Americans lost $1.3 billion to romance scams last year. Fake profiles, love bombers, and predators are on every dating app. This guide teaches you to spot them before it is too late.
Organized into 4 categories with actionable steps for each red flag. Backed by data from the FTC, FBI, and peer-reviewed research.
A profile with zero photos, a single blurry image, or only professional-looking shots is a classic sign of a fake or catfish profile. Real people share multiple casual photos from different contexts.
What to Do
Ask for a recent selfie or suggest a quick video call. If they refuse or make excuses, disengage immediately.
A profile that reads like a movie character — wealthy doctor, globe-trotting philanthropist, model-turned-CEO — with no specifics or verifiable details is likely fabricated. Scammers craft aspirational personas to lower your guard.
What to Do
Search their name and claimed profession online. Run a background check through Tea App to verify their identity.
Accounts created days ago with minimal activity often belong to scammers who cycle through profiles after being reported. Legitimate users typically have established accounts with engagement history.
What to Do
Ask how long they have been on the platform. Cross-reference their profile on other social media to check for consistency.
They say they live in your city but their profile shows a different location, or they claim to be local but cannot name basic landmarks, restaurants, or neighborhoods. Geographic inconsistencies are a hallmark of overseas scam operations.
What to Do
Ask casual local questions early in conversation. If their answers are vague or wrong, that is a major red flag.
A real person can share where they work (generally), what they studied, or where they grew up. Someone who dodges every personal question or gives only generic answers may be hiding their real identity.
What to Do
Pay attention to patterns of evasion. If they deflect more than two or three basic questions, stop investing your time.
Declaring love within days, sending constant messages, overwhelming you with compliments, and making future plans before you have even met. Research from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology links love bombing to narcissistic and abusive personality patterns.
What to Do
Slow the pace down deliberately. A healthy person will respect your boundaries. A love bomber will escalate pressure or become hostile.
They always have an excuse — bad camera, poor connection, traveling for work, too shy. In 2026, there is no legitimate reason someone cannot do a single video call. This is the number one indicator of catfishing.
What to Do
Make a video call a requirement before meeting in person. Use Tea App's catfish detection to reverse image search their photos.
Their age, job, hometown, or family details change between conversations. They forget things they told you or contradict previous statements. Scammers running multiple targets often lose track of their fabricated stories.
What to Do
Keep mental notes of key details they share. If you catch inconsistencies, ask directly. Their reaction will tell you everything.
Insisting you switch to WhatsApp, Telegram, or text within the first few messages. Scammers want to move off dating platforms to avoid detection and reporting systems. Once off-platform, there is no safety net.
What to Do
Stay on the dating platform until you are comfortable. Anyone who pressures you to leave quickly does not have your interests in mind.
Sending unsolicited sexual content or steering every conversation toward sex before establishing any real connection. This behavior indicates they view you as an object, not a person, and is a predictor of boundary violations in person.
What to Do
Set a clear boundary once. If they violate it again, block and report. You do not owe anyone a second chance on this.
Dictating when you should be available, getting upset if you do not respond immediately, wanting to know your schedule, or telling you what to wear. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, controlling behavior in early dating is the strongest predictor of future abuse.
What to Do
Recognize that control disguised as care is still control. End communication and document any threatening messages.
Subtly discouraging you from telling friends about them, suggesting your family would not understand your connection, or competing with your existing relationships for your time and attention.
What to Do
Always tell at least one trusted person about anyone you are dating online. If someone discourages this, it is because they fear accountability.
Responding with rage, accusations, or emotional manipulation when you ask reasonable questions about their identity, past, or intentions. Phrases like 'if you really trusted me' or 'I thought we had something special' are designed to shut down your critical thinking.
What to Do
Healthy people welcome questions because they have nothing to hide. Anger at normal curiosity is a disqualifying red flag.
Acting possessive about who you talk to, checking up on your online activity, or expressing jealousy over other matches — all before you have even established a relationship. This is not flattering. It is a warning sign of future controlling abuse.
What to Do
Do not rationalize jealousy as a sign of caring. Tell them directly it is inappropriate. If it continues, end contact.
You say you are busy, they keep messaging. You say you are not ready to meet, they pressure you. You ask them to stop a behavior, they do it again. Boundary violations escalate. If someone ignores small boundaries, they will ignore big ones.
What to Do
The first boundary violation is a test. The second is a pattern. Block, report, and do not look back.
The classic romance scam play: a sudden emergency, medical bill, stranded abroad, or business opportunity. The FTC reports that romance scams cost Americans over $1.3 billion annually. The average victim loses more than $10,000 before realizing the deception.
What to Do
Never send money to someone you have not met in person. No exceptions. Report the profile to the platform and to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
They casually mention a cryptocurrency platform, trading app, or investment opportunity that has made them wealthy. This is called a 'pig butchering' scam — they build trust before leading you to a fraudulent investment platform. The FBI reported $3.9 billion in crypto romance scam losses in 2023.
What to Do
Never invest money based on a recommendation from someone you met on a dating app. Report the profile immediately.
A sick child, a dying parent, a house fire, a stolen wallet while traveling. Scammers manufacture crises to exploit your empathy. These stories always escalate and always end with a request for financial help.
What to Do
Express sympathy but do not offer financial help. Suggest they contact local services or family. If they only want your money, the truth becomes clear fast.
Asking for gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or other untraceable payment methods is a dead giveaway of fraud. Legitimate people do not ask dates for iTunes cards. These payment methods are preferred by scammers because they cannot be reversed or traced.
What to Do
This is always a scam — 100% of the time. Block, report, and warn others. Consider filing a report with the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov.
Asking about your income, savings, property, or financial situation early on. Questions like 'do you own your home' or 'what do you do for work' combined with excessive interest in your financial stability are reconnaissance for a scam.
What to Do
Never share financial details with someone you are getting to know online. Redirect the conversation. If they persist, end it.
Recognizing red flags is step one. Here are six concrete actions you can take to stay safe while dating online.
Use Tea App to search by name, phone number, or photo. Check criminal records, sex offender registries, and verify their identity before you agree to meet anyone in person.
Upload their profile photos to Tea App's catfish detection tool. It checks if the images appear elsewhere online, belong to someone else, or were generated by AI.
A five-minute video call eliminates catfish immediately. If they refuse after multiple requests, they are hiding something. Do not make exceptions.
Share your date's name, photo, phone number, and your meeting location with a trusted friend. Use location sharing on your phone so someone always knows where you are.
Choose a busy public place and arrange your own transportation. Do not get in their car and do not invite them to your home until you have verified who they are and built genuine trust.
If something feels off, it probably is. You do not owe anyone an explanation for protecting yourself. Leave, block, and report without guilt. Your safety is never negotiable.
Red flags are easier to spot when you have real data. Tea App gives you the tools to verify anyone before you put yourself at risk.
Search by name, phone number, or photo. Check criminal records, court documents, and public records in seconds.
Upload their dating profile photos. Tea App's reverse image search detects stolen photos, fake profiles, and AI-generated images.
Instantly check national and state sex offender registries before agreeing to meet anyone.
Verify phone numbers against scam databases and see reports from other women who have encountered the same number.
These are not scare tactics. These are reported figures from federal agencies and peer-reviewed research.
Total reported losses to romance scams in the United States in a single year. The real number is likely much higher since most victims never report.
Romance scam complaints filed with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center annually. Victims span all age groups but women 40-69 are the most targeted demographic.
Report receiving unwanted or harassing messages on dating platforms. Women are significantly more likely than men to experience threatening or sexually explicit messages from strangers.
The median financial loss per romance scam victim. Some victims lose their entire life savings. Scammers are patient — many cultivate relationships for months before requesting money.
Estimated percentage of dating app profiles that contain at least one piece of false information. Lies range from age and height to relationship status and employment.
People who meet through dating apps are three times more likely to experience psychological aggression from their partner in the first year compared to those who meet through mutual friends.
The biggest red flags include refusing video calls, asking for money, inconsistent stories, love bombing (excessive affection too soon), having no real photos, pressuring you off the platform, and anger when questioned. These are associated with catfishing, romance scams, and abusive behavior patterns.
Look for profiles with only 1-2 professional-looking photos, vague bios, brand-new accounts, and refusal to video chat. Use Tea App's reverse image search to check if their photos are stolen. Run a background check to verify their claimed identity and check for criminal records.
Love bombing is overwhelming someone with excessive affection, compliments, and attention early in a relationship. It is a manipulation tactic used to create emotional dependency before shifting to controlling or abusive behavior. Research links it to narcissistic personality patterns and domestic abuse.
Extremely common. The FTC reported over $1.3 billion lost to romance scams in 2023. The FBI receives over 19,000 complaints annually. About 1 in 4 dating app users report encountering a scammer, and the average victim loses over $10,000.
Yes. A background check can reveal criminal records, sex offender status, and identity discrepancies. Tea App lets you search by name, phone number, or photo to get a comprehensive safety report. Over 70% of women who use safety tools report feeling significantly safer meeting dates.
Never send money to someone you have not met in person — regardless of the reason. This is the most common romance scam tactic. Block the person, report them to the dating platform, and file a complaint with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov or the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov.
Yes. Many manipulative and abusive individuals present a charming, trustworthy persona initially. This is why watching for subtle red flags over time is critical. Background checks through Tea App can reveal past behavior — criminal records, restraining orders, and court documents — that a person may be actively hiding.
Red flags are warnings. Background checks are proof. Use Tea App to verify anyone you meet online — before you put yourself at risk.