DATING SAFETY
CHECK FIRST.

WHY CHECK AT ALL

Checking is not paranoia; the numbers justify it. According to figures the US Federal Trade Commission published in April 2026, people reported losing $2.1 billion to scams that started on social media in 2025, and nearly 60% of people who reported losing money to a romance scam said it began on a social platform.

Most of those scams rely on the same two things: a face that belongs to someone else, and a story built to avoid ever meeting. Both are checkable in minutes, which is the whole point of the routine below.

THE SEVEN CHECKS

1. Search their photo. Screenshot the profile picture, crop the face and upload it to Google Lens or Yandex Images. If the same photo appears on a stock library, a model's portfolio or another profile under a different name, you are done — that is a stolen photo.
2. Search their face. If the image search is empty, a reverse face search compares the face rather than the file and can find the same person in other photos. The deciding result is the same face on an account with a different name.
3. Compare the story with the trace. Someone describing a long career, a company and a wide social life usually leaves some public trace. Finding nothing for such a person is a contradiction worth taking seriously.
4. Ask for a live video call. Unannounced, with a specific request: a hand on the cheek, three fingers up, a particular word said right now. It eliminates a stolen photo and a pre-recorded video at the same time. Repeated refusals are an answer.
5. Keep the conversation on the app. Pressure to move to WhatsApp or Telegram quickly mostly serves one purpose: escaping the platform's fraud detection and records.
6. Stop at money. A parcel stuck in customs, a medical emergency, a frozen account, a crypto "opportunity". A request for money, gift cards or crypto from someone you have not met is conclusive on its own.
7. Plan a safe first meeting. Meet in a busy public place, tell a friend who you are meeting and where, keep your phone charged, and arrange your own transport there and back.

READING THE RESULTS

A photo search gives you evidence, not a verdict, so read it carefully.

• Same photo, different name: stolen. End it.
• Same face on accounts consistent with their story: reassuring, not conclusive. Look at how old the accounts are and whether they have a real posting history.
• Nothing at all: normal for a private person, a contradiction for someone describing a public, busy life — and a warning when the photo is flawless, because an AI-generated face has no history anywhere.

On Trace, every face search result carries a score from 70 to 100: 90–100 is where genuine matches appear, 80–89 needs a second photo to confirm, and 70–79 is mostly people who merely look alike. A score is never an identity. The twelve most reliable warning signs, grouped by weight, are in is this person a scammer?

IF SOMETHING IS WRONG

• Do not warn them. "I looked you up" makes the account and the evidence disappear. Screenshot the profile and the conversation first.
• Report the account to the dating app; every major app has a fake-profile and fraud flow.
• If money has already left, call your bank immediately to try to recall it, and report it — in the US at reportfraud.ftc.gov, elsewhere to your national fraud authority and the police.

FAQ