How to spot fake dating profiles

Table of Contents

They only have a few images
Their profile miss important details
It feels like chatting with a robot
They ask for personal info
They find excuses to avoid calls
They try to get you out of the platform
They are too flirty or move too fast

You’ve been chatting for a few days with this person. Everything seemed fine at first, but now you’re starting to have doubts. You’ve heard of scam profiles whose only aim is to steal people’s money and you’re now wondering whether this is your case. So, how can you figure this out?

No worries, we're coming to the rescue! Here is our list of tips to spot fake dating profiles.

They only have a few images

Most fake profiles use other people’s images. They steal someone else's identity to create a fictitious person. This is why their profiles often have one photo or only a few. A good way to check whether you’re talking to a real person is by asking them to send you pictures.

If you don’t want to be too straightforward but are now doubting the person on the other side of the screen, you can use Google to your advantage. Go on the ‘search by image' feature and try to see whether your interlocutor is using photos belonging to a model or a public figure.

Their profile miss important details

Fake profiles tend to miss important details. An example? They often don’t have links to other social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. If the person you’re chatting to does have other profiles linked to his or her account, you may still want to spend some time double-checking whether they seem legit or not.

Check how many connections they have and whether they seem active. Many scammers don’t waste their time trying to create a fake identity for each of their social media platforms. This means that their Facebook, Instagram, our Twitter profiles will have an unusually low number of friends and no posts.

But these are often not the only missing information. Fake profiles tend to leave entire sections blank. They may have only filled up basic info such as name, age, and location.

It feels like chatting with a robot

Does your conversation with this person feel artificial? Robotic? Do you often find grammatical mistakes in the answers? That's probably because you're chatting with a chatbot. If you're now doubting whether this is your case, try to ask a deep question, such as whether they value spirituality. Chatbots will often give you non-logical answers, making it easy for you to spot a fake profile.

They ask for personal info

Most fake profiles will soon try to get your contact information, specifically the ones related to your finances. They may tell you they are in trouble, asking you for your card credit details and promising you they will send you all the money back as soon as possible. No matter what, never disclose this type of information on the internet!

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They find excuses to avoid calls

Another easy way to spot a fake profile is by asking to plan a chat or video call. Most of them will find absurd stories to avoid this. A very common one is claiming they are abroad. The real reason is that they do not look like the person in the profile or that you’re actually talking to a chatbot.

They try to get you out of the platform

Fake profiles will often ask for your phone number or email to move the conversation outside of the platform. Most dating websites and apps, in fact, will remove their profiles as soon as they find out they are fake.

They are too flirty or move too fast

Is the person you’re chatting to way too flirty considering that you’ve never seen each other in person? Are they constantly complimenting you and dropping sexual hints? This is their way to try to flatter you to win your interest.

Another common characteristic shared by many of these profiles is their straightforwardness. Most of them will immediately declare their love for you in the hope to win your trust through praises.

Being scammed is always traumatizing. Especially if you’ve spent lots of time communicating with someone who turned out to be a fake profile. In these situations, we often tend to blame ourselves, wondering how we let these people fool us. The truth is that sometimes it is extremely difficult to tell the difference between a fake profile and a real one, but following the tips above will surely give you an advantage over the scammer on the other side of the screen.

Remember, fake profiles are unfortunately quite common, so always keep your eyes open!

How to spot fake dating profiles