Soulmate or scammer?

Online dating is an amazing, convenient way to meet like-minded humans who share the same interests and desires. The flip side is that con artists who aren't genuine are always trying to find ways to infiltrate the apps and take advantage of well-meaning, vulnerable people. Their goal? Usually money. Sometimes darker things.

As HUD App's Online Content Moderator, I'm a customer service rep with a particular set of skills... And spotting scammers is something my team and I are really good at, because it's our job to help weed them out and keep our app a safe, enjoyable place for our users to have a good time and meet real people. Often scammers will start off seeming genuine, but then things will take a turn for the worse. And if you're not totally switched on to their tricks, they will try to extort you.

So how can you spot the scammers, and how can you keep yourself safe and actually have a good time on the dating apps?

Things to look out for

Here are some of the things I've learned in my years working in customer service and content moderation at HUD App. While some of this advice is specific to HUD App, it's generally applicable to all online dating apps - because at HUD App we want you to be safe everywhere you're meeting people. Here are some signs to look out for:

• If your match is quite keen early in the conversation (even in their first few messages) to take the conversation off the dating app platform, this can often be a sign of a scammer. Moving conversations from one platform to another makes it harder to track scammers, and doing it so quickly is a telling warning sign.
• Odd language or phrases, or oddly formal language, can also be a sign of a scammer. (Do they call you "dear" in every other sentence or insert your name at odd places? Yeah, that's not right.)
• Sending you generic, impersonal messages with their contact details is a red flag.
• Sextortion can also be a big problem. If a profile is asking for nudes extremely early in a conversation, this can be a sign of a scammer.

So how can you protect yourself?

Besides using your common sense, here are some things we recommend you can do to help protect yourself from scammers.

• It’s always a good idea to have photos on your profile that aren’t linked to any of your other social media profiles, as this can help keep your other socials private.
• Stick to communicating on the app, as there are built-in safeguards to protect your privacy.
• Don't give your contact information out to someone until you're totally sure they're safe to give it to.
• On HUD App, always look for a verified profile. Verified means that the HUD App team has confirmed that the person in the photos is the actual person you are talking to, so you can feel secure knowing they are who they say they are.

How is HUD App working to keep me safe?

We're a team of human moderators and we work round-the-clock to keep our users safe. We have inbuilt tools and tech that stops a lot of the scammers in their tracks, and we move fast when a user reports a scammer who sneaked through. Here is a bit more important info that can help as you navigate HUD App.

• The moderation team is there to help you, and can investigate profiles deeper - if you’re concerned, report the profile and we can make sure the platform is staying safe.
• Our team has found AI really helpful as it allows us to identify and remove more scammers, and more quickly. We find it can pick up specific trends and identify a potential scammer earlier.
• Using AI along with our human moderators helps us be really precise in what is and isn’t flagged, and helps minimise false positives.

And maybe the most shrewd piece of advice I can offer is this: The old saying is true - if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!