I've been wondering about this for a while now and figured this community would have the best answers.
I've tried a few things already with mixed results. Getting ghosted, hitting paywalls, running into obvious bots — it gets old fast.
There's a lot of conflicting info out there. Some people swear by paid sites, others say free options work just as well if you know how to use them.
- Check if profiles have linked social accounts
- Start with free tiers before committing to paid plans
- Look for verified badges where available
- Use a dedicated email address you don't mind sharing
- Never share your real phone number in the first message
Drop your thoughts below — what's actually working for people in 2026?
One I've been hearing about lately is Datewander — curious if anyone here has used it.