> Does Plenty of Fish have fake profiles? How to check a POF match's photos, the warning signs POF itself lists, and how to report a fake profile. Plenty of Fish fake profiles exist, as they do on every large dating site, and POF's own safety page lists fraudulent profiles among the things members should report. You cannot tell how many there are, but you can tell whether the match in front of you is one: check whether their photos belong to someone else, and watch whether the conversation turns towards money. **The money rule catches most fakes on its own: POF's safety page tells members never to send money, especially by wire transfer, even if the person claims to be in an emergency.** The photo check is for the stage before that, when the chat feels too good and you want to know whether the face is real. ## WHY FAKE PROFILES TURN UP ON ANY DATING SITE A dating profile costs nothing to create, and the photos on it are chosen by whoever creates it. That makes free, large sites an easy place to start a conversation with many people at once. The people behind fake profiles usually want one of a few things: - **Money,** through a romance story that ends in an emergency, a travel cost or a fee. - **An investment pitch,** where a new "partner" introduces a trading site or cryptocurrency. - **Your login or personal details,** through links or messages that pretend to come from the site's support team. - **Your attention elsewhere,** by moving you to another app or site as quickly as possible. None of this is specific to POF. If you also use other apps, the same logic applies in [how to spot a fake Tinder profile](https://traceaifacescan.app/blog/how-to-spot-a-fake-tinder-profile/) and [is my Bumble match real](https://traceaifacescan.app/blog/is-my-bumble-match-real/). ## CHECK YOUR MATCH'S PHOTOS Fake profiles rarely use their creator's own face. The photos are usually copied from a real person's public social media, taken from a stock library or generated with AI. That is the part of the profile you can test from outside the app. 1. **Screenshot every photo on the profile,** plus any photo the match sends in chat. No outside tool can search inside Plenty of Fish, so screenshots are what you work with. 2. **Crop each one to a single face,** front-on and as sharp as possible. 3. **Run a free image search first,** such as Google Lens. It finds copies of that exact picture, for example the same photo on a model's or influencer's account. 4. **Search the face with [Trace](https://traceaifacescan.app/panel).** Trace matches the face, not the file, so it can find the same person in a completely different photo. That matters when a stolen picture has been cropped, flipped or filtered so image search misses it. Trace returns public pages where that face appears, each with a similarity score from 50 to 100 and a link you open yourself. It returns no names, addresses or phone numbers. If you type the name your match gave you, the one-sentence verdict at the top of an unlocked result says whether the pages agree with it. A paid search that finds nothing returns its credit. If your match later sends a new selfie, put it next to a profile photo in the free [face comparison](https://traceaifacescan.app/compare-faces/). It gives one similarity score and stores nothing. A selfie that does not match the profile is a clear answer. ## READING WHAT YOU FIND - **The same face under another name.** The photos are borrowed. Stop the conversation and report the profile. - **The same face on stock-photo sites or on many unrelated profiles.** The face is being reused. Treat the profile as fake. - **One consistent identity that matches what your match told you.** A good sign, not a guarantee. Keep watching the behaviour. - **Nothing found.** Nothing turned up on the part of the public web Trace can reach. That is not evidence the person is genuine. If the photos look too smooth or too perfect, read [how to tell if a photo of a person is AI generated](https://traceaifacescan.app/blog/how-to-tell-if-a-photo-of-a-person-is-ai-generated/). Scores: 70–80 is a possible match worth a second look, 80–90 is strong, 90 and above is near-certain. A score compares two images, and relatives or lookalikes can score high, so open the pages and judge for yourself. ## THE WARNING SIGNS POF ITSELF LISTS Plenty of Fish's [safety page](https://policies.pof.com/safety) is short and direct. The points that matter for spotting a fake: - **Requests for money.** Never send money, especially by wire transfer, even if the person describes an emergency. POF asks members to report any request for money straight away. - **The stranded story.** POF warns about people who say they are from your country but are stuck somewhere else, especially when they then ask for money to get home. - **Fraudulent profiles** are listed among the violations to report, and the page tells members to block and report anyone who breaks the site's terms. Two more patterns are worth adding from the way these scams usually run. A match who pushes to move the chat to another app within the first few messages is removing you from the place where you can report them. A match who always has a reason not to video call, or not to meet, is protecting a face that is not theirs. For a step-by-step version of these checks, see [am I being catfished](https://traceaifacescan.app/blog/am-i-being-catfished/). ## HOW TO REPORT A FAKE PROFILE ON POF POF's safety page says you can report suspicious behaviour from any profile page or from the messaging window, and that you can also contact POF by email through the address linked on that page. Report first, then block, so the profile is reviewed even after it disappears from your view. Menus change between app versions, so if you cannot find the option, open the safety page or the [POF Help Centre](https://help.pof.com) for the current steps. Keep screenshots of the profile and the chat before you block. If the profile used someone else's photos, the screenshots and your search result are the useful part of your report. ## BEFORE YOU MEET, AND IF YOU ALREADY PAID If the photos check out and you decide to meet, POF's safety page advises meeting in a populated public place for the first few dates, telling a friend or family member where and when, keeping control of your own transport, and keeping your phone and your drink with you. The wider list is in our [online dating safety check](https://traceaifacescan.app/blog/online-dating-safety-check/). If you already sent money: 1. Contact your bank, card company or the crypto exchange straight away and say it is fraud. 2. Report the profile to POF and keep all screenshots. 3. Report the fraud to your local police or national fraud-reporting service. Be wary of anyone who later offers to recover your money for a fee. ## CHECK A MATCH, DO NOT INVESTIGATE A PERSON This check is for confirming that someone you are about to trust is the person in their photos. It is not for finding a match's other accounts, their address or the people in their life, and it is not a way to watch an ex or a partner. Once you know the photos are genuine, stop. The person in a scammer's photos is usually a victim too. Anyone can have their face removed from Trace's index and blocked from being added again at [traceaifacescan.app/remove-my-photos](https://traceaifacescan.app/remove-my-photos), with no account and no ID. ## FAQ ### Does Plenty of Fish have fake profiles? Yes, as every large dating site does. POF's own safety page lists fraudulent profiles among the things to report. Check whether a match's photos appear elsewhere under another name, and never send money to someone you met on the site. ### How do I report a fake profile on Plenty of Fish? POF's safety page says you can report suspicious behaviour from any profile page or from the messaging window, and contact POF by email through the address on that page. Take screenshots first, report, then block. ### Why does Plenty of Fish have so many fake profiles? Large, free dating sites let anyone create a profile and message many people quickly, which is what scammers need. The photos are chosen by whoever creates the profile, so a stolen or generated face costs them nothing. ### Can Trace search Plenty of Fish profiles? No. POF profiles sit behind a login and cannot be searched from outside. Screenshot your match's photos, crop the face and search it on the public web to see whether it belongs to someone else.