep an account private, most users do not use that setting. Therefore, you can easily get an idea about someone’s beliefs and perspectives.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn may not reveal specific information about a person, but it can help you verify a person’s employment and work history and business background.

You can know for sure if someone’s profile is genuine by the kind of connections they have and can cross-check whether the person is telling the truth about their work.

Instagram

This is fast turning into a very popular network. If someone’s profile is public, you will be able to look through their pictures and know more about their lifestyle.

3. Reverse image search

In this method, you can catch a catfish by simply uploading the profile picture of the person in question. The reverse image search will turn up all places where his/her photo is available.

 4. Check criminal records

In several countries, criminal records are public hence, you can conduct a verification yourself. Certain online sites can provide you with information about arrests, sex offenses, outstanding warrant, felony and misdemeanour charges.

In case the above-mentioned methods fail to do not yield the information you are looking for, contact us for our professional services. We run background checks discreetly and save you from fraudsters.

A Criminal Background Check is only possible in those countries where the Data Protection Act permits such an investigation. A person’s criminal history is therefore not traceable in some countries.

We check the background of a person

Are you in contact with someone you’d like to have screened? The good news: we offer background check services all over the world. For this purpose, we have resources in all continents.

We verify the person’s details and check whether you are dealing with an honest person or a fraudster.

Such background screening services are discreet, but not free. You have to pay a fee for the screening. This is the only way to get peace of mind. We look at the available data and check them. You will then receive a background check report.

Do you need a background check? Send us the data that you know about the person to whom you want to check the background. You will then receive an offer for our investigation.

More related articles:

• Check someone from Germany if he is a scammer
• Google Chat Scams

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