My Journey to Discovering Someone’s Dating Profile — A Personal Story

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My name is Sullivan Davis, and for weeks, I had this knot in my stomach. A gut feeling that something was off with my girlfriend, Sarah. We’d been together for two years, but lately, she was more distant, her phone always face down. Call it intuition, but I felt she might be on dating apps.

I’m not a jealous guy, but the worry ate at me. I knew I needed to find out the truth, for my own peace of mind. I decided to start digging, but I promised myself I’d try to be fair and not cross any serious lines. This is the story of how I found out, step by step.

Stage 1: The Free Methods – Hitting Dead Ends

My first move was the obvious one: I casually tried to glance at her phone when she left it unlocked. I’d quickly look for app icons like Tinder’s flame or Hinge’s distinctive “H.” I checked her app library and even her hidden folders. Nothing. She was either very careful, or I was just paranoid.

Next, I thought about her email. One evening, she asked me to find a confirmation number for a dinner reservation in her inbox. My heart raced. As I searched, I quickly typed “Bumble,” “Hinge,” and “match.com” into her search bar. A few promotional emails from old accounts showed up, but nothing recent. Another dead end.

I even considered checking bank statements for suspicious subscriptions, but that felt like a massive violation of trust. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I even subtly brought up dating apps with her friends, joking about how everyone seems to be on them. They didn’t give anything away. I was stuck. The knot in my stomach just tightened. Was I just imagining things?

Stage 2: Getting a Bit More Tech-Savvy (But Still Hitting a Wall)

Feeling desperate, I turned to Google. I took a great, recent photo of her from Instagram—one she loved and was likely to use on a profile—and did a reverse image search on Google Images. I uploaded the picture, hoping it would link to a hidden profile. The results just showed her other social media accounts. TinEye, another reverse image search site, gave me the same result. Nothing.

I read forum posts about apps like mSpy that can monitor a phone’s activity. But as soon as I read the details, I backed off. Installing spyware is not just a huge breach of trust; it’s also illegal in many places. That was a line I was not willing to cross, no matter how anxious I felt.

Stage 3: The Solution That Actually Worked

After all these failures, I almost gave up. Then, on a Reddit thread, I saw people talking about public data search services like TruthFinder, BeenVerified, and Spokeo. These aren't spyware; they just scan publicly available information from data brokers and social media sites.

I was skeptical, but I had to try. I compared the three:

• TruthFinder looked powerful but had mixed reviews on its pricing. No doubt this website is very popular in USA but I was looking for a cheap or free method.
• BeenVerified was the most famous, but a bit more expensive. And user reviews were also not very good towards dating.
• Spokeo had a cheaper starting plan and plenty of reviews saying it was easy to use and accurate for basic dating-related searches.

After thorough research, I decided to use Spokeo. The website has been around for nearly 20 years and offers excellent customer support. If you’re not satisfied with the service, your money is refunded.

Since I was on a budget and just wanted a quick check, I chose Spokeo. I went to their website and saw they offered a 7-day trial for just 95 cents—that was exactly what I needed. I signed up for the basic plan, entered the one piece of information I was sure about: her phone number, and started the search.

The search took a few minutes. My palms were sweating. Then, the report came back. It listed her known social media profiles—Facebook, Instagram—all stuff I knew about. But then, at the bottom, under "Possible Associated Accounts," was a link to a profile on a site called Hinge. The username was a variation of her name she used for nothing else.

My heart dropped. There it was.

The Hard Truth

Clicking that link confirmed everything. It was her profile, active, with that very photo I had reverse-searched. The knot in my stomach was replaced by a cold, hard truth.

Confronting her was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I showed her what I found. It was a painful conversation, but it was a conversation based on fact, not just a gut feeling. We broke up, and as heartbreaking as it was, it was better than living with the suspicion.

My Advice to You

If you’re in the same situation, know this:

• Trust your gut, but start with the simple, ethical stuff. Talk to them first if you can.
• Reverse image search is a powerful free tool—try it.
• Avoid spyware. It’s a serious invasion of privacy and not the answer.

If you need to know, a public data search service like Spokeo can be the key. It worked for me because it pieced together information that was already out there, leading me directly to the truth I needed to see.

It’s not a happy story, but it’s my story. And if you’re going through this, I hope my experience helps you find the clarity you need, whatever that may be.

— Sullivan Davis