How To Recognize a Dating App Scammer

If you’re new to using apps to meet people, watch out for these warning signs that the profile is fake.

I tried another dating app and this time it was for people aged 50 and older. The many others I’ve tried seem dominated by young people and I’m looking for a someone who remembers when Mork and Mindy was on TV. But it turns out that all dating apps are plagued by fake profiles trying to trick singles like me out of our money, and you have to be careful not to waste time on these.

Back in my day (that’s how old people talk, right?) online dating meant using a desktop website such as Match.com where the initial contact was an email. We emailed back and forth until we decided to talk on the phone or meet for dinner (that’s right: first dates were dinners). Somewhere between 2006 when I met my husband and 2015 when my divorce papers were a year old, websites became applications (apps) and emailing changed to texting/messaging. Another change was the complete infestation of scammers.

The opposite of a scammer is a seeker like me who’s honestly looking for a date. Here are the ways I detect a fake profile with a scammer behind it.

Too many ideas packed into one statement.