Finding out your partner is being unfaithful can be a devastating blow, but for most people knowing is better than not knowing. With the modern world providing advances in technology and more opportunity than ever, how can you know if your loved one is trustworthy?
Asking a Private Investigator to help you is usually the most effective method, this can alleviate doubt, and guide you through the many pitfalls of finding out alone.
As Private Investigators this is one of the many services we offer and is one of the most frequently asked questions, when people call us for help and advice. Insight Investigations offers a wide range of services on relationship investigations to help people get to the truth. Speaking with one of our experienced male or female investigators can help determine the best course of action to give you piece of mind. Our advice is free.
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There are some observations to look out for which will help us to determine whether there is cause for closer inspection. Our team of relationship investigators have selected the top five behaviours to look out for, based on cumulatively working on tens of thousands of infidelity cases over the years.
The most common tell-tale signs are:
- More secretive with phone and social media
- Change in personal grooming
- Changes in mood and behaviour
- More distant with less physical contact
- Increased work patterns or new hobby/reason to leave the house
Insight Investigations annually produces a list of the most common behaviours adopted by a cheating partner, taking into consideration the ever advancing modern world in which we now live, technological evolution and societal trends combined with analysis of case files from real infidelity cases where we have provided assistance and support to the betrayed partner.
Some of the easy to identify behaviours that your partner is being unfaithful are consistent across both male and female partners but there are some very subtle differences between a woman and man’s behavioural patterns when being unfaithful.
Each of the behaviours mentioned below have been a trigger behaviour reported in the initial case briefing of one or more cases in the last year, however it’s worth saying that the presence of one or more of these signs does not categorically mean that your partner is being unfaithful.
It can often be best to discuss your fears with a professional and you can speak to one of Insight Investigations’ relationship investigators 24/7 for a free consultation.
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20 Signs your male partner is being unfaithful
Or jump to 20 Signs your female partner is being unfaithful
Two phones
Although two phones are needed in some work situations, where an employer requests personal and work phones are kept separate, this can often be a real giveaway that a partner is being unfaithful. Especially when a work phone is kept close by at all times or the passcode closely protected.
If your partner is keeping a work phone close by in the evenings, at weekends or even taking it on holiday then this could be cause for concern.
Phone on silent
The thing about modern technology is that it can have a nasty habit of intruding into your life when it’s not wanted. Take for example a text from someone you are having an affair with, not only does it ‘ping’ when the text arrives but it also stays visible on the screen even if you have your phone locked. If your partner often has their phone set to silent this could be a sign they are hiding something and you should stay alert to other behaviours.
Similarly, if your partner has set their notifications to not preview the message and simply show the name of the text or WhatsApp message this can also be a sign they are hiding something they do not wish you to see.
There are also many advances with people using alternative communications methods such as Telegram which can be hidden on a phone, or using a VPN to disguise online activity. Both of these can easily be installed on a mobile. Faking GPS locations is also on the increase if you are trying to hide where you are. Further information on Faking GPS locations is here.
Different ringtone or text tone
Many of the older generation (and by that, we mean anyone who owned an NEC P3, or Nokia 3210) never change their ringtone. In fact, most people over a certain age either don’t want to or don’t know how to change their ringtone.
Contrast that with younger users who according to one online survey, only 15% leave the factory defaults in place.
Changing ringtones or text tones can mean that you know automatically when a particular person is ringing or texting you which can be a tactic adopted by people who are trying to separate parts of their life.
If your partner has more than one ringtone or text tone, then this could be a sign of infidelity.
Sudden interest in personal grooming
An individuals personal grooming or hygiene habits may change once in a long-term relationship.
Contrast this with having an affair and suddenly people become more fastidious about their personal grooming and will go to great lengths to look good for their new love interest.
More time spent in the bathroom or a sudden interest in grooming products could easily be a sign.
Appears more secretive, particularly with their mobile phone
Whilst technology enables far more ways to have an affair, cheating on your partner does require one thing that technology can’t hide and that is time. It takes time to text or call someone. It takes time to send photos on Snapchat. It takes time to flirt.
If you are in a relationship, finding the time to do this when your partner isn’t looking can be tricky.
If you find that their normal routine is somehow different, especially in the evenings, then this could be a sign they are taking the time to flirt online. Signs, like making unnecessary trips to the shops in the evenings, or even taking their phone to the shower or toilet, can simply be them finding time to contact someone.
More distant, less frequent physical contact
When a partner decides they want to move on, they want to move on. Sometimes this manifests with becoming more aggressive, accusing their partner of infidelity to hide their own indiscretion or generally changing their behaviour to force the party to confront the situation.
In these circumstances, they will want to spend less time with you, will be resentful of having to be around you and won’t show the same degree of affection that they once did.
A diminishing of affection is not, in itself, a sign. After all, when people have been together for years this can be a natural evolution of a relationship. However add it to another suspicious behaviour and there could be reason to suspect infidelity.
Infrequent love making or new bedroom behaviours
If they are finding excuses to avoid intimate contact with you the this could be a sign that things are not right and that they are fulfilling this part of their life elsewhere.
Equally, we have seen in some cases that an increased libido which spills over into the long term relationship, even trying out new “techniques” or “moves”. If your partner suddenly changes their behaviour in the bedroom without it being previously discussed or requested this can be a tell-tale sign that they are being unfaithful.
Nights out with “friends”
Generally, people love to go out; it’s in their DNA to meet and bond with friends. There’s nothing wrong with this unless it becomes more frequent than it once was.
Sudden urges to unexpectedly meet with friends for a “quick pint”, “quick catch-up” or coming home late after stopping out with their friends and in some cases regular excuses of sleeping over at a friend’s house after a night out.
There are legitimate reasons for men to do this and there are times in their lives when a new group or crowd will mean they are out more often. Ultimately if you find yourself sat at home and have no ideas where they are or what they are doing then this could be a sign.
Especially if when they return home, instead of being nice to you to make up for all the time they spent away they turn on you and make out that you are somehow trying to control them, the alarm bells should ring.
Unusual shower times – late at night
People can be creatures of habit. They do the same things at the same times most days. Most men will shower either morning or evening and the same with shaving.
If they suddenly feel the urge to shower more frequently or change the time when they are showering and shaving you might need to ask the reason why.
Sudden interest in loading the washing machine
If your partner has never shown any interest in contributing to doing household washing and then suddenly wants to wash their own clothes this could be considered a sign. People having affairs or cheating on their partner through one-night stands are often incredibly paranoid, and despite best efforts to conceal and traces left behind, they may want to be in control of emptying out pockets and handling their washing. It can also be playing on their mind to ensure that you the long-term partner doesn’t notice any smells or stains on their clothes that shouldn’t be there.
So, if your partner who has rarely showed any interested in doing the washing, suddenly wants to load the washing machine more, this can be cause for suspicion.
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Working later for no apparent reason
One of the oldest and most regularly seen signs that your partner is being unfaithful. Sometimes your partner can in fact be in the office and this isn’t a cover up for going somewhere else with the person they are having an affair with. Sometimes it’s as simple as an extra half hour or hour at work to text or chat to the person they are having an affair with.
Smell
Much underrated, smell is actually a classic tell-tale sign.
Everyone has a smell. Researchers have known this for some time and companies have peddled the magic’ pheromone’ scents for years.
A 2016 report however in Psychology Today, shed some more light on this subject. Their research suggested that women can detect genetic compatibility by smell (but men can’t) and with nostrils that sensitive then they are very likely to notice a change in a man’s smell.
Men smell differently when they have been with a woman who wears a different perfume to you and they definitely smell different when they have engaged in sexual acts with another person.
So, as well as keeping your eyes and ears open, next time keep your nose alert for tell-tale changes in your partner’s smell.
Social Media
Ubiquitous in modern life, most people have some form of a social media profile.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat; they can all tell a story if you look hard enough.
As a Private Investigator, this is one of the easiest and most obvious things to check. Although it is unlikely that your partner is going to post pictures of their infidelity on social media (although it has happened!) it can give some interesting clues to follow up.
Take a look at their images they are posting, do you know where they are and who they are with? Are there any new faces you haven’t seen before? What about the locations? Do you recognise where they are and who they are with?
Text messages folder is empty.
Who deletes their text messages? Most of the time men can’t be bothered, unless of course, it’s impinging on the phone’s memory in which case a clean out is a priority!
Most men simply don’t delete texts and as such, if you can see their phone then you can see their life played out in full detail. Therefore an empty text message folder could well be a sign they are up to something secretive.
Passwords and logins have changed
If you used to be able to get into your partner’s phone, computer, tablet or other device and suddenly you find you can’t then you might need to start asking why.
And if your partner is spending more time with just one of the devices, more than might be considered usual, then this could be a sign.
They have less money than usual
Often overlooked, a lack of funds can be a signal that something has changed. If your partner is someone who always has money on them or has the ability to take money out of the bank when they want, then suddenly announcing that they have no cash might raise a few questions.
Now it could be (and we did find this in one case) that a husband had been putting money aside for over a year just to pay for a surprise holiday for his wife. Sadly however, this is often not the case.
Quite often at the start of a new relationship, there will be a display of affection and this often manifests itself in the form of gifts. Whilst his new girlfriend may be able to hide a pair of diamond earrings or a necklace from their partner (assuming both parties are in a relationship) hiding the absence of funds in the bank account is a lot harder.
You don’t see any of the bank statements
Leading on from the point above, if you have a joint account and are used to being able to access that account and see the statements, the sudden absence of statements in the house might be a signal.
Banks make it easy these days to switch off paper statements but this can often leave the other partner in the dark.
Details like where and when cash has been withdrawn from cash points can be an indicator, especially if they were not supposed to be there at that time.
Location services are switched off
Most mobile phones these days are equipped with some form of Geo-location device and unless you specify otherwise in settings, often it is enabled by default.
Men, being tech savvy in the main, are very adept at switching this off.
Given that pretty much all the apps these days require it switched on to work properly (think Facebook or any of the map apps as an example) then when it is switched off you need to ask why.
The browser history is regularly deleted, or private browsing is the default
Internet browsers by default always keep a history of which websites you have visited. 90% of people never consider this and as such, they never delete their browsing history.
An empty browsing history should be a sign for concern.
Similarly, most browsers allow you to surf in private mode so if your partner has spent hours on the computer, but when you check the browsing history it shows nothing, then there is something that is being hidden.
You “feel” that something is not quite right
Often underrated and regularly ignored in the early stages of an affair, the good old fashioned ‘gut feeling’ is usually right.
Trust your gut instincts and if something feels wrong, it probably is.
Jump to 20 Signs your male partner is being unfaithful
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20 Signs your female partner is being unfaithful
Her phone is locked
You’ve previously had access to her phone or at least you’ve known the code for opening it. Most couples know this about their partner as a lot of the codes are simple and often reused across other devices.
Suddenly you find her password has changed on phone and access to other things that you previously could see has also been restricted. It could be just that she is security conscious and following best practice guidelines for changing passwords on a regular basis. Or not.
There’s a change in predictable behaviour.
When couples are in a relationship they develop routines which even if not immediately obvious to the rest of us, are there nonetheless. As a partner you know these routines and if there’s a sudden change or even a more subtle change over the course of a couple of weeks, this could be a sign.
Their Phone bill shows more calls and messages to a certain number
Mobile phone bills can be a great source of information; if you can get to them. These days most of them are hidden online with password protection.
If you can see them then a quick sign is an increase in the monthly cost. If people pay more than the standard tariff each month it is often because more pictures are being sent. A new relationship is often a time when this sort of thing happens.
Change in weight or appearance and going to the gym more
Women commit infidelity in very different ways. Men tend to simply take the opportunity when it arises whereas women as more selective. They typically look for someone ‘better’ than their partner, or as it has been described, “Women are more likely to cheat up, while men are more likely to cheat around.”
This explains why a woman who is having an affair will often take more interest in her physical appearance and perhaps try to lose weight, change the way they look with fillers or other enhancements and even change the way they dress.
With a massive 75% of women saying that they have been unfaithful because they were having problems in their relationships, a change in appearance when coupled with other signs could be a key indicator.
Change in musical tastes
We all tend to like the music we like and this doesn’t change very often. Sure, there are new bands that come and go and our musical tastes can vary but if you are into classical music you are unlikely to start listing to AC/DC.
If you find that you’re noticing new bands or playlists, with wildly different music genres on Apple Music or Spotify, or even perhaps a CD or USB song with playlists on, this could be a real sign of infidelity.
Being vague on things, like ‘I can’t remember?’
The way men and women respond to direct questioning about suspicions can often be very different. Men tend to give excuses or reasoning whereas women will be much more vague and try to dodge the issue. Under pressure, they are more than likely to claim no knowledge of the time, place, situation or person in question.
Unless they normally suffer from a poor memory, then an inability to recall events and people might be a sign that they can actually remember, but are choosing not to share that information with you.
A pronounced need for privacy
Everyone needs a bit of privacy, but when you are in a relationship you open up and let your partner into your life. Secrets may still exist but not as many as before; after all, if this person is your ‘best friend’ then you share most things with that person.
A sudden desire for more ‘me’ time or the need to be alone is often a sign that your female partner is shutting you out of her life and this can be a sign that something deeper is going on.
A change in sexual intercourse frequency
Possibly one of the most common signs, there is a change in the frequency of intercourse.
Contrary to common belief this doesn’t necessarily mean a reduction; sometimes it can be an increase. After all, what better way to hide infidelity than by having more frequent sex? Most partners on the receiving end of this would be grateful for the opportunity and therefore be unlikely to complain. But it could simply be a way of hiding an increase in a woman’s libido because of flirting, or more, with a new partner.
You can’t see her bills
Much like male partners and their phone bills and bank statements, women are also adept at hiding changes in their financial position from their partner.
If you could see her phone bill before and bank statements but these suddenly aren’t obvious or available this could be a sign. Much like men, women having an affair will be going places, spending money and making calls that they rather their partner didn’t know about.
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Talking a lot about her new “friend” at work
Many relationships start in the workplace. This is logical because in today’s modern environment you are more likely to meet and spend time with someone in the workplace than almost anywhere else.
Spending time with the person they are attracted to at work isn’t in itself a problem, however these work relationships and friendships can often turn into something more.
One sign could be that your female partner may discuss a co-worker more and how they are good at what they do, how funny they are or just generally mentioning how they make office life enjoyable.
Turning phone location on and off frequently.
Men aren’t the only ones to be tech savvy. Most millennials have grown up very adept at phone technology and can use a variety of apps and services available on any standard smartphone.
We have seen just as many men and women disable location services when they visit their lover and then re-enable it when they are back in a location. Were it not for close surveillance it would have been hard to prove where they had been.
Most people have no need or desire to frequently turn on and off the location services on their phone. If your female partner is doing so then this could be a sign.
Matching underwear
Men and women alike can relax their behaviour when they are in a long term relationship.
At the start of a relationship, most women will make an effort to ensure that bra and knickers both match with sexy underwear sets favoured over large knickers and plain bras. Once in a relationship, this can change to just making sure that they don’t show through the clothing they are wearing.
If your female partner suddenly changes to wearing matching sets, it may well be because they expect someone else to see them wearing it.
She says your suspicions are nonsense
If you are forward enough to confront a partner with your suspicions, it is likely to go a number of ways. Statistically, women are twice as likely as men to think that their partner suspected them of being unfaithful and in almost half of the cases of infidelity their partner found out the truth.
When confronted, a woman may simply confess (as this brings the whole thing to a head), flatly deny it or quite often, tell you that you are jealous and/or crazy to think that she may be having an affair.
Ironically, in this case, a denial isn’t quite a denial. If it is turned around to accuse the man of being stupid or paranoid it can sometimes be a sign that it really is going on.
Oblivious to the fact her partner has made an effort
Men can often forget to make an effort. It sometimes seems hardwired into their DNA. Once all the thrill of the initial chase has gone it can be all too easy to drop back into a routine.
When a relationship is vulnerable, a partner may have their eyes elsewhere and despite a man’s best efforts, nothing he says or does may be good enough.
If your partner is ignoring your efforts and seems more preoccupied with her social media account or texting her friends, then this can be a sign that she’s having an affair.
Happy to show you her phone and social media accounts
It sounds counterintuitive, but a sudden willingness to show you her email accounts or social media accounts or mobile phone could be a signal.
We investigated a case where this had become the norm and the reason, it turned out, was because the partner was having an affair. What they did though was to clear their phone down on a daily basis so there was nothing untoward to find on their phone.
They came unstuck though when on holiday and their partner checked their phone at a time when normally they would be at work.
They ‘like’ someone’s posts more than others
Astonishingly, according to an online survey, 54% of women have had a one-night stand and 45% of those affairs were with someone their partner knows.
Of course, it makes sense; you meet people as part of a social group, spend time with them and can become attracted to them. Quite often, therefore, an affair tends to be with someone you know or someone who is associated with the same groups of friends or work colleagues.
And as you are all friends there is no reason that you should all be linked on the same social media platforms.
If you look closely, however, you may start to spot a pattern. A woman may be subtly ‘liking’ posts from a particular person more frequently than others. This is not of course, in itself, a sign of infidelity, but it can be a signal that they like that person slightly more than you would expect.
They may post quotes online or refer to things which are out of the normal.
Erratic or unusual behaviour is often quoted as one of the classic signs that someone is having an affair.
These days that can manifest itself solely in the digital environment, with everything else seemingly unchanged.
We have seen cases where women started to post unusual quotes or out of character comments online which were, it turned out, completely at odds with her day-to-day life. To all her friends and family everything seemed normal but the nature and frequency of her posts online betrayed a mental turmoil about the relationship she found herself in and the fact that she was having an affair was causing her to seek release online.
Constantly keeping tabs on her partner.
How many times a day is it normal to keep tabs on your partner’s movements?
Most couples ‘check in’ with each other a few times a day and with so many ways to keep engaged in the digital world it’s quite easy to do this.
In one case we investigated a woman was keeping tabs on her husband up to twenty times a day. Constant texts or phone calls from her were dressed up as being friendly but the reality, as betrayed by the phone calls, was more often than not, she was looking to find out where her husband was.
The irony in this was that this behaviour was so she knew exactly where he was and therefore when it would be safe for her to meet with her lover and have the affair.
If a woman needs to keep a very close eye on you all day every day, perhaps you should ask why?
Emoticons on posts
We all use them in our posts but what does an emoticon really say about you? This post lists ten of the most used emojis by women and what they mean when she is flirting with a man.
If your partner starts to use these in her texts or even posts them on social media platforms you might want to ask her some straight questions about their meaning.
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. It’s a list of the signs that we have seen as part of undercover private investigations we have undertaken in the past few years.
The key to all of these investigations that form part of this article is that the signs of infidelity and the reason the unfaithful partner was exposed was often down to their digital footprint.
Wherever you go and whatever you do, modern life finds a way to track your every move.
If you think that your partner may be having an affair and need some help then Investigate.uk offer a professional, discreet service. Contact us in complete confidence on the number below or use our contact form and speak to one of our expert team.
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