Online dating safety: protect your identity, verify matches and spot scams
Industry / situation. Updated 2026-09-13. About 6 minutes to read.
Never send money, gift cards or cryptocurrency to anyone you have not met in person, no matter how real the relationship feels.
Most people you match with are who they say they are. The risks come from the few who are not: romance scammers after money, catfish using stolen photos, and people who use a dating profile to find where you live or work. You can cut all three risks without making dating miserable.
This guide gives you the order to do things in. Set up a separate phone number and email before you create a profile, strip identifying details out of your photos and bio, verify every match before you meet, and learn the handful of warning signs that show up in almost every romance scam.
Set up a dating identity before you make a profile
Your phone number and personal email are the two details that link a dating profile to everything else about you. Reverse phone lookup sites and people-search sites can turn a mobile number into a full name, home address and relatives in seconds.
Create a new email address or an email alias used only for dating apps. Do not reuse your work or main personal address.
Get a second number for the apps and for early texting. A cheap prepaid SIM or eSIM is the most reliable option, because some apps refuse internet (VoIP) numbers. In the US, Google Voice is a common free choice where apps accept it.
Sign up with that email and number, not with your Facebook, Instagram or Google login. A linked social login can expose your real name and friends list.
Give the app a first name or a nickname only. Leave surname, employer and school fields blank.
Use a unique password generated for this account and turn on two-factor authentication if the app offers it.
What not to put in your profile
Stalkers and scammers rarely need one big clue. They join small ones together. A photo in your work uniform plus your suburb plus your first name is often enough to find you on LinkedIn, and from there your full name and address.
Photos that appear anywhere else online, such as your LinkedIn headshot or Facebook profile picture. Anyone can reverse image search them back to your real accounts.
Photos taken at or in front of your home, your car with a visible number plate, your workplace, or your children's school.
Uniforms, name badges, lanyards, and team or club shirts that name a specific organisation.
Your exact job title and employer. A general field such as healthcare or teaching is enough.
Your Instagram or Snapchat handle, or your daily routine, such as the gym you use at 6am.
Before you upload a photo, run it through a reverse image search yourself. If it leads back to your other accounts, pick a different photo.
Verify a match before you share anything personal
Reverse image search their profile photos with Google Lens, TinEye or Bing Visual Search. Results showing the same face under a different name, or on a model, doctor or soldier's public page, mean the profile is fake.
Search their first name with the city and job they gave you. No trace at all is not proof of a scam, but it is a reason to go slowly.
Ask for a short live video call inside the app before you meet. Ask them to do something unscripted, such as wave, turn their head slowly or hold up today's date written on paper. Real-time face filters tend to glitch, and scammers tend to refuse.
Treat an in-app verified badge as one signal only. It shows that a selfie matched the profile photos. It does not confirm identity or intentions.
Keep chatting inside the app until you have met in person. Moving you to WhatsApp, Telegram or text early is a common scam step, because it takes you away from the app's reporting and scam detection.
Romance scam warning signs
Romance scams follow a script. The details change, but the shape does not: fast affection, a reason they cannot meet, then a request for money or an investment. The US Federal Trade Commission's rule is simple: never send money or gifts to someone you have not met in person.
They declare strong feelings within days and push for an exclusive relationship.
There is always a reason they cannot meet or video call: working on an oil rig, deployed overseas with the military, or a doctor with an international aid group.
They ask you to keep the relationship secret from friends and family.
A crisis appears: a medical bill, a customs fee, a plane ticket, or a frozen bank account.
They ask for payment by gift card, wire transfer, a money transfer app or cryptocurrency, which are all hard to reverse.
They offer to teach you cryptocurrency investing or show you a trading platform where your balance seems to grow. This is often called pig butchering, and the withdrawals never work.
They ask you to receive money or parcels and send them on, which can make you part of a money laundering chain.
Anyone who asks for money, gift cards or a crypto investment before you have met in person is a scammer, with no exceptions.
Meeting in person safely
Tell a friend who you are meeting, where and when, and send them a screenshot of the profile. Tinder's Share My Date feature and similar tools in other apps can send those plans for you.
Meet in a busy public place for the first date, such as a café or restaurant, not at your home or theirs.
Get yourself there and back. Do not accept a lift, and do not let them see which car is yours or walk you to your door.
Keep your phone charged and keep your drink in sight.
Agree a check-in time with your friend and a code word that means call me with an excuse to leave.
Do not give your home address until you have met several times and trust the person.
If something goes wrong
If you sent money, call your bank or card issuer straight away and ask them to stop or recall the payment. Speed matters more than anything else. Then report the profile inside the app, block the person, and keep screenshots of the messages.
Report the scam to the right place. In the US, use ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's ic3.gov. In Australia, report to Scamwatch and call IDCARE on 1800 595 160 for free support. In the UK, report to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040, or to Police Scotland on 101. In Canada, contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
If someone threatens to share intimate images of you, do not pay. Adults can use StopNCII.org, which fingerprints the image on your own device so partner platforms can block it without it being uploaded. In Australia, also report image-based abuse to the eSafety Commissioner.
Frequently asked questions
How can I tell if a dating profile is fake?
Reverse image search the photos first. Then look for a profile with very few photos, all professional quality, a job that keeps them overseas, and messages that feel scripted or avoid your questions. A refusal to do a short live video call is the strongest single sign.
Should I use my real name on dating apps?
Use your real first name or a nickname, and leave out your surname. Your first name alone is hard to search. Your first name plus employer, suburb and a photo used elsewhere is easy to search.
Can someone find my home address from my dating profile?
Yes, if the profile contains a phone number, a photo used on other accounts, or enough details to identify you. A people-search site can then show your address. Use a separate number, unique photos, and remove your listings from people-search sites.
Is a video call proof that a match is real?
It is good evidence but not proof. Live face-swap tools exist. Ask for something unscripted during the call, such as turning their head slowly or holding up a handwritten note, and be wary if the video is always too dark, frozen or cut short.
I already sent money to someone I met online. What now?
Stop sending money, even if they say one more fee will release your funds. Call your bank immediately, then report the profile in the app and the scam to your national scam reporting service. Ignore anyone who later offers to recover the money for a fee, because recovery scams target people who have already lost money.