• Online dating is a great way to connect with people that you would likely never meet on a romantic level.   
• There are many benefits to online dating.
• However, there are physical, emotional, and even mental risks that are involved with online dating.
• The below tips and tricks can help you research your online date and get a better idea of who you are getting to know.

Can you find if an online date is safe?

And Is it ethical to research someone before going on a date with them? 

You might cringe when thinking about looking up someone you barely know online, but when it comes to meeting strangers, safety always comes first. 

Figuring out how to find if an online date is safe is an important step in any online relationship. Knowing who you are communicating with on an intimate level and possibly meeting is not only safe and smart but quite easy. 

Why Online Dating Safety Is Important

It is necessary for your safety and sanity to know who you are going on a date with before meeting them in person for the first time. 

How Can I Find Out If An Online Date Is Safe?

It's normal to feel reserved when giving your time and energy to someone you have never met physically, especially if you consider going on a date with them. However, the last thing you want is to finally meet your match after spending your time getting to know them and have a first date experience that makes you never want to date again.

Therefore, if you want to avoid a bad experience, my best advice to you would be to do some simple research once you have gotten to know your match and gain access to their cellphone number. The internet is full of resources, and most people leave a digital footprint.

It's easier than you think to find information on someone online. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that may work for you. Here's how to know if a person is safe to date by practicing your sleuthing skills online. 

Start By Analyzing Their Dating Profile

To find information on a potential date, the first and easiest thing you can do (and you should probably do before talking to someone online) is to analyze their online dating profile. To start, look at how descriptive their intentions are on their profile and how clear they are on what they want in a relationship. If their intentions are fuzzy, you may want to avoid dating the person altogether. 

You can also analyze their photo and any other clues about them via their profile to check if an online date is safe. If their picture is too perfect, or their "about me" section leaves you feeling like they are more like a robot than a true person, you may want to question who the real person created the profile. 

Lookup Their Phone Number 

Another really good way to find information on a potential date is to perform a reverse phone lookup on them. Before going on a date with someone, you should already have their phone number. You could use a website like Wyty, which will provide you important information once you enter their phone number such as their full name, age, email, social profiles, relationship status, etc. If your date is lying about important details in their life (such as their age, relationship status, if they are actually catfishing you, etc. this type of report will help you discover their lies). 

If you don't have their phone number...

If a potential date is truly interested in you, there would be (most of the time) willing to give you their phone number. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. However, if someone is romantically interested in you, they would have no problem giving you their digits. 

Online dater and relationship blogger Soon2BeCatLady has plenty of experience in love and online dating. 

|"My advice is to make sure you've exchanged phone numbers and speak on the phone before meeting up. Give your date's phone number to a trusted friend along with the meet time and location. Have your location services on your smartphone on and shared with someone you trust. Drive yourself, and stick to the plan for the first couple of dates. 
Of course, if you feel the need to dig into the internet,  searching their phone number, or reverse-searching their dating photo may help."

Lookup Your Date On Social Media

Another way to find more information on your potential date would be to search them on social media! If you don't know their full name, you can find them several other ways on social media using a few simple tricks. 

To start, run a Google Image search on them to see if the profile picture that they use on their dating app or any other picture they have sent you is on a social media profile. Any other place that their photo is linked to on the Internet (including their social media accounts) may pull up the results. 

You can also use this method to ensure that the photos they are using/sending you aren't stolen from someone else or that they aren't using a stock photo. 

Another method you can use in finding your match's social media profile is by entering their phone number into Facebook's search bar (if you have it). Again, there may be reasons why your match doesn't want to give you their digits, so don't fret too much if they aren't ready to give that to you yet. 

If you have their phone number and if the phone number is linked to a person's profile, or even if the phone number is mentioned anywhere on Facebook (such as a post created by the phone number's owner), that SHOULD pull up in the results. 

|Key Points:

• Facebook's search bar is an easy tool to use to lookup a match's phone number to see if it is mentioned on or associated with a Facebook profile.
• Downloading any of your match's images on a Google image search can also lead you to a social media profile that belongs to them.

Lookup Your Date On Google 

Besides performing a reverse image search, you can also perform a search for them on Google if you know their full name and any other information that you have on them, such as where they work, the city they live in, etc. 

Google is a great search engine to look up pretty much anything. You most likely will find information on your match just by typing anything you know about them in Google's search bar. 

Google is a great resource for basic information on a person. However, you may not find extensive information on your online date like you would by looking them up in a directory on Wyty. Earlier, we discussed looking up their phone number using their reverse phone lookup tool, but you can also look up their name to check if a person is safe to date online. Let's look into this further. 

Lookup Your Date On Wyty

Similar to performing a reverse phone lookup, you can also lookup your match's name on online directories such as Wyty. In addition, a people search lookup on a potential partner will also help you discover important information such as their age, relationship status, emails, etc. 

The information you find on a directory such as Wyty is much more extensive than the information you would find by performing a few simple Google searches. So, if you have looked up your online date on Google and still aren't happy with the amount of information you find, it might be a good idea to give Wyty a try. 

Know That Your Date May Also Be Looking You Up

Everyone leaves a digital footprint. You most likely have one and probably even have some embarrassing things that you can find online about yourself that you may not have been aware of. 

You can use the same methods described above to see what is online about you, from searching by name lookup on yourself to a reverse image search on Google. Doing these searches will prepare you for anything your match might bring up when you are on a date or even chatting on the phone. 

Wrapping It Up

Most people would love to know how to find if a person is safe to date. We all know that it's important to keep safety in mind in the digital age when dating online. Now that you know some information on your match, it's time to decide if you are still willing to know them better. Or perhaps you can't find any info on them online. That would be a HUGE red flag.

However, it would help if you also enjoyed your time spent dating online. Bryan Reeves, Life & Relationship Insight Ninja, has some thoughts about enjoying yourself when dating online.

|"Stop thinking of dating apps as "dating" apps. Instead, think of them as "meeting" apps, because they're really tools for meeting people. It can help take the pressure off, so you can better relax and enjoy the journey to love."

Enjoying yourself while looking for love IS important- but being able to get familiar with your match immediately will help you not waste your time. It will help you enjoy your experience by taking the guessing and worrying away.

You need to trust your gut- even some subtle hints like them hugging another man/woman in a recent profile picture or your match lying about their age will help you decide if you want to trust them or trash them. We hope that this advice helps you as you are looking for love.