How To Spot Fakes On Dating Sites

I recently encountered a scammer on a dating site and decided to have a little fun. Usually, when I spot fakes on dating sites, I ignore them, but not this time.

Fake profiles, scammers, and bots are easy to identify on dating sites. I discuss how to protect yourself in this previous blog post; How To Spot Scammers On Dating Sites And Protect Yourself.

It's easy to spot fakes on dating sites (at least for me).  Take the examples below; the first is a fake profile and the second is an initial message from a bot with a phony email address.  

Online dating is great, but it has an issue with scammers. Some dating sites have more than others. A fake scammer or bot generally has several of these signs:

• The profile has typically one photo, and the woman is gorgeous.
• The photo can be of a woman in a sexually suggestive pose or outfit.
• Empty profile self-summary.
• Inconsistencies throughout the profile. Ex: A photo of a 25-year-old model but the age on the profile is 62 years old.
• Strong sexual language written on the profile.
• Links to an external website or email address in the written section of the profile.
• After you send a message, the "woman" instantly responds with a generic message.
• Noticeable bad grammar in messages.

Take this conversation below from POF.  I received a message which seemed normal, so I checked her profile and noticed her written age as 57, but she looked like she was in her mid 20's. Her profile was also blank and had only one photo.  

I know it's a fake woman, scammer, a bot or whatever. I respond and instantly get a link to an external site with a username to look up. Yeah, no thanks. Within minutes the profile vanishes (probably flagged by POF somehow and removed).

A Conversation with a scammer on Twoo

I can easily spot fakes on dating sites, but I recently encountered a "woman" on the dating app Twoo. Initially, it looked like the woman was a legitimate female. Her profile had several photos with a well-written bio; most fakes I encounter have a single picture of a scantily clad lady and little to nothing in the written section of the profile.  

The screenshot below shows the conversation started well enough. I immediately ask where the woman's location so I can ensure she's geographically desirable.

The woman tells me she is in California (which her profile shows) so the warning alarm goes off. Seriously, why would someone tell you they are in California when their profile shows they are in California. An hour later I ask what part of California she's in and her answer is Alaska. 

Alaska? In one hour the woman went from California to another state. I know I'm talking with a real person (not a bot), but probably someone from another country. Usually, I end the conversation, report them to the site as spam, and that's that.

Today is different. I decide I want to have fun with this and see how far I can press the conversation with the woman. I ask why she said California after she told me Alaska. You see her response is full of misspelled words which is a telltale sign of a scammer.

The next thing I ask is what part of California she is located. Her response says it all.

The woman tells me she is from Goegia in California. Goegia? WTF? Is this a made up word?  I quickly checked Google for "Goegia, California" confirming it's a phony city. Two can play that game! 

I decided to create a word and use it in my response.  I go to the website https://www.wordgenerator.net/ and use their random word generator.  I click the "Generate Fake Words" button and get the word "Pruvia."  

I take the fake word I created, Pruvia, and use it in my message. Asking the woman if her hometown of Goegia is near Pruvia. And she answers Yes! Good grief.  

YES? You are kidding me. Now it's on! I create three more fake words which you see below; Bumola, Tomash, and Sorson.  

These three words are meaningless. I take the three words and use them in my conversation. See if you find the three words in the messages below.

I'm looking for more things to find out about this fake person. I want to know where in Alaska she was, and what the local time is so I can check online. The last message I received is that it was 6 PM and that was that; I never received another message from her.

I didn't hear from the fake after that, and by the next day, the profile was removed from the website and probably flagged and deleted. Who knows. I was a little bummed because I had several more made up words I wanted to use in the conversation.

Final Thoughts

Online dating scams are labeled as a huge problem right now. It's easy believing it's true by how often you see stories like this:

I'm on dating sites constantly for this blog, and yes, there are fakes, but they are easy to identify. This post was in jest because I felt like sharing my encounter with a fake spammer using made-up words. I shared this experience with friends, and we all laughed our asses off. Thus this post.

On a serious note, I have been on dating sites off and on since 2007 and only encountered two people pretending to be in dire straits and ask for money. One was ten years ago on Match.com, and the other was a few years ago on POF. They got an instant nope.  

If anyone ever asks you for money, I suggest you do the same and protect yourself. 

Have you encountered a "person" who was a fake?  What are the signs you look for which help you spot fakes on dating sites?  Leave your comments below.