The latest must-have accessory for New York's daters - a private eye

[Al-khiyal]

Preparing for a date in New York can be labour-intensive. Right perfume or cologne? Check. Smart clothes? Check. Report from private investigator? Check.

In the city's hot and heavy dating scene, the latest trend for the legion of single people is to check exactly whom they are meeting for dinner with the help of the city's famed private detective agencies.

Many New Yorkers are no longer taking their romantic prospects at their word, instead running extensive background searches that cover their criminal record, education, previous jobs and address history.

Sitting in his office on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Skipp Porteous runs Sherlock Investigations. He gets numerous requests from wealthy fellow clients to run background searches on their potential dates. 'It's just common sense now. People do lie. They lie about their marital status or they lie about their job,' said Porteous.

He charges $500 for a comprehensive background check or $195 an hour for a two-person team to carry out a surveillance of an intended date or new partner.

It can be worth it. One recent client's date had claimed to be a published author and a college professor. Porteous proved he was lying. Another woman's prospective husband was eager to join a free dating service until he realised that the 'woman' who had been emailing him the generous offer was in fact Porteous, using a false name.

It's the explosive growth of online dating in America that is responsible for the increased use of background checks. Whereas online dating is still seen as slightly desperate in much of Europe, in America it has become a normal part of life. It has also made it easier for people to create fake identities and to invent jobs, homes and lifestyles that they simply do not have.

One information services company, Intelius, specifically targets daters. Ed Petersen, one of the firm's senior vice-presidents, said 38 per cent of its clients were now people running background checks on dates or romantic partners.

An Intelius TV advert even features a woman unaware that her prospective date is a violent sex offender. The firm uses powerful software and databases to collect information on an individual which is then collated into a report for the customer. 'What harm is there in a quick background check? The world has changed and this sort of thing is pretty normal for the way people date now,' said Petersen.

Some online dating websites now conduct background checks on anyone signing up for them to weed out people who are potentially violent or dangerous. Certain US states want to make such checks mandatory for dating websites. So what happened to romantic candlelit dinners and honest chitchat? Well, experts say the checks might come up with the most unexpected answer of all: a date was telling the truth about being an astronaut or a beauty queen.

The latest must-have accessory for New York's daters - a private eye

[HOUDA-K]

It's a brilliant idea.

[Cheba_Mami]

yeah just in case you meet a wolf in sheepsclothes!
There are too many people telling lies. False degrees are sold... etc etc

[Bent_Bladi]

Lol, imagine you meet a guy. You like him, he likes you -- he comes to your parents house to ask about you... Imagine his surprise when he walks through the door and you know every last detail about him... muahahahahaha!

[Cheba_Mami]

muahahahahaha!
that would be GREAT!!!