Social Catfish Review: Is it a Legit Site?
Indranil Roy
Social Catfish can help you extract details of a person’s background. It is like a digital detective that searches from different information sources to verify the identity of a person. I have used it quite a few times to detect false narratives and digital scams to protect myself from catfishing.
What sets Social Catfish apart is its comprehensive approach, combining technology and expert analysis to deliver accurate results. What I found unique about this tool unlike other services is that it doesn’t just scratch the surface but dives deep to provide peace of mind.
Who would use Social Catfish?
Social Catfish can be used to verify online dating profiles, check the authenticity of potential business partners, and prevent scams by confirming identities. It can also investigate suspicious social media accounts and ensure the legitimacy of online sellers or buyers. This helps in providing peace of mind and security in your various online interactions.
Features of Social Catfish
After extensively using Social Catfish and accessing all its features, I have shortlisted 10 of the most important capabilities of this tool.
1) Reverse Image Search
Using Social Catfish’s reverse image search feature, I’ve successfully identified and verified individuals by uploading their photos. However, the results are not always 100% accurate. There was an instance when it created a false narrative against an image that was afterward identified as someone else.
Here are the steps to perform the process:
Step 1) Click on the “Image” search tab, upload the image using the “Browse and upload the image here” option, and hit “Search”.
Step 2) To access the detailed report, you can try the 3-day paid trial for $6.87.
2) Email Search
I’ve used Social Catfish’s email search feature to verify the authenticity of email addresses. It was mainly accurate, and the results acted as a savior against email scams.
Here are the steps to perform the process:
Step 1) Click on the “Email” search tab, enter the email address in the blank space, and click on the Search tab to get the output.
Step 2) You can learn more about the email owner by downloading the full report for $5.73.
3) Phone Number Lookup
Using Social Catfish’s phone number lookup feature, I’ve verified unknown callers and identified potential scams. I often use this tool to determine the name and address of the unknown caller. However, it once generated false information about a caller that caused some misconceptions.
Here are the steps to perform the process:
Step 1) Click the “Phone” search tab, enter the phone number in the blank space, and click on the “Search” tab to generate the report.
Step 2) To access the full report, you can avail the 3-day paid trial for $5.73.
4) Username Search
I’ve used Social Catfish’s username search feature to uncover detailed information about online identities. This feature took me a few minutes to generate all the details associated with a given username. It helped me identify fraudsters and potential scams through dating sites and social networks.
Here are the steps to perform the process:
Step 1) From the Social Catfish homepage, click on the “Username” search tab. Here, you will get basic results for free with limited information.
Step 2) Now click on “See Complete Results”, which will take you to the full report access page. To view the complete details, you can avail its 3-day paid trial for $5.73.
5) Address Lookup
I used this feature to verify the authenticity of an address provided by a salesperson. Although the tool was slow, it accurately highlighted the resident’s name, phone number, email, and other details.
Here are the steps to perform the process:
Step 1) Click the “Address” search tab, enter the address, and tap on “Search”.
Step 2) Enter your email address and click on “Unlock Your Results Now” to generate the result.
Step 3) You can pay $5.73 for 3 days to access the complete report.
6) Name Search
Using the name search feature, I verified the authenticity of a person who claimed to be my high school classmate on Facebook. Social Catfish helped me verify his identity anonymously, and I found out that his claims were genuine.
Here are the steps to perform the process:
Step 1) Click on the “Name” search tab and enter the individual’s name. You can also provide additional information in this search when prompted by the tool for more accuracy.
Step 2) I received basic details when I looked him up. The tool then prompted me to pay $5.73 for its 3-day paid trial to access the complete report.
7) Public Records Search
Social Catfish can access over 200 billion records to carry out its searches. It looks into publicly accessible records, such as property records, court records, social media profiles, and dating sites. Social Catfish also accesses professional records, educational and government records, newspaper archives, blogs, forgotten online images, etc.
This tool has helped me verify identities and uncover crucial details, ensuring safer interactions and providing peace of mind in my online dealings.
8) Background Checks
This tool helped me verify a person’s background details. I once used it to confirm the legitimacy of the background information provided by my brother about a distant relative. It generated a report covering areas like criminal records, occupation, property details, educational background, relatives, marital status, social media, etc.
9) Relationship History Verification
For the past three years, I’ve used Social Catfish’s relationship history verification feature to check the background of my friends’ potential dates. The tool was able to verify their relationship statuses, including past relationships, divorce records, and marriage history. I could also find out if they were active on other dating apps.
10) Anonymous Search
I’ve used Social Catfish for years to investigate people discreetly. It guarantees anonymous searches, ensuring that the targeted person is never alerted of your searches. This anonymous way of searching also helps me protect my privacy.
3-Day Trial at $5.73
What do I like about Social Catfish?
After using Social Catfish, I found it to be pretty accurate and thorough. It was quite efficient in identifying online scams from dating sites and loan departments. The tool does not require any installation hassles and comes with a simple interface. Most importantly, it is easy to use and reveals people’s backgrounds in detail. It accesses over 200 billion records to verify the details before publishing them in reports.
What Social Catfish Can Improve?
Without debating its effectiveness, Social Catfish can still improve in parts and pieces. As per my observation, Social Catfish algorithms should be revised more to improve their accuracy scale. I would also suggest the makers expand their database by including more international sources. If they can improve the speed slightly, it would definitely enhance the overall experience.
Social Catfish Pricing
The free tier pricing strategy allows me to try the basic searches for free. Here are the different background report membership plans with 3 days paid trial options:
| Plan | Social Search | Image Search |
|---|---|---|
| 3-Days Trial Price | $5.73 | $6.87 |
| Post Trial Price | $27.48 monthly | $28.97 monthly |
Social Searches include name, address, email, phone number, and username. I suggest you check out the paid trial options before signing up for a full monthly subscription.
I found its pricing and paid trial to be slightly expensive compared to other similar tools on the market.
Is Social Catfish safe and legit?
Yes, Social Catfish is a totally safe and legitimate tool for verifying digital identities. I’ve been using it for the last three years and found it reliable and pretty accurate in delivering information. However, digital laws differ from one country to another.
Before using this tool, check your region/country’s digital law to see whether it complies with it. Social Catfish also never reveals my identity to the individuals that I have looked up to. It transmits data safely using secure, encrypted connections (SSL/TLS).
Impact of Social Catfish on Modern Dating and Social Interactions
Social catfishing significantly affects modern dating and social interactions by fostering mistrust and emotional distress. Online dating scams are very common these days; individuals creating false identities online can lead to deceptive relationships.
Becoming a victim of a dating scam online can raise questions about the legitimacy of online dating portals. Due to these factors, the demands for online background verification tools are becoming increasingly high. It helped me to navigate through digital dating platforms with higher confidence and stand a greater chance of avoiding dating scams.
How accurate are the Social Catfish reports?
Social Catfish accesses different public records and archives to find information about the given personnel. They claim to access 200+ billion records from social archives, public domains, and local directories.
Although most of the reports were accurate, I noticed a few false information in some of the reports. It provided false address and email information about an individual. Hence, I cross-checked the details from other sources to obtain the actual data.
From my experience, the accuracy of Social Catfish reports can be hit or miss. This is why they offer a preview in their basic report for free. Additionally, I found out that you can contact its customer support for a refund if you are not satisfied with its service.
Alternatives to Social Catfish
1) Spokeo
Spokeo is another online investigation tool that collects data from public domains to reveal information. Using Spokeo, I can uncover various information about a person’s background, such as employment information, marriage records, present location, social media addresses, criminal records, and more.
I have found Spokeo’s report generation process faster compared to Social Catfish. The reports are well organized and provide higher percentage of authentic information about a person compared to Social Catfish.
7-Day Trial at $0.95
2) PeopleLooker
PeopleLooker is a people search tool that can perform reverse email lookups, phone lookups, criminal records checks, and more. At times, I have found this tool to be more authentic in generating reports compared to Social Catfish.
I have used PeopleLooker to uncover hidden details about a person secretly. It can uncover anyone’s social media handles, business details, loans, past and present addresses, and many more.
7-Day Trial at $1
3) Intelius
Intelius is another background checker used to verify the authenticity of online profiles. Sometimes, Social Catfish fails to provide me with false information. With the help of Intelius, I was able to verify the information through services like reverse phone lookup, address history, criminal records, and people search.
Intelius extracts data from verified sources available on public forums and online directories. I found it extremely useful in cross-verifying of identities, uncovering detailed personal information, and ensuring safety in online interactions.
5-Day Trial at $0.95
FAQs
Closing Thoughts on Social Catfish
My closing thoughts on Social Catfish are “It Performed According To My Expectations (mostly)”. The tool was quite accurate in verifying online identities and saved me from falling prey to digital scams. Only once or twice did it misjudge and produce false narratives. Overall, I would recommend Social Catfish as a safe and reliable tool to verify identities online without marking your presence.
