Although we adore dating sites and all the ways they help their users create long-lasting relationships, we are also not blind to the fact that many people and bots use dating sites as a way to scam other users who are online.
But, no matter how hard they might try, there always seem to be a few profiles that slip through the cracks or appear to be just human enough to pass inspection.
Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as you might think to find a scammer when you’re in the thick of it, and you’re online dating.
Many computers, bots, and scammers know how to slip through the cracks and look like anyone on a dating site.
But there are a few ways to detect and avoid any scammers and bots you might encounter when you’re online dating.
Today, we want to help you in your online dating journey by letting you know all of the best ways to detect whether a person is a scammer, a bot, or someone you might not want to be around. Not only is this for your safety, but it’s also because no one wants to waste their time on a dating site when they could find love in their life instead.
If you’re curious about how to detect a scammer online, keep reading!
1. Look at Their Profile
If you’ve read any of our blogs about online dating, you’ll know how important it is to create an in-depth profile and to try to fill it out as much as possible. We don’t suggest that just to be annoying or to make you take more time out of your day. We recommend doing this because it will help your profile not look like a bot’s.
If you’re on a dating site and you match someone who doesn’t have any information in their profile, or their information is minimal and strange, like: “Male, looking for love. 6’2”,” that’s a red flag.
Although not everyone’s profile will look perfect when they’re online, if you run into one that doesn’t seem real or human in the way it sounds, you might want to avoid it and not waste your time on it.
2. Double Check Their Photos
You know the saying, ‘If it’s too good to be true, it probably is”? Take that to heart when you’re on a dating site.
While there are some very attractive people online, if you’re swiping on someone’s profile pictures and they have model photos online, or they only have one photo, and it’s low quality, you might want to avoid that profile.
There’s also a way to scan the photos that a person puts on their dating site and see where they originally came from. More often than not, honest people who use dating sites reuse their social media pictures, so when you look for their original photos, you’ll see their profiles. But if you find a bot or scammer’s photo, you’ll likely find an actual model’s photo as the origin.
Another thing to note is that adding just one photo to your profile isn’t necessarily bad, but it could be a red flag if the photo is low-quality or suspicious.
3. If They Sound Strange
The amazing truth that people are often presented with when they’re on a dating site is that they are going to talk to all kinds of different people from many different backgrounds.
Most dating sites open up a whole new world of people you can meet while you’re online.
That being said, if you’re talking to someone you’ve matched with and they sound strange or their messages don’t make sense, you might want to be on your guard. There’s a difference between getting lost in translation and having a computer program your words.
It’s always good to double-check before you write someone off, but if you notice that the person you’re talking to sounds suspicious, you might put your guard up.
4. Trust Your Instinct
While we’ve presented you with several steps that you can and should take to avoid any potential scams when you’re online, the most important thing we can tell you is to trust your gut when dealing with things of this nature.
Even though there is always a chance for user error, more often than not, you know the situation much more than you think you do. If your radar is going off and you’re suspicious about a profile, you’re allowed to trust your gut and avoid them.
