Run a dating background check before you meet
Most people check social media before a first date, and it is not enough. Search a name across all 58 US sex offender registries and criminal records in one pass, confirm who you are really talking to, then set an alert to keep watching.
Dating background check: a profile tells you almost nothing. A photo and a first name are easy to fake; a public-records search is not something a scammer can pass.
Online dating is how most couples now meet, and it is also where romance scams and catfishing live. Reported US losses to romance scams reached $823 million in 2024 and topped a billion in 2023 (FTC), and Pew found that about half of online daters think they have met a scammer.
The people running them are patient: weeks of attentive conversation, a fast emotional bond, and then the ask. The best defense before you are ever alone with someone is to confirm the basics: is this a real person, is the name real, and is there a history worth knowing.
- Confirms a name against all 58 US sex offender registries in one search
- Surfaces county, state and federal criminal records in the same pass
- Catches someone who moved states, where a single-state site would miss them
- Every match carries a photograph and a link to the official record to verify
What a dating background check should include. Three things to confirm about a match before you meet in person.
Sex offender registries
Criminal records
A real, matching identity
How to run a dating background check. Five minutes, four steps, no investigator, no fee to look.
You need a name and one detail; one search covers 58 US registries and criminal records at once.
Run a Background Check ›Get a full name and one detail
A last name plus one anchoring detail — a date of birth, an age, or the city they say they live in — is enough to search well. Names repeat, so that extra detail is what tells a real match from a coincidence. You usually learn it in normal conversation before a first date.
Search all 58 registries at once
One search runs the name across all 58 US sex offender registries — every state, DC and the territories — plus criminal records. Someone who was registered in another state and moved still surfaces, which is exactly what a single-state site misses.
Read the record, not just the name
Each result is scored and carries a photograph, offense detail and a link to the official record. Confirm the photo and the date of birth line up with the person you have been talking to before you conclude anything — a name alone is never proof.
Keep watching after the date
A search is a snapshot of today. If you keep seeing someone, a person monitor re-checks the name for you and emails you if anything changes — so awareness does not stop the moment you close the tab.
Dating background check results: a clear answer, not a wall of data. Scored matches with a photograph, date of birth, offense and the official record.
Other people with the same name
| Record | What matched | Registry | Read as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan A. Sample | Name + date of birth | NJ | Match |
| Jordan Sample | Name + birth year | MA | Check photo |
| Jordan L. Sample | Name + age | PA | Check photo |
| J. Sample | Name only | TX | Name only |
| Jordan Sampel | Birth year, different spelling | OH | Different person |
Names repeat. Only a full date-of-birth match points at the person you are talking to; everything weaker is a prompt to compare the photograph, never proof by itself.
Online dating safety: four red flags a search helps you check. Scammers follow a script, and each pattern is easier to judge once you have verified who you are talking to.
Won’t meet or video-call
Moves fast to money
Pushes off the app quickly
A story that won’t verify
More on the numbers: Romance scam statistics.
Dating background check monitoring: a first date is a snapshot — dating is ongoing. Check the name again as things change, and watch the addresses that matter to you.
Background Check
The name plus where the person lives or works. Registry matches with photos, and criminal records in those states, in one check.
Run a Background Check ›Family Watch
Prefer to watch where you live? Up to 3 addresses, with an email when a registrant moves in nearby.
Sex offenders near me ›Dating background check questions
Can I run a background check on someone I met on a dating app?
Yes. Sex offender registries and many criminal records are public, so you can search a match by name — and date of birth or city if you have them — before you meet in person. It works the same whether you matched on Tinder, Bumble, Hinge or anywhere else, because you are searching public records about the person, not the app. It is a personal-safety check, not a consumer report, so it is not for hiring or tenancy decisions and must never be used to harass anyone.
What do I need to check a date?
A name is enough to start. Add a date of birth, age or the city they say they live in to narrow the matches — useful because names repeat. You get scored results with photographs and a link to the official record, so you can confirm you are looking at the right person and not someone who happens to share the name.
What does the search actually cover?
One search covers all 58 US sex offender registries — every state, DC and the territories — plus criminal records across county, state and federal sources. Someone who moved states still surfaces, which a single-state site would miss, and every match is cited to the official record so you can verify it yourself.
They only meet online and keep asking for money — is that a scam?
Those are two of the clearest romance-scam signals: refusing to meet or video-call, and moving fast to money or gift cards. Reported US losses run into the hundreds of millions to over a billion dollars a year (FTC and FBI). A search will not catch every scammer, but it confirms whether the identity and history you were given are real — and if they will not verify, that is your answer.
Can I keep watching someone after the first date?
Yes — run a Background Check again whenever you want a fresh answer. It takes the name plus where the person lives or works and searches the registries and criminal records in those states, with photos and the official record, for $9.99 ($19.99 for 3). It is how people dating someone new stay aware over time rather than checking once and forgetting.
Is it legal to look someone up before a date?
Searching public sex offender registries and public records for your own safety is something anyone can do. What the law does restrict is how you use it: results are not a consumer report and cannot be used for employment, housing or credit decisions, and using registry information to harass, threaten or intimidate anyone is a crime in every US state.
Dating background check: know who you’re meeting
A Background Check — the name plus where they live or work, across 58 registries and criminal records — is $9.99, paid once.