Thirty-one-year-old Chantelle* had just returned from a weekend away with her boyfriend Sam*, when she opened the door to her housemate looking ashen.

‘Sam and I had been down in Byron Bay seeing his friends, and it had been a perfect weekend,’ recalls Chantelle, who hails from the Gold Coast.

‘So it was kind of whiplash to walk in and find Kate* looking like she’d seen a ghost.

Kate quickly spilled the beans. Over the weekend, she had discovered Sam’s profile on a dating app she was swiping through.

‘We weren’t living together, but we were definitely exclusive, and that weekend we’d actually been talking a lot about moving things to the next level,’ Chantelle tells me.

‘The idea that he could have been playing the field was just abhorrent to me. I confronted him immediately with the screenshots.’

Chantelle says the minute she presented Sam with the ‘evidence’ of his betrayal, he just laughed it off.

‘He said his profile must still have been active because he’d just forgotten to delete it when we became exclusive,’ explains Chantelle.

A woman has revealed how she caught out her boyfriend who insisted his dating app was just a relic from his single days that he had forgotten to delete (stock image posed by model)

A woman has revealed how she caught out her boyfriend who insisted his dating app was just a relic from his single days that he had forgotten to delete (stock image posed by model) 

He said, quite convincingly, ‘we’re together most nights – when would I have the opportunity to cheat?’

For the next month or so, Chantelle did her best to forget her nagging suspicions.

Sam assured her he would delete his profile, and that seemed to be the end of it.

Until a girls’ night upended everything.

‘I was out for drinks with Kate and her friends, and after one too many negronis, I ended up spilling the beans about how I was still worried,’ recounts Chantelle.

‘Kate’s friend Anna* pulled out her phone and explained she’d swiped through almost all the men in a 10km radius, so she would remember if she’d seen Sam on the apps.’

One thing led to another, and suddenly the group was huddled around Anna’s phone, swiping through men to see if they could spot her boyfriend.

‘And then… we did,’ says Chantelle.

After her boyfriend admitted the account was his, Chantelle* realised the only way to know for sure if he was still using it was to go undercover on the app to find him (stock image)

After her boyfriend admitted the account was his, Chantelle* realised the only way to know for sure if he was still using it was to go undercover on the app to find him (stock image)

‘My stomach literally dropped and the back of my neck got hot and prickly. I never understood that physical feeling of heartbreak before.’

While Chantelle’s first instinct was to confront Sam once more, her friends had a better idea.

They knew he would just use the excuse again that it was an ‘old account’ he had forgotten to deactivate so they came up with a test of whether this was really true.

‘They suggested creating a “loyalty test” for Sam – where one of my friends he hadn’t met yet would try to match with him, and see for sure whether he was cheating, or just hadn’t got around to deleting his profile yet like he’d said.’

Anna swiped right on Sam. They waited a few minutes to see if anything happened.

At first Chantelle felt relieved: he didn’t immediately swipe back, despite the fact she knew he always had his phone with him. Maybe, just maybe, he was being honest about the account being a relic from his single days.

And then, a few minutes later, after the conversation had moved on, Anna’s phone pinged on the bar. It was a match – from Sam.

‘It was literally like being in a movie,’ says Chantelle.

‘I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and it actually made me feel a bit scared. The realisation that I didn’t know this person the way I thought I did, and that he could be so brazen. He’d been telling me he loved me that morning. How does a person just switch that off?’

Chantelle’s heart sank as her well-meaning friend chatted back and forth with Sam, gathering evidence of his deceit.

She even offered to keep the ruse going, perhaps even arrange to meet in person, but Chantelle simply couldn’t go through with it. She had all the proof she needed.

‘By this point it was just salacious gossip for the girls. For me, it was my life. I didn’t want to be anyone’s entertainment, I just wanted to crawl under the covers and not come out for a week. It took everything to not burst into tears,’ she says.

Chantelle left the bar early and crawled up in bed, crying silently until she fell asleep. The next day, she did what she knew she had to do.

‘I confronted Sam with the screenshots. He didn’t say much, actually,’ she admits.

‘He was angry at first, then defensive, then he just kind of went silent. He didn’t even really fight me when I told him we were over – but then again, I guess he couldn’t say much, could he? He’d been caught red-handed.’

In the six months since it all went down, Chantelle is still single, and is understandably reluctant to jump back on the dating apps.

‘To be honest even opening a dating app is a bit of a trigger for me right now,’ she says.

‘I’m fine most days, but sometimes I just get stuck on that feeling of being betrayed by someone I thought I knew.’

‘I keep thinking I should have seen the red flags, but I honestly can’t think what they might have been. He obviously kept that part of himself so well-hidden.’

*Names have been changed

The 10-second trick to find out if your husband is using OnlyFans (I tried it, and it works), how to expose your shady date’s REAL name – and 10 other sneaky ways women are discovering the TRUTH about their partner

By Jana Hocking 

  • This article was first published on February 24, 2025

‘Oh, do I have a story for you!’ my friend declared as she arrived fashionably late to our girls’ dinner last week. She barely had time to order a martini before we all leaned in, eager to hear what she had to say.

Turns out, after months of speculating, she’d just discovered her husband was using OnlyFans. 

Thankfully, she hadn’t walked in on him, er, enjoying himself. 

No, her tactic for uncovering the truth was far more sneaky. And as a dating columnist, I feel it’s my duty to share this ridiculously easy, 10-second trick with you. 

Trust me, it works. I’ve seen the receipts.

So here’s what my friend did. She went to the OnlyFans login page, typed in her husband’s email… and waited. 

She figured that if the email address wasn’t linked to an account, she’d be able to proceed to sign up. But if it was? Well, a message would pop up.

Yes, dear reader, you guessed it, after my friend entered her husband’s email, an ominous box appeared on the screen.

Mail+ columnist Jana Hocking has discovered a sneaky, 10-second hack for women who want to know if their boyfriends or husbands are using OnlyFans

Mail+ columnist Jana Hocking has discovered a sneaky, 10-second hack for women who want to know if their boyfriends or husbands are using OnlyFans

‘This email is already registered.’

Boom! Just like that, her trust was destroyed with a single notification box.

Cue the spiraling. Who was he subscribing to? Some 19-year-old named ‘LolaKitten69’?

Was this just harmless digital perving, or something deeper?

(Side note: I wonder how many men are now frantically googling ‘how to cancel an OnlyFans subscription?’ before their wives find out.)

While I was still reeling from this story, I heard about another next-level husband-spying hack.

On my favorite podcast, My Therapist Ghosted Me, comedian Joanne McNally shared a story about a friend who suspected her lover was sneaking off to his ex’s house. 

So what did she do?

She left one of her AirPods in his car.

If you think your husband might be using OnlyFans, there is a very simple way to find out. Just make sure you're ready for the truth, Jana writes (stock image posed by models)

If you think your husband might be using OnlyFans, there is a very simple way to find out. Just make sure you’re ready for the truth, Jana writes (stock image posed by models)

As anyone with an Apple device knows, you can track AirPods through the Find My app. So every time he hopped in his car, she could see exactly where he was going.

And surprise, surprise, just as she had suspected, she logged into the app and saw his car was parked outside his ex-girlfriend’s house. Busted.

But also genius, right?  

Now, I’m not saying you should start planting AirPods in your bloke’s car (it’s far too expensive to lose one of those suckers!) but I think we can all agree that when something feels off, it usually is.

So, if your gut is screaming that something isn’t right or you’re just a little curious (‘We listen, we never judge,’ as the TikTokers say), I’ve discovered some seriously clever ways to get answers.

Here are 10 sneaky tricks that work alarmingly well: 

The WhatsApp Archive folder hack

Did you know WhatsApp has an Archive folder? Because cheaters do.

It’s where sneaky people hide chats they don’t want popping up in their main messages. Because why delete a conversation when you can just make it invisible?

Here’s how to check if your partner is hiding messages:

Just above all the regular, unhidden chats in WhatsApp, you’ll see it says ‘archived’. Click here at your peril.

If you find a mysterious conversation with an ex, a co-worker, or someone saved as ‘Pizza Delivery Guy’, you might have a situation on your hands.

A former friend of mine was having an affair with a married man, and they both kept their chats and naughty photos in the archive folder so they wouldn’t pop up unexpectedly. Their partners still don’t know, and last I heard, it’s still going on.

The dating app trick 

Just like the OnlyFans trick, this one works on subscription-based platforms such as dating apps and even Patreon.

If you suspect your partner is subscribed, all you need is their email (or, if that doesn’t work, their mobile number). Go to the login page, type it in and see what happens. If an account exists, the website will say:

‘This email is already registered’ or ‘This email already has an account.’

Translation: Busted.

This one works best for couples who have been together since pre-dating-app days because, let’s be honest, anyone who has been single for a while has probably signed up at some stage.

The ‘forgot password’ dating app test

Want another trick for when you think your partner might be on dating apps?

Go to Tinder, Bumble or Hinge, pop in their email or mobile number at the login page and click ‘forgot password’.

If the app confirms a reset link was sent, congratulations (and commiserations) – they have an account.

They’ll also probably clock what you’ve been up to the next time they check their emails. Oops.

The AirDrop name test

Ever wondered if your Bumble date is really who they say they are?

Open AirDrop on your phone while you’re near them. Their AirDrop name might reveal a nickname or alias they use elsewhere.

One woman I know found out her ‘single’ date was actually married with kids when his AirDrop popped up as ‘Dad’s iPhone’. Awkward.

The Bluetooth connection clue

Next time you’re in their car, check Bluetooth settings. If you see a device named ‘Babe’s iPhone’ or an unfamiliar female name, it might be time for a little chat.

A Reddit user once confessed she discovered her boyfriend was seeing someone else when she found a mystery AirPods case connected to his car’s Bluetooth. His excuse? ‘I found them at the gym.’

Oh, sure.

The saved passwords check 

Check saved passwords in Chrome or Safari. If there’s a login for Bumble, Tinder, Hinge or Grindr… well, ta-da they’ve got an account.

The ‘Find My’ sneak peak

Ever shared locations on Find My iPhone or Google Maps? Check their saved or frequently visited locations.

One woman discovered her boyfriend was regularly going to someone’s house on his lunch breaks. The next time he went there, she drove over and waited in her car out the front. Turns out it was a friend-with-benefits situation with a gym buddy.

Men are exhausting.

The Instagram ‘following’ search

Go to their Instagram following list and search for keywords like ‘OnlyFans’, ‘sugar daddy’, ‘secret’ or ‘VIP’.

Or search for specific names you’re suspicious of. Women have uncovered hidden flings and dodgy DMs using this trick.

I even do it for potential love interests. I took one look at a recent date’s follow list and got the instant ick. He was really into OnlyFans ‘models’.

The Snapchat score check

Snapchat’s Snap Score increases when someone sends or receives snaps. If they claim they ‘never use Snapchat’ but their score keeps climbing, someone’s getting snaps – and it’s not you.

I recently asked my followers why the heck so many people use Snapchat to hide their affairs, and I got many DMs explaining that Snapchat doesn’t allow you to take screenshots of photos, and you can send photos on a timer.

Therefore, people are sending each other saucy pics with no paper trail left behind them, making it harder to get caught. 

Naughty, naughty Snapchat.

The PayID name hack  

If you’ve just started seeing or chatting with someone, and want to be sure they are who they say they are, look no further than PayID.

All you need to do it put their mobile number into the app, and if they use PayID, their full name, as appears on their bank statements, will pop up.

If they’re telling you their name is something completed different? Well, you just dodged a bullet.

To conclude… 

Look, if you have to go full FBI mode on a guy, the relationship might already be doomed. But if your gut is screaming that something isn’t right, sometimes a little detective work is justified.

Plus… once you get over your heartbreak, your snooping will make for a great story at dinner parties down the track.

And if you don’t find anything? Well, congratulations, you’ve got yourself a faithful partner (and a slightly guilty conscience).

But warning: before you get your snoop on, ask yourself if you really want to know. Because once something has been seen, it can’t be unseen. And one dodgy text is all it can take for your world to come crashing down.

I’m yet to meet a snooper who hasn’t found something at least a little bit dodgy.  You have been warned.

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk