At times, we might need to investigate the identity of someone we met online. Whether you’re wary of potential scams or wish to reconnect with an old online friend there are a few methods you can try to find out someone’s true identity through their Twitter presence.

1. Reverse username lookup

People often reuse their username across different platforms. Leveraging this, you can run a reverse username search to possibly trace someone’s profiles on other social networks.

WhatsMyName is a powerful and free tool for this purpose. It scours for social media accounts linked to a specific username. Simply input the Twitter username or ID of the person into the search bar and hit the Search button.

You’ll be able to view a list of links to potentially matching social media profiles. Click each link to view details about the profile owner and see if you can locate the person you’re looking for and the information you need.

2. Reverse image lookup

Another way to identify someone online is to run a reverse image search. If the person has shared their photo on Twitter, uploading this image to a reverse image search engine might reveal its presence on other websites, including different social media platforms.

Here are some top reverse image search tools:

1. PimEyes is an advanced reverse image lookup tool specialized in facial recognition. You can use it to identify instances where someone’s photo has been posted online. The results are available for free, but if you want to view the complete links, you’ll need to pay a fee.
2. FaceCheck is another face search engine that uses facial recognition to provide potential matches across the internet. When you upload someone’s picture, it will identify the person’s facial features to provide potential matches across the web. During my test, it surprisingly brought up many social site results.
3. Google Images is one of the most powerful reverse image lookups to find out where images are published. In my experience, it works well for finding the same image on the web, but it may not work for locating a specific face.
4. TinEye is also a powerful reverse image search that can be used to track where images appear online.

3. Use a people search engine

If all else fails and you’re willing to pay a fee, you can try a people search engine to see if you can dig up any information related to the person. These services typically compile public records, social media profiles, and other online sources to provide information about people, including the person’s full name, birthday, phone number, address, email address, possible relatives, and associates, social media links, employment info, and more when available.

Some websites that offer reverse username lookup include:

1. Social Catfish is an online people search tool that provides information about people. It allows you to find comprehensive details about someone including their full name, contact details, and background information.
2. Spokeo also offers reverse username lookup that lets you look up a username and find public profiles matching the same usernames on dating sites, social networks, blogs, and more.
3. BeenVerified allows you to look up a social media username and research the person’s full name, contact information, and more.

Simply type in the user’s Twitter username and see if these tools are able to provide any information.