Using dating apps to find new relationships is more popular now than ever before. Some studies indicate that around 30 percent of the population has used a dating app at least once in their lives. Although dating apps can be extremely helpful in making new connections, they can also be a place for people to create scams easily. Let’s look into some of the most common scams you should look out for while using a dating app.
Money Scams
One of the easiest ways for someone to scam you is by asking for money. This is common because it’s hard to tell whether the person is scamming you or genuinely strapped for cash at the time. In this case, when someone asks you for money to help pay for something, they are most likely not using the money for what they claim to be.
Sending gift cards is an easy way to get scammed because it’s an untraceable form of payment, and you can use them for just about anything. Although you may feel more comfortable sending giftcards rather than cash, scammers will likely turn the giftcards in for cash anyway.
Dating or Scams
Dating scams, otherwise known as “romance scams,” are a large category of scams that apply to a variety of behaviors. This scam is most commonly done by someone building a seemingly real relationship with you just to get money. Most of the time, they request money for real-life problems, like car problems or sickness, and they make you believe you are the only one who can fix the problem.
Romance scams are becoming a huge problem, and lots of people are losing money by this dating scam. Although it’s hard to turn down someone you care about, it’s best to never send money to a romantic partner that you have not yet met in person.
Catfishing
One dating scam that has been extremely common for years is catfishing. With this scam, someone pretends to be a completely different person with a different name, life story, and a fake photo taken from the internet. Once they create their fictitious person, they build a fake relationship with someone while hiding their true identity.
How do you find out if someone’s catfishing? You can use tools such as PeopleFinders to look up information about a person. Usually, whatever dating app you’re using will have some basic information about someone, so from there, you can do a people search to determine if they are real or not.
Exchanging Personal Information
Eventually, most people start communicating differently once they find someone they are interested in. Typically, after awhile, phone numbers and more personal information are exchanged to your partner. However, it’s best to wait until you’ve spent time with this person before doing so.
Make sure you trust the person enough before giving them your phone number or inviting them over to your home.
Final Thoughts
While dating apps are great for finding new people, they can also be a place where you run into scams. Before using a dating app, you should be aware of these scams and how to avoid them. Using PeopleFinders and your background knowledge on scams, you can do your best to steer clear of them.
