How to See If Someone Has a Secret Facebook Account (2024)

Maybe you’re curious if someone you know has a “second life” on Facebook, or perhaps you’ve got a gut feeling or noticed some red flags that your partner might be hiding a second Facebook account—whether for cheating or some creepy behavior. But how do you know if your suspicions are valid? And how can you track down that secret account? In this article, we’ll walk you through some practical tips & tricks to help you finally get the answer you’ve been looking for.

Method 1. Look for profiles with subtle name changes

To find someone’s secret account, it’s essential to understand the common strategies people use when creating such profiles.

Since Facebook isn’t an anonymous social network, ideally, Facebook wants every account to correspond to a real person, and it has strict policies against having more than one account per person^[1]. But in practice, people have found workarounds. So, how do they usually go about it?

Many users on online forums have shared their experiences of creating a Facebook page without being spotted by people they know. According to these discussions, the most common approach is to create a profile using a name that has some connection to their real one but slightly modified—enough to appear real enough to fool Facebook but difficult for acquaintances to find through a name search.

Here are a few common patterns:

• Nickname
• Abbreviations: Shorten or simplify the name (e.g., “William” → “Will”; “Alexandra” → “Alex”).
• Subtle variations: Make small changes, like adding or removing letters (e.g., “Katherine” → “Kathryn”).
• Reverse last name: Flip the letters in their surname (e.g., “John Smith” → “John Timsh”).
• Something more creative or playful: a name that reflects their interests or personality, such as “Karen Minions” for someone who loves Minions.

With this in mind, you can try brainstorming potential name variations they might use and searching those on Facebook to see if any of the results look like a potential match. Then combine this with other clues, such as pictures, mutual friends, or interests.

Method 2. Leverage Facebook friend lists and recommendations

Clues from their main account

Connected accounts often follow each other for convenience, so you can visit their profile and check their friend list for any “suspicious” accounts.

Clues from their trusted friends’ account

Some people don’t fully isolate their new account from their existing network. They might let their closest and most trusted friends know about the account and add each other as friends.

So, if you can find one of these friends’ profiles, you could look through their friend list to see if you can spot the secret account. You can also check their posts for interactions—maybe the second account has commented on something, for example.

Check out your “people you may know”

Facebook doesn’t say it, but based on many users’ experiences^[2], it’s nearly impossible to set up a second Facebook account without Facebook automatically linking it to the main account in some way. For example, If they ever log into the two accounts from the same location, facebook will know. So, even if they use a different name and another email to register the second account, Facebook can still detect a connection between the two accounts and may end up recommending the secret account to friends from their main account. 

So, if you’re lucky, you might not have to do anything at all – just checking the “People you may know” section of your Facebook profile could possibly reveal the secret account you’re looking for.

Method 3. Use a reliable social media finder

If you’ve tried the methods mentioned above but still haven’t found their second Facebook account, that’s actually quite normal. Besides the possibility that they don’t have a secret account at all, they might have disguised it very thoroughly. For example, they could use a completely different name, a fake profile photo (or no photo at all), avoid filling in any real personal details or posting anything about their real life. In such cases, finding the account can be trickier and may require more advanced techniques.

That’s where a social media finder comes in handy. These tools are essentially background check services^[3] with extensive social media coverage. They search through various sources, crawling and cross-referencing a vast amount of public data and digital footprints to link people to their potential social media profiles. 

Choose a reliable social media search tool

Not all social media search tools are created equal, and it’s important to choose services with extensive data sources and advanced matching techniques. That’s why we personally tested a range of tools (especially the top-rated ones) to identify the most effective ones. 

We found Intelius® and Spokeo to be the best for uncovering someone’s hidden social media accounts due to their extensive network coverage and great user experience. All you have to do is type in a full name, and they will generate a detailed personal background report which may include their profiles on various platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok, and even dating sites like Tinder.

Editor’s pick – Intelius

1. Simply visit its name search page, enter the first and last name of the person (plus city & state to refine results), and hit SEARCH. 

2. Their reports are compiled in real time from multiple data sources and may take up to 30 seconds to load. Once the report is ready, you can register with your email address to access it. Choose a subscription plan that best suits your needs, and you’ll enjoy unlimited access. 

3. Once the report is ready, click OPEN REPORT, then click Social in the left-hand navigation menu to view all profiles linked to the person. There, you can also find various social media details, such as profile links, usernames, and any key information extracted, when available. 

• After getting the report, don’t just focus on Facebook. See if they have any other accounts that you didn’t know about, like a secret Instagram account or hidden dating profiles.
• People tend to use non-primary email addresses to create secret accounts. So, unfamiliar email addresses in the report are a clue worth investigating.
  (Read more: How to Find Someone on Dating Sites by Email [2024])

Editor’s pick – Spokeo

In addition to Intelius, we found that Spokeo is also an excellent choice. Founded in 2006, Spokeo has become an expert in social media searching. It organizes over 12 billion records from thousands of data sources into easy-to-understand reports that include contact info, location history, photos, social media accounts, family members, court records, work information, and much more.

The above image is from a sample Spokeo report. Actual reports may contain more or less information.

Spokeo offers advanced filters to help you quickly and accurately pinpoint the individual. In its reports, each potential social & dating profile is marked with its source (e.g., “Profile linked to Jane with email janedoe@gmail.com”). 

Another thing I find particularly appealing is its affordable pricing: you can sign up for a 7-day trial for just $0.95. After the trial, the cost is $29.95 per month, and you can cancel it at any time.^[4]

The two websites we’re recommending here are the ones we’ve tested extensively and used ourselves, and we think they’re the best for finding secret Facebook accounts. If you’ve tried other sites that worked well for you, we’d love to hear about them in the comments, and so would our readers!

Check if they have dating profiles 

You can also check if your partner has any active accounts on dating sites. The following tools are great for this:

• TruthFinder®: Covers sites such as EliteMate, Tinder, POF, Bumble, and even Snapchat.
• BeenVerified: Finds accounts on Badoo, Bebo, Habbo, Meetup, and 55+ other social networks.
• Spokeo: Searches across platforms like POF, Meetme, Match, Tinder, and over 120 other social networks.

You might also find these articles helpful:

Don’t jump to conclusions

In this article we’ve provided various methods to find out if someone has a secret Facebook account. However, It’s important to note that having another account doesn’t automatically mean they’re up to something shady. There are many reasons why someone might set up multiple accounts. For example, I’ve seen users share that they created a second account simply to keep their personal and professional lives separate on Facebook. One user even mentioned, “I have a second FB account with a weird name that I use solely for stupid games like Candy Crush and whatever”^[5]. So, don’t jump to conclusions – You need to consider other factors and make a judgment based on the bigger picture.

Also, relying on finding their secret account as proof of cheating isn’t that reliable in the first place. Even if you don’t find one, it doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have one. They could have blocked your account to keep it hidden, or they might be using other methods to cheat.

Method that we do not recommend

Some people might suggest that the most effective way is to monitor their device – For example, log out of their current account when they’re not around, which would then display a list of accounts available for login. Some even recommend installing monitoring software or tracking apps.

However, we don’t recommend this approach, or anything similar. For one, snooping on their devices is a serious invasion of privacy. For another, it can irreversibly harm the trust in your relationship, especially if things haven’t reached an irreparable point. 

And more importantly, if you find yourself constantly playing detective, always on edge at the slightest sign of something off, you should know it’s no good—not for them, but for yourself. It can be mentally exhausting and make you feel crazy, and it’s just not worth it.

“I have been that person that goes through everything to find and confirm the truth I already knew. I don’t like that version of myself.”

From a Quora user^[6]

Rather than focusing on finding hidden accounts, it’s more important to address the underlying trust issues in your relationship. Whether that means having an open conversation with your partner or seeking professional help, it’s important to take steps to improve the relationship or decide if it’s worth continuing.

The information available on tools discussed in this article may not be 100% accurate, complete, or up to date, so do not use it as a substitute for your own due diligence, especially if you have concerns about a person’s criminal history. These services don’t make any representation or warranty about the accuracy of the information available through their services or about the character or integrity of the person about whom you inquire. For more information, please review the service’s Terms of Use.

All product names, logos, brands, trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Footnotes

1. Just to clarify, users are actually allowed to create up to 4 additional Facebook profiles under their account. However, all of these profiles are tied to the same account, and users use their existing login details across all of them. If someone wants a profile that’s completely separate from their main account, they would typically create an entirely different Facebook account.↩
2. r/privacy [groundhogspoop]. (Dec 16, 2023) An old friend liked a post on my new secret FB account, how did they find me? [Online forum post] Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/18jtg8f/an_old_friend_liked_a_post_on_my_new_secret_fb/↩
3. Not the kind used for employment or tenant screening, but rather for personal use↩
4. The pricing mentioned here is accurate as of the time of writing. The actual price may vary, so be sure to check the official website for the most current information.↩
5. r/relationships [deleted user]. Jun 25, 2020. I have a second FB account with a weird name that I use solely for stupid games like Candy Crush… [Comment on the online forum post My husband has a secret Facebook.] Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/relationships/comments/hf4kj5/my_husband_has_a_secret_facebook/↩
6. General discussion [Corinne Dahl]. (Nov 10, 2020). How do I find out if my husband has a hidden profile on Facebook? [Online forum post] Quora. https://qr.ae/pYXbs4↩

There’s no guarantee you’ll find the information you’re looking for with the tools discussed in this article. They all source their information from publicly available data sources, such as county, state and federal courts, government departments, and police records, and those sources may contain incorrect or incomplete data. It’s illegal to use these tools to make decisions about employment, admission, consumer credit, insurance, tenant screening, or any other purpose that would require FCRA compliance. Read the Fair Credit Reporting Act to learn more....

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