Few things in life are more heartbreaking than discovering that the person you have fallen in love with has a horrendous background that s/he has been hiding from you. It gets downright maddening if you’ve been persuaded to loan them money or be unwittingly drawn into illegal or unethical activities.
Dating is a unique social environment. This is especially true of online dating. A person’s true character (article) can easily be concealed. One or both parties can also naively overlook some of the red flags because of the intoxicating effects of romantic passion.
The only way to protect yourself, particularly when it comes to online dating, is to check out your partner through a reliable source. In this case, I am talking about running a date background check.
If you are uncomfortable with the idea of doing a background check, consider this. If they are truly everything they say they are, the background check will merely confirm their story. In most cases, you don’t know anything about them. So what’s the big deal in protecting yourself?
Here’s another way to look at it. Don’t you usually do quite a bit of your own investigation into their background by asking friends and associates various questions? Is there really much difference between “asking around” and doing a background check? During the early stages of dating, there are almost never any agreements or commitments that have been made or even implied.
Your choice of whether to do a background check should become clearer if you have discovered some solid reasons to question their “story.” This is especially true if you’re faced with some important life-changing decisions that involve them.
I’ve heard many heartbreaking stories from men and women who have been taken advantage of monetarily. Not only did they get a lot of money stolen from them, but they also lost a large portion of their self-esteem.
It’s better to be safe than sorry.