There are a ton of scams related to love and dating. This one is where the app/website is the scam, not just being used for a scam. (That is an entirely different set of scams.) Basically, Fake Dating Sites/Apps.

This scam is usually aimed at older men, maybe those who grew up before the Internet was not a constant part of peoples’ lives. While dating apps do like to charge you money (for example, to do more than look at profiles and maybe a free message 3/day), these are far worse. Everything costs money. Messaging a person, watching videos, sending gifts… everything is a money grab and the site will keep spamming you with profiles to keep spending, spending, spending while the person on the other end is not as they seem… and certainly will never meet up with you or will ever be in love with you.

Nowadays, these contacts may be completely AI-generated, while for some apps, they use real people to respond. In either case, the woman may be multiple people pretending to be the same person.

How to protect yourself:
Due to the sometimes scummy behavior of actual dating apps, this may be a bit difficult, but you should look for the following things:

• You get absolutely flooded by women wanting to talk to you and it costs money for each message.
• You are constantly told to send pictures, view pictures, watch video etc - again, it costs money to do each.
• Your potential date is constantly online and possibly seems to change personality.
• They won’t let you move off the platform.

If any of these sound familiar, this is likely to be a scam website and you should stop engaging. Block all emails and disconnect any payment card. Reverse the payments if you can.