'I knew something was wrong with my new man, so I paid for a background check.'

Samantha knew she should have cut him off after the first red flag. But, like so many of us have done, she ignored the warning signs. Then, one phone call changed everything.

Her story begins on the dating app Hinge.

After matching with a charismatic man, whose name she has chosen to keep anonymous, Samantha and the 36-year-old spoke for a month before at last meeting up.

Watch: A professional cleaner is accused of having an affair with neighbour's husband. Post continues after video.

"On our first date, he told me he had been separated for two years and divorced for two months, which felt a little quick to me," Samantha shared with her TikTok followers.

Nevertheless, the pair had a good time, and planned a second date. It was here that Samantha would see the first of many red flags.

"We're sitting there, we're having normal conversation, and I'm joking about the fact that he is 36 — because I always find myself dating people in the age range 34 to 36. And he's like, 'Well, actually, I have to tell you something. I'm actually 39. My age is wrong on my Hinge.'"

Immediately, alarm bells went off.

"I was like, do you think I'm stupid? If you got divorced two months ago and that's when you made your Hinge, you were lying. If you made it back when you were 36, you were cheating on your wife. Also, I'm pretty sure your Hinge updates every year as you get older."

Samantha demanded to see the man's physical ID, which confirmed he was indeed 39 years old. "I thought that was so weird, and I was really creeped out. Honestly, I should have been out then," Samantha shared.

But, despite this moment, the pair had a good time at drinks and even shared a kiss goodbye.

Samantha decided to consult her friends about the lie. Some told her to cut him off immediately. Others suggested she give him a chance.

"Why don't you collect more data and see how you feel about the guy?" one of her friends advised.

"At the time, I really liked him. We had great chemistry. He was super attractive," Samantha said.

So, they met up again.

As he had previously travelled to Samantha's hometown in Washington, D.C., she suggested it was her turn to visit him in Maryland.

"He was like, 'Well, you don't have a car'. And I was like, 'I have a Metro card. And have you ever heard about Uber? Or do 36-year-olds not know about Uber?' He was like, 'Oh, I have a surprise for you. Be ready at seven.'"

He then picked Samantha up in a car and took her to a fancy restaurant in D.C.

Flattered at the romantic gesture, Samantha was immediately infatuated.

And the surprises didn't end there.

"This man proceeds to say, 'Oh, I have to work in Arlington tomorrow, so I decided to spend the night in D.C., so I don't have to travel all the way from Maryland to Arlington for work at 6am tomorrow morning. What he didn't do was ask me to stay over with him. He's just that good, he made me think it was my decision."

When dinner ended, Samantha went with him back to his hotel. One thing led to another, and she woke up on an emotional "high", thinking she had met 'the one'.

"He's texting me, I'm like, we're getting married! But then I'm sitting there and I'm thinking really hard about it. And where he lives in Maryland is like 30 minutes for me, and Arlington is like 20 minutes for me. And I don't understand logically why someone would get a hotel in the city to not have to drive an extra 20 minutes in the morning. Something's not adding up."

Samantha had a sinking feeling in her gut that something was wrong. "My women's intuition knew something was off. I start thinking, the only reason I wouldn't want someone to come to my house would be if I was still living with my wife."

This notion, says Samantha, "activated the crazy in [her]", and she took a drastic step.

"I go to the internet and I pay for a background check — $25. Highly recommend doing that. I should have done it way back. And I find every single thing about this man. His entire family, every address he's lived in since his college dorm, every traffic citation he's ever gotten, every piece of dirt on this man."

However, one thing Samantha didn't find was divorce papers.

"I start freaking out. I'm like, why are there no divorce papers? Could they be sealed? Are divorce papers even public record? I've never been divorced."

Deciding to investigate further, Samantha called the Maryland County Court System to ask if they had any divorce records, sealed or otherwise, under his name — no dice.

She then called a family friend who is a lawyer, who confirmed that to get a divorce, it had to be filed in the state in which you were living.

"I had both their names on the lease of their home address for my background check. I knew they both lived in the state of Maryland since 2012. If they had gotten a divorce, it would be in the Maryland court system."

The takeaway? This man was still married.

Samantha posted in a Facebook group called 'Are we dating the same guy D.C.', posted his name and image, shared that he had lied about his age ‚ and that something felt "suss".

"I tell the whole hotel story and ask anyone if they know anything."

Within an hour, Samantha's post had received hundreds of comments. But one in particular that stood out.

It read: Hi, I'm the wife. Call me.

"The first thing I say is, 'I'm so sorry. I'm sleeping with your husband,'" Samantha shared. "And she proceeds to tell me the craziest story I've ever heard in my entire life."

Her husband, it seemed, had cheated on her "hundreds of times with at least 20 different women".

"They still live in the same house, so my intuition was right, but in separate bedrooms, and they're not together. They're technically separated. I asked why they weren't divorced yet, and she said he doesn't want to get divorced."

The wife also already knew about Samantha.

"She said he told her that he was going on a date with me, and he even recapped it after. Not only that, but he was literally talking s**t about me. He told her I was crazy and I talked too much, Arguably true, but screw you."

And it just keeps getting wilder. The wife also claimed that, in the week Samantha and her husband had gone on two of their dates, he had also slept with three other women.

"For the last eight years, he's been sleeping with one woman in particular, which is actually what his 'job' in Arlington was, and they first started sleeping together when she was 19 years old, and he would sneak into her parents' house to hook up with her."

Samantha went on to describe the man as "incredibly abusive, controlling and manipulative", saying the experience had left her feeling "naive".

"I felt really guilty and really dumb. How could I let myself be in that position? Honestly, I felt really scared; I was in a room with this man in private, and now hearing that he has done all of these things. I put myself in a really dangerous situation, and I don't want anyone else to put themselves in a situation like that. I could have gotten really hurt."

She was so shaken by the ordeal that she decided to take a break from the dating apps — after reporting the man's Hinge account, that is.

"My intention with this is to protect other women," she finished the video. "As funny as this is — it's a crazy ride — it's also a story about trusting your gut and trusting your intuition. Women's intuition is never wrong, and we will always find out. If something feels off, it is… Get out at the first red flag. Do not give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

"Remember you are smart, you have agency, and you can get out of situations like this."

Mamamia has reached out to Samantha for comment.

Feature Image: TikTok/@samantha.talks.