The danger of getting scammed while dating online can be daunting — but don’t give up. You can safely use dating apps to find love if you’re cautious and understand the signs of online dating scams. In this scam, the fraudster claims to be sick, injured, or in jail to prey on your empathy and ask for money. According to the Federal Trade Commission, these are some of the most common lies told by online dating scammers, with nearly one-quarter of romance scams involving one of these stories. Some focus group participants, particularly those living in rural areas, reported mixed experiences with niche dating platforms such as DateMyAge, Just Senior Singles and Single50. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly dating site, eharmony may not be the right fit.

See How Top Platforms Compare For Ease Of Use, Value And Meaningful Connections

If someone says they love you after a few chats or wants to make big plans right away, slow down. If the first thing they do is send you a link, you can assume they’re not there to talk but to scam. If you send money once, you’re marked as a willing participant.

In just nine months in 2025, consumers reported losing $1.16 billion to romance scams. The losses exceeded what victims reported in several other scams, including job scams with 110,653 complaints and $518.2 million in reported losses in the first nine months of 2025. Romance scams ‒ where experts say crooks target you and your money through online dating profiles ‒ have been around for more than 15 years. What’s new, experts say, is how increasingly sinister and unrelenting these scams have become in the past five years or so. During our Match testing, we discovered why it continues to dominate senior online dating.

Victims of rape who met their attacker on a dating app and went to the hospital after an assault also reported assaults that were more violent, according to the study. Of the nearly 3,500 people that participated in the study, a third of these victims were strangled and about a quarter had breast injuries. Another survey by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that three in four survey respondents had been subjected to sexual violence facilitated via dating apps in the last five years. Romance scams often involve a person (the scammer) using dating apps or virtual relationships to ask unsuspecting users for money. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans fall for this type of scam, with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reporting $672 million in losses from it in a single year.

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About 39 percent of U.S. adults have used a dating site at some point in their lives, a 2025 survey from research firm SSRS found. All of the dating sites in this review offer free versions, but Match is the only platform that consistently provides a trial period for its paid plans. This is a perk for serious daters who want to try out paid features before committing.

This is one of the oldest tricks and still one of the most effective. After a few days or weeks of conversation, they drop a crisis into the story, often with a subtle sense of shame or vulnerability. Perhaps they just need a small loan to cover a temporary expense.

In 2022, the app launched a Play Safe campaign, aimed at teaching users how to use it responsibly and make use of features such as mute and block, as well as to flag concerning behaviour. With the new year underway and spring just around the corner, you might be tidying up your kitchen and coming across boxes and cans of food past – what you assume are – their expiration dates. Are they still safe to eat, or should you throw them away just to be safe? Let’s take a closer look at food product dating and what these labels really mean. If you clicked strange links, downloaded files, or logged into a suspicious site, run a full antivirus or malware scan on your device. This can help detect and remove spyware or tracking tools that scammers may have installed.

The more emotionally invested you feel, the less likely you are to question their behavior later. The goal is to lower your defenses before your judgment has time to intervene. You’re not being tricked in a single moment; you’re being steered, slowly, into a position where saying yes feels easier than stopping to question what’s happening.

They Want To Move The Conversation Off The Dating Site Or App

The sooner you act, the better your chances of stopping the scammer and protecting yourself. Many newer apps offer CupidFeel built-in verification features that require users to confirm their identity through live selfies. These features add a layer of credibility to your profile, help protect against impersonation, and give you more confidence when chatting with the type of person you’re looking for.

Some online dating sites are built entirely by scammers, or are overrun with fake profiles and bots to attract identity theft targets. These fake dating apps may ask for private details during sign-up, like your credit card info, or bombard you with messages from bots that try to lure you into scams. If you provide information, a criminal may sell it on the dark web or use it to steal your identity. Because online dating scammers set up fake profiles using stolen information and photos from real people, they often have no digital footprint.

The emotional connection keeps you hooked even as red flags appear. That said, advanced AI tools have made it possible to fake someone’s face or voice, even during live video calls. It’s already happened in some scams, and while it’s not widespread in dating yet, it’s only going to get easier and more sophisticated. If someone tells you you’re “the one” by day three or starts using pet names within a few messages, it’s not romance. Many scammers follow tested scripts designed to build emotional momentum quickly.

Staying safe while dating online isn’t about being overly cautious. It’s about taking small, smart steps that protect your privacy and keep you in control. From how you set up your profile to how you meet in person, these practical tips can help you date confidently and safely. It’s a new year again and the chances of meeting someone new are high. Here are some new year tips to assist your online dating experience to ensure you are safe online dating. The app is particularly relevant for people who, after decades of career-building and family responsibilities, are ready to invest in their personal lives again.

Both can learn a lot from your browsing and social media usage. But you can take charge of how much information third-parties can access. Both web browsers and mobile operating systems have settings to protect your privacy online.

• Every profile photo and description underwent manual review before going live, a process that took 24 hours but eliminated obvious fake accounts we encountered on other platforms.
• Other times, the link installs malware on your device, allowing the scammer to steal credentials or access messages.
• Thus, you must know and apply a few basic tips to stay safe while online dating.
• These include Grindr, Tinder, and OkCupid, which ran afoul of the GDPR in 2020.

In June, I wrote that upstart country music singer Cooper Alan, who built a following on social media, disclosed that one fan lost $5,000 to scammers who were impersonating him. Reports of Aniston being impersonated in a deepfake scam surfaced in July 2025. Bullock warned fans early last year about social media scammers who are impersonating her.

Below are some essential online dating tips for a safer online dating experience. However, it was not the first time a dating app broke privacy laws. In 2016, the dating app Happn shared sensitive data with an American marketing firm. In 2018, Grindr did the unspeakable when they released the HIV status and physical locations of their users and shared this till 2020.

Multiple businesses are often registered at the same address. Moody’s research found, for example, that a single residence in South Africa registered around 61,000 companies. An address in Spain registered more than 8,000 Chinese-named businesses. “Sad stories are usually scam stories,” according to an earlier FTC alert on romance scams. No criminal background checks mean verified age doesn’t guarantee member safety. You can join and use the site for dating or just a social network.

This is very different from a standard phishing email; it’s a conversation that seems genuine and even intimate. By the time the scam becomes obvious, many victims are already emotionally involved and financially exposed. If you need to do any one of these, use a Virtual Private Network or VPN. A VPN will protect any of the data you send over an unsecured network via real-time encryption.

It is better to refuse to help them to be on the safe side. If you match with an account and they immediately send you a file to download, we advise you not to open it. These scammers often embed malware and keylogging viruses in files and send them to unsuspecting victims. As much as you may want to increase your chances of finding a match by providing details about yourself, you are not advised to give out too much.

Avoid including your last name, workplace, school, or any information that can lead strangers to your real-world identity. While profile pictures are meant to showcase your physical appearance, make sure they do not reveal your home, license plate, or neighborhood landmarks. These scams are becoming more sophisticated, making them harder to spot at first. Protecting yourself means staying aware, controlling what you share, and trusting your instincts.