"Online Background Check"
"How Well Do You Really Know that Guy/Gal You've Met?"

Conducting an online background check may seem like one of the most unromantic ways to start a relationship. But hear us out – this is important!

The more you like someone the more important it is that you find out more about them. Why? We’re glad you asked.

Your bulls*** detector is off – way off. You’ve met. You’ve chatted. You’ve connected. You’re in – all in. You want him or her to be the whole package – your friend, confidante, partner, the “one.”

You want the fantasy relationship to be true. But – and this is a HUGE but – your desire to make this person “the one” will always overshadow your common sense.

Why do you think the saying “love is blind” exists? Because it’s true.

Who Should Conduct an Online Background Check?
Here’s where we talk about gut feelings and suggest you pay very close attention to them.

Scenario 1: You’ve met someone online and feel an instantaneous connection. Your emails, texts, and maybe even late-night phone calls are all pointing toward the next step: getting together in person. All the newness and seeming compatibility has you eager to meet. Having hot and heavy feelings for them and wanting them to be “the one,” brings down your defenses and makes you more vulnerable. That’s exactly why you’ll order an online background check.

Scenario 2: You've already met. You're dating. It's all good. Things seem dreamy, except for that tiny, nagging feeling about that one tiny, little thing that just doesn't jive with the rest of what your new match has told you. Red flags are important. You have to investigate them. That's why they're called red flags and that's exactly why you'll order an online background check.

you probably already know this, but... * Is he or she married? * Has he or she changed their name? * Does he or she have a criminal past? You can find out about someone's past without risking discovery.

Met online? get the 411 before you... * Go on your first date. * Invite him or her over to your place. * Introduce him or her to your kids. Get the must-know info about your date fast and discreetly.

Yes! I need to do an online background check.

You’re Dating in a Wired World
The Internet is the latest place to meet people – the new singles hangout, the Starbucks on the corner, the late-night lounge of choice. Whether you are looking for a casual friend, a romantic interlude, or lifelong love it can all be found online. Places like Facebook and Twitter give you a forum to express yourself to others, and the number of online dating site these days is overwhelming.

If you have ever spent any time meeting and greeting in cyberspace, you know that many people are not exactly what they make themselves out to be. Some of them have gone so far as to create an entire alternate identity.

Despite the dangers, the thrills of meeting online can be great and the potential to find your match are high. Not to mention, you have the opportunity to get to know others from all over the world (who doesn’t like a sexy, foreign accent?) but…

Who’s Really Behind That Screen Name?
This is a question you must answer.

When you meet someone online, how do you know if they’re trustworthy? Chances are, you want them to be who they say they are badly enough to believe what they’re telling you.

Can you really afford to let your guard down completely with someone you only know through your computer screen (or Blackberry or iPhone or whatever mobile device you’re addicted to).

As with any new relationship, we always advise that you go slowly and proceed with caution. Or better yet, heed all of our advice for navigating online relationships in the article called "The 4 Steps to Being Safe, Smart, and Suave Online," particularly this point below:

Practicing Online Dating Safety
There are various forms of online dating safety. You don’t want to give away too much personal information in your dating profiles, obviously, but when you start to communicate with someone it can be so easy to want to tell them more and more about your personal life. Learn how to recognize the red flags when they’re flying and when they’re barely visible, understand the value of Google and Net Detective (the smart person’s online background check), and when you shouldn’t allow butterflies to lure you into making poor choices about your safety. Be open, but there’s no need to let it all hang out. Just like any other relationship, you’ve got plenty of time to get to know one another from top to bottom, inside and out.

Don’t Be Naïve
Whether you’re dating someone new or planning to meet for the first time, don’t let what you want to be true about this person cloud the steps you take to insure your own safety – your heart, mind, and body.

You can try to validate everything your match has “told” you about their identity to insure that they really are who they say they are. You can search records from voter registration or the Department of Motor Vehicles in their area and see if you can locate a license or identification card that matches their name, date of birth, physical description, and address.

The best way to protect yourself is to conduct an online background check. Period. Any court documents from judgments, divorces, or lawsuits should contain some sort of identifying information you can verify. Criminal history checks will normally provide you with a date of birth and physical description, including any major scars or tattoos.

Because searches like this can take so much effort when you try to do them all yourself, our fear is that you’ll buy into what your new date is telling you… just because it’s easier. Stop! Ask yourself if this is true.

If it is, we don’t blame you but, our best relationship advice is that you have to love yourself in order to love others. You are valuable. You are important. Take care of yourself. Love yourself. Protect yourself.

If you’re dragging your feet about having to do an annoying online background check, we can’t condone it. But there is an easier way to do “undercover” work without turning yourself into the next Magnum, P.I.

Protect Yourself
There are specialized online background check companies such as Net Detective who, for a small fee, give you the ability to search all of the above records and more. It’s a shortcut, and an incredibly smart one. Not to mention, if you use their service you’ll have three years of unlimited access (so, if you find yourself having to say, “Next!” you’re covered).

You must do a little sleuth work of your own though first but they’re details you probably already know. If not, find out some important key identifiers from your new friend so you will know when you have found him or her in your online background check.

From Net Detective you will learn:

• How to "cloak" your e-mail so your true e-mail address can’t be discovered.
• How to make phone calls through a third-party so the number called doesn’t appear on your phone bill.
• Where you can get security products such as recording and tracking equipment, listening devices, mini cameras, bomb detectors and more.
• How to locate military records.
• How to find wanted fugitives.
• And much more...
  

Let's face it. Meeting online is the way it's done these days and online background checks are as common as paying your bills online. You just have to be smarter than cyberspace and the people who lurk within it, both good and bad.

Now that you're at the end of this article, you're just moments away from insuring your safety (and perhaps even the safety of those you love). Just click here.