Nowadays, Facebook and Instagram are full of fake profiles that men, women, and even teens hide for many reasons. So, when you suspect that someone has a secret Facebook account, you can use some verification methods to discover the truth about that. Users on FB, just like Instagram and other social media apps, may use fake names and usernames to hide their details and keep their profiles hard to uncover. However, if you follow these tricks and strategies, you should be able to find those hidden accounts easily, especially if you know that person.
Finding hidden Facebook and IG profiles
You can use any of the following search solutions. But always try to keep track of your search to maximize the chance of discovering people’s accounts on social media. They may have profiles on Facebook that you don’t know about but with different usernames and secondary contact details.
Social media searching tools
This is the easiest way to check if someone you know has a secret account on Facebook or Instagram. Start with this search method; all you need is the full name of your partner, for example, and then, click on the search button.
Search engines specializing in social media search have years of experience in the field. So, they have different deep-scan techniques to gather information about people from their first, plus last names only. Then, they compare the search results with photos, links, and contact details to make the data more accurate for all.
Social Catfish
I used the Social Catfish tool, and it was the best of all the available people search engines. It works best for social media searches, and you can easily find someone’s secret social profile by typing their name or username in the search field.
Other than that, you may also search for secret FB profiles by picture, which is helpful these days. Just choose a good-quality photo of the person you want to look for and upload it. Then, the system will search for associated profiles on Facebook with that photo. That being said, private Facebook accounts may not be easy to detect with just a photo. For that reason, I encourage you to use all the available search inputs, like the following ones, with this tool:
- Search by name
- Email address
- Mobile phone number
- Username
- By photo
Here is a simple overview of a search report that shows the Facebook profile of someone I looked for by name with this tool. You may get different social profiles in addition to Facebook, like Twitter and Instagram, depending on many factors and parameters. But in general, it’s a sophisticated tool to search for possible accounts on social media networks and even dating sites, including Facebook.
Keep in mind that search engines, including this one, look for public data. However, it may find other information from different sources, which means there is a high chance of locating that unseen account on Facebook.
Reverse phone lookup
There is a good chance of finding secret accounts by phone number because Meta Platforms, Inc. owns Facebook and Instagram. In fact, the Meta company is known for data leaks that expose billions of records, such as usernames, names, and phone numbers, when that happens. As a result, many databases take advantage of that and index millions of user details. So, you can search for a specific cell phone number and find its associated profiles on Instagram or Facebook.
You can use Intelius, as it’s a good phone lookup tool available in the US. It has an extensive database of numbers and contact details, with reports showing possible social accounts linked to them. But the best thing about this tool is its fresh data. You don’t have to waste time like with other tools and browsing details found years ago. This one has a powerful scan algorithm that updates details when detected.
Can you search for Facebook users by phone number?
This is not true anymore; you can’t find hidden profiles on Facebook by phone number. That was possible years ago, using the Facebook search system. However, since the famous Cambridge Analytica data breach, the social network has started disabling the feature to search for profiles by mobile numbers directly.
That said, you may see different websites and blogs talking about this type of search using only a cell number. The truth is that you won’t be able to find any private accounts on social media like Facebook and Instagram through a phone number on their websites directly.
Now, there is one more trick you can try, but it can give you a hint about a possible account on Facebook. So, basically, you can try logging into Facebook from a laptop and using the “Forgot password” link, as in the next example.
From there, the Facebook app will ask you to add the phone number you are already using with your account. So, type your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s phone number, for example, like the following example.
Now, see if Facebook says, “We’ll send you a code to your mobile number.”. If that’s the case, that means that the phone number is being used on the Facebook account.
If Facebook says “No Search Results,” that indicates that the phone number is not linked to any profile on the platform. That’s a clear answer to whether someone is using the contact number for Facebook or not. As you can see here, Facebook is hiding the user’s profile photo. But anyway, you can check if they have any accounts or not.
This secret trick is one of the best ways to find out if somebody has a profile on Facebook, even if it’s hidden from the public. Hence, don’t do it many times. Otherwise, the security system may flag that user’s account, and they may find themselves in logging trouble.
What if you search by email address?
Searching by someone’s email can help you find associated Facebook accounts, but only with people search tools like the one above. On the Facebook search system, it’s not that accurate to type an email address and find any private account behind it. If someone has a private Facebook account, the app will hide that user’s profile from any public search. The same thing applies to Instagram; when IG users have private profiles, you can’t find them with the default search system.
On the other hand, reverse email lookup tools can help you locate those accounts on the web. That’s because both Facebook and Instagram require a valid phone number or email to activate the accounts. That means one of both of these details can help people search for linked accounts on social apps. So, it may be worth it to use a good service that searches for profiles on meta apps based on someone’s email, like Gmail or Yahoo.
Finding social media accounts linked to an email should work for you, especially if the person you are trying to locate is active on the Internet. The email address is one of the most powerful ways to search for social media users, even if they hide their profile from public view. However, that comes with limitations, as not every email search tool is capable of locating private accounts on Facebook, Instagram, or even TikTok.
Reverse image search
Locating someone’s account on social media should be easy with reverse image lookup tools. These photo recognition tools can compare the face of that specific picture and find where it appears on social media, just like regular websites. I tried this method several times, and it works for so many accounts.
I prefer using a reverse image search engine like Social Catfish in the first place to locate hidden accounts on Instagram. That’s because Instagram itself is a photo and video-sharing platform, which means lots of visual posts and content. Now, to see if someone has any accounts on Instagram, upload their clear photo and scan for “Instagram.com” on the search results page. Also, you can see if there are any mentions of Facebook.com. If you see any of these site names, click on them, and you’ll be taken to the person’s profile on these platforms.
That being said, if that profile is private, you may see a notification, especially on Instagram. But in all cases, that can tell you whether someone has a private account or not.
Searching social media by username
Reverse username search is also helpful these days. You can use a trusted service to locate online accounts based on those details.
If you find no accounts with any of the above methods, try this one. First, think about any possible username your partner or friend might be using on their social accounts. Even any known username they have can help you search for any associated online accounts. So, take note of their usernames, and make sure you notice variations like adding numbers or underscores to these names. After that, search Facebook directly for that known username to see any variations of it. You may come across an unseen profile you don’t know about.
Do the same thing with Instagram. Type the username of that person from their name or Gmail ID, for example. That could uncover those hidden IG pages you’re not aware of.
Use the home address search
Background search tools have this advanced technology. So, you type the street address of someone to find out if they have accounts on social media sites. After you get the search report, scroll down until you see a section named “Social Media” or a similar one. Click on it and see if there are any hidden FB and IG accounts you uncover for the first time. Additionally, you may discover other contact numbers or emails, not just hidden online profiles.
Even if this method can work, I recommend it only for addresses of owned properties or apartments that the same person has been renting for years. That will provide you with accurate information, unlike the proprieties when owners change regularly. I remember once that my friend in Florida wanted to locate a lost family member in New York. So, she discovered her relative’s account on Facebook through their old house address. This is an alternative search option to others in this guide.
Why do people keep their Facebook and IG secret?
Discovering that your husband or boyfriend, for example, has a secret Facebook account is not a surprise. According to the latest statistics, 45% of users in the United States admit they have private social media accounts. These people are not just couples or have relationships; they represent the whole community of all ages. So, nearly one in two people has a secret Facebook account in some way.
The fact that so many people keep their Facebook and Instagram secret is not always a sign of infidelity in marriage or relationships. Nor does that mean bad behavior all the time. In fact, Facebook users might have secret accounts for work. So they’re not really secret, but private social accounts. Thus, they can only see each other’s posts without public access. In addition, Google and other search engines will be blocked from accessing specific profile details.
Also, if you found your partner’s account on Facebook and it seems hidden from the search, that might be an old profile. Again, just like creating so many accounts, people may forget about those Facebook profiles they created years ago. However, the profile is still there with their real name, photos, and even old posts. In this case, those are old profiles that the person has previously created and forgotten about for years. There is a way to deactivate the profiles after completing the verification steps required by Facebook and IG.
On the other side, in the UK, for example, statistics show that one in five children has secret accounts on Facebook. So, they use the platform and hide their activities from their parents. The reasons for that could be playing games on the app or chatting with their girlfriend or classmates privately. No matter what the reason is, people of different ages have hidden Facebook accounts.
Conclusion
You can use these tools and tricks to check if someone has a secret Facebook account or Instagram profile and then see their details. Of course, that may need some investigation, especially if you find some accounts with the same names. But in general, that’s not as complicated as it was years ago. Nowadays, advanced search engines have the resources to crawl social media networks, including Facebook, and link the information with what the person has online. However, you always need to verify the details you discover on FB or Instagram, just like search engines.
Always look for up-to-date profile details that show the real name of the person you’re looking for with their photos, if possible. Having a fake profile photo with that person’s name doesn’t mean they’re the same user. That could be a fake profile, and the person in question is not aware of the identity theft.