Tinder Fraud

Almost all dating apps aim to provide a convenient, hassle free environment for you to find that perfect partner. But in reality, Tinder and most dating apps only seem to be able to find a lot of scammers.

These apps provide a very lucrative area for would be attackers to find prey. Because according to a recent study, users of these apps are very vulnerable to a large number of attacks; with male users clicking on 70% of the links that are sent to them by potential matches. [For reference Instagram ads have a click through rate of just 0.8%].

These apps are a haven for two main types of attackers:

• Bots
• Cat Fishers

If you use these apps, to be able to recognize these scammers is very useful,especially in the monetary sense; dating app scams led to losses of $363 Million in 2018 alone [Link].

These types of attacks rely on sending the same message to a lot of people, the message usually contains a link promising illicit material of some sort. But the link ends up either redirecting you to download a malicious application, that would compromise your phone or just a phishing site that wants all of your personal information.

Either way these work on the probability that a naive user will click the link and get tricked.

These attacks are a bit different, the bot is trained to try to start a conversation, maybe even reference the message you sent. But it will still send you a link or ask for your mobile number, only prefaced by a few misleading messages.

A few pointers to check if it’s a bot

• The profile only has a single image
• There is no description or if there is, it is very promiscuous
• The match responds inhumanly fast

Another way you could detect bots is through the use of Reverse Image Search.

Google provides the feature to search for an image across the entire internet. Most scammers use publicly open social media profiles to dupe photos for their bots. In most cases, passing these profile photos through google images will redirect you back to those original social media profiles.

This is the most hard to detect type of confidence/romance fraud. Here attackers actively try to trick you across the course of multiple weeks/months. They try to forge a relationship across a length of time, in the hopes that you will readily transfer money[Link] or give them personal information, after they have gained your trust.

Detecting catfishers is a very hard task, one of the most sure fire ways is to use the Reverse Image Search explained above.

A catfisher under all circumstances tries to hide it’s true identity[Link], that means no video calls, face to face meetups or anything that would compromise his/her identity. Catfishers also frequently try to isolate their victim away from friends and family, to make the victim more vulnerable.

If you or anyone you know may be experiencing any of the above scenarios. We provide services to both report and track down attackers. Feel free to reach out.