How to Spot Fake Profiles on Dating Apps

1. Red flags on the profile itself

A fake profile is usually built quickly to appeal to as many people as possible, and that tends to show. The photos often look like a model's portfolio — perfect lighting, no friends, nothing that looks like everyday life in Kerala or wherever they claim to live.

The details are often vague or oddly grand: an engineer on an offshore rig, a surgeon with an international charity, a 'businessman' with nothing specific you could ask about. Jobs that keep someone conveniently abroad are a classic setup for the story that comes later.

• Only one or two photos, all professionally shot, or photos that seem to show different people.
• An empty or copy-paste bio that could belong to anyone.
• Age, location and job details that do not quite fit together.

2. Red flags in the conversation

Scammers work to a timeline. Watch for affection that arrives far too fast: calling you 'my love' within days, talking about marriage before you have met, or insisting they have never felt this way about anyone. Intensity is not the same as sincerity.

Another common move is to pull you off the app almost immediately — onto WhatsApp, Telegram or a personal number — often with an excuse such as 'I'm hardly ever on this app'. Once the chat has moved, the app's block and report tools no longer cover it, which is exactly why they want to move.

Be alert, too, to someone who dodges simple questions or keeps changing small details of their story.

3. The scams that turn up again and again

However the story starts, it ends with the same request: money

Almost every romance scam arrives at the same point: you are asked to send money, share financial details, or 'help' with something. A few patterns come up often in India and among Gulf Malayalis:

• The stuck parcel: they say they have sent you an expensive gift from abroad. Soon someone claiming to be from customs or a courier company calls, asking for a 'clearance fee' by UPI or bank transfer. There is no parcel.
• The job or visa offer: a match suddenly has a well-paid Gulf or overseas job for you or a relative — for a processing fee, a visa charge or a deposit.
• The emergency: a hospital bill, a frozen bank account, a flight they cannot pay for, a legal problem. The crisis is always urgent, and it always needs you to pay.
• The investment tip: they are doing brilliantly with crypto, forex or a trading app and want to help you earn too. Early 'profits' look real; withdrawals never arrive.
• The OTP or 'verification' request: they ask you to share a code sent to your phone, scan a QR code, or install a screen-sharing app. Any of these can hand over your bank or UPI account.

4. Use a reverse image search

One of the quickest checks is to see whether someone's photos appear elsewhere online. Take a screenshot of a profile photo and run it through Google Lens or a reverse image search tool such as TinEye. If the same face shows up under a different name, on a model's page or on a stock photo site, you have your answer.

A clean result is not proof — photos can also be taken from private accounts — but a match elsewhere is a strong warning, and the check takes under a minute.

5. A short video call before you meet

Before meeting anyone in person, suggest a brief video call. Five or ten minutes is enough to confirm that the person matches their photos. Someone genuine will usually agree; a person who always has a broken camera or a bad network is telling you something.

Keep that first call simple, in a neutral setting. Some scammers record video calls and later use the footage for blackmail, so never do anything on camera you would not want saved, and end the call at once if the other person pushes things somewhere you are not comfortable with.

6. If something feels wrong

Trust your instinct. You do not owe anyone an explanation for ending a conversation, however kind they have seemed. Stop replying, do not send anything further, and use the app's block and report tools so the person cannot keep contacting you and the profile can be looked into.

On Othiri, every profile is checked by the Othiri team before anyone else can see it, and you can block and report anyone at any point. Checks like these catch a lot, but no screening is perfect — which is why your own judgement still matters.

If you have already lost money or are being threatened, act quickly. In India, call the national cybercrime helpline on 1930 or file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in, and tell your bank straight away — the sooner a fraudulent payment is reported, the better the chance of stopping it. If you live abroad, contact your bank and the local police. Being targeted is not your fault.