Dating apps have exploded in popularity since their creation in the early 1990s. Millions of people use them as a solution to finding love in a world where the average person is becoming increasingly isolated.
However, using dating apps comes with some risks. They can expose users to people with bad intentions, including scammers, stalkers, and manipulators.
That doesn’t mean you should avoid dating apps altogether—but it does mean using them responsibly and taking the right precautions to stay safe. The tips below can help you do just that.
Common risks of using dating apps
Dating apps can be a great way to meet new people—but it’s important to stay aware of potential issues they can bring.
Data privacy concerns
Dating apps are often criticized for being too data-hungry. They process and store extremely sensitive personal information.
This includes:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Location data
- Photos
- Occupation
- Interests and preferences
- Contact information
- Sexual orientation
- Lifestyle details
Many dating apps share or sell this data to third parties—raising serious privacy concerns.
Location tracking
Many dating apps find nearby matches through geolocation, but vulnerabilities were found within several major dating apps that illustrate how this data can be used to find your exact whereabouts.
Although these vulnerabilities have been fixed, they highlight the risk of letting a dating app track your location—a determined stalker could use location data to triangulate someone’s whereabouts, especially if the app shares precise distances.
Online scams
Dating apps are also used to pull off various types of scams, the most common of which are romance scams that involve fake profiles.
Romance scams
Romance scams are one of the most financially and emotionally destructive scams that you can fall victim to. These typically involve a scammer creating a fake profile, pretending to build a relationship with you, and then leveraging the relationship to ask for money.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the most common lie they tell is that they or someone close to them is having an emergency and needs help. This creates a sense of urgency, which is a common tactic used in many other scam types as well.
Fake profiles
Learning how to spot a fake (catfish) profile is the best way to avoid online dating app scams. Look for the following red flags when speaking with someone online.
- They’re using limited or overly polished photos: Look for images taken from stock image sites or model profiles. Reverse image search photographs that you are suspicious of.
- They avoid video chats or in-person meetings: Scammers make constant excuses to stay anonymous.
- It’s too good to be true: Scammers pretend to be extremely attractive, successful, and instantly interested in a serious relationship to build a fast, fake connection.
- They have fast emotional escalation: Expressing love or deep feelings too quickly is always a red flag.
- They provide inconsistent or vague answers: Be suspicious of people who dodge specific questions or provide contradictory details in their answers. This is also true if their profiles aren’t filled out or are vague.
- There are quick requests to move off the app: Be skeptical of people who want to move the conversation to external platforms with less moderation.
- They mention financial problems: Be very skeptical of people who immediately mention financial problems or ask for money.
- You receive links to external websites: Scammers often send links to fake adult content pages or phishing sites.
How dating apps protect users and where they fail
Dating apps have a reputation for aggressively harvesting data, being unsafe, and hosting large numbers of fake profiles.
To counter this negative image and improve user safety, many dating apps have rolled out new policies promising better privacy, tighter security, and fewer fake profiles.
But while these updates sound reassuring on paper and may genuinely improve some aspects of your online security, they still leave a lot to be desired.
Verification and background checks: Do they really work?
Some dating apps have introduced optional background checks to help users identify potential red flags, such as past criminal records. These can be helpful in quickly filtering out suspicious users.
However, these checks often rely on limited databases and may not capture all of the relevant information. In other words, they might miss key information—like offenses in other jurisdictions—or give a false sense of security.
End-to-end encryption: Do dating apps keep your chats secure?
Most dating apps encrypt messages in transit but don’t offer true end-to-end encryption. This means your messages could still be intercepted or accessed by third parties, including the app’s own servers.
Reporting and blocking features: How effective are they?
Dating apps typically have both blocking and reporting features, but they’re only effective if the company follows through with reviewing user accounts and banning threats. If the app itself is lax on dealing with reports, then the report itself is essentially useless.
Making matters worse, it’s easier than many people think to circumvent blocks on many social media apps. For example, there have been cases of stalkers creating new accounts to mirror a specific person’s interests and hobbies to lure them into responding.
Best practices for staying safe on dating apps
Staying safe requires a combination of vigilance, skepticism, and the right cybersecurity tools. None of these steps is particularly complex; you just need to follow through with them.
Create a secure profile: What to share and what to hide
Follow these tips when making a dating profile to maximize your privacy:
- Use a unique username: Avoid using the same handle as your social media accounts to prevent easy cross-referencing.
- Limit personal details: Refrain from sharing your full name, workplace, or specific location in your profile.
- Be cautious with photos: Avoid uploading images that reveal identifiable landmarks or personal information.
Avoid social media links: Why less is more
Linking your dating profile to social media accounts can expose you to privacy risks. Scammers may use this information to gather more details about you or to impersonate you.
Besides scammers, a stalker could use it to find you through your dating profile and begin combing through your social media accounts.
Set up location privacy: How to prevent tracking
Follow these steps to prevent someone from finding your location through your dating profile.
- Disable precise location sharing: Adjust your app settings to prevent sharing your exact location.
- Use approximate location features: Some apps allow you to share a general area instead of a specific location.
- Be cautious with check-ins: Avoid posting real-time updates of your whereabouts.
Keep conversations on the app: When to move to other platforms
You should always keep communications on the dating app until you’ve established trust. Dating apps often have safety features and moderation that external platforms lack, such as an easy reporting feature and AI-based scam detection. Moving to other platforms too soon can increase the risk of phishing, stalking, or harassment.
How to use a burner phone for online dating
Using a secondary phone number can protect your primary contact information. You can easily install a free texting app or use a burner phone with a dating app. This way, when you’re ready to move the conversation off-platform, you’re still maintaining some anonymity. Just be careful not to associate too many personal details with your burner number.
VPNs and secure browsing: When to use extra protection
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet connection in transit. This prevents a third-party source, like a hacker, from intercepting your conversations.
ExpressVPN’s Threat Manager also blocks known trackers and malicious sites, helping stop dating apps and linked websites from sharing your personal data. However, be aware that some dating apps may have restrictions or policies regarding VPN usage.
What to do if you encounter a threat or scam
Whenever you think you’ve come into contact with a scammer, cease all communications with them immediately. They can’t scam you or continue to scam you if they have no way to reach out to you.
Steps to take if you’ve been scammed
If you’ve been scammed, stay calm and take the following steps to secure your account and your identity to minimize the damage the scam can cause.
- Cease all contact with the scammer: Do not engage with the scammer in any way. Even accusing them of scamming you is a form of interaction they can prey on.
- Rotate your passwords: If you gave away personal information to the scammer, use a password manager like ExpressVPN Keys to change the passwords for your dating apps and any other account they’re connected to.
- Report their profile to the dating app: This way, the dating app can determine if they’re a threat and ban them from the platform.
- Report the incident to the authorities: Report the scam to your local law enforcement so they can investigate it. Most governments also have a federal scam reporting website, such as IC3 in the U.S. or Action Fraud in the U.K.
- Monitor your credit: The scammer may attempt to commit fraud using your identity. If you’re in the U.S., using a service such as ExpressVPN’s Identity Defender can help you uncover any such attempts.
- Freeze your credit in case of identity theft: If someone uses your identity to commit fraud, you can reach out to one of the three major credit companies to freeze your credit. This makes it harder for someone to open a new account in your name.
Romance scams can be emotionally devastating, so looking after your mental well-being is just as important as protecting your data.
- Don’t blame yourself: If you fell victim to a scam, it’s important not to blame yourself. Anyone can fall victim to a romance scam, regardless of age, gender, or status. The scammer is the one who did wrong, not you.
- Talk to someone you trust: Isolating yourself can deepen the feelings of embarrassment, guilt, or unease. If possible, talk about the situation with a trusted family member, friend, or therapist.
How to report a suspicious profile
Reporting someone on a dating app is simple. All you need to do is:
- Find the report button on your app: This will vary slightly per app, but in general, you can report someone from their profile or right from the messages, normally right next to the block function.
- Choose the reason you’re reporting the person: Typically, you’ll be given a choice from a list of reasons why you’re reporting them. You may be required to provide additional details, like the specific behaviors or activities that led you to think they’re a threat.
- Submit the report: After that, click the submit report button or your app’s equivalent option.
- Block them: Once the report is submitted, you should block that user to prevent them from contacting you in the future. Optionally, delete the app.
FAQ: Common questions about dating app safety
Can someone track my location through a dating app?
It’s possible, yes. Many dating apps use locational data to help users match. While it’s hard to find someone’s specific location with this alone, an online predator might use distance data to triangulate your location and narrow it down to a small region.
How can you tell if a profile is fake?
Scammers will typically create profiles with vague bios and a limited number of pictures. They will be reluctant to meet or video chat and may request money or encourage you to click on a link or add them on a third-party site.
Should I use my real name on a dating app?
It’s nuanced. It’s okay to use your first name on a dating app to foster a sense of authenticity and trust, but this technically exposes you to more risk than simply using an alias, especially if your name is not a common one. That said, you should avoid sharing your full name, as this can lead to privacy risks or identity theft.
What’s the best way to end a conversation with a suspicious user?
If someone is raising red flags in a conversation, the best thing to do is simply block them and move on. The majority of dating apps offer simple in-conversation solutions to block someone you’re talking to. If they’re violating the app’s terms of service or you think it’s a scam, you should also report them.
Can you trust dating apps?
Not always. While some apps are improving their privacy practices, many still share user data and have unresolved security flaws.
Which is the safest dating app?
There isn’t one that’s definitively the safest, but apps with strong verification and privacy tools tend to be more trustworthy. That said, you should still be careful while using any dating app.
How do dating apps compare to social media in privacy protection?
Dating apps typically collect, process, and store more personal information than most social media sites. They log details about users’ location, behavior, preferences, and habits.
Besides data collection, dating apps don’t often use many of the security features that social media companies offer. This includes encryption, MFA options, and finer control over data collection and tracking.
