Before You Date Online, Learn to Spot a Scammer

Here’s how smart daters weed out the duds…

Photo by satria eleazar on Unsplash

I met my first husband online but by the time I became single again, the whole scene had changed. Swiping culture is intimidating! Then, I read stories about scammers on dating apps.

We always think we won’t be stupid enough to fall for a scam, but romance scams are increasing and people are losing thousands. $143 million was lost in 2019 to romance scams (US Federal Trade Commission). According to the 2018 UK fraud statistics, 63% of scam victims are women. Scams are getting harder to spot.

I decided not to risk it. I avoided the apps and dated men I met in person only.

Then I found a savvy group of single ladies who have the swiping-thing sorted. They spot scammers in seconds, weed out the weirdos, and have been on some fantastic dates with genuine men. Some of them even found love online.

How to spot a romance scam

If you’re like I was and worried about the scammers, here are their top three tips:

1. The Profile Stealer

Found a handsome army man? You might want to run their photo through a reverse image searching tool.