Safety

Soulmate or scammer?

By Ang

Online dating is an amazing, convenient way to meet like-minded humans who share the same interests and desires. The flip side is that con artists who aren't genuine are always trying to find ways to infiltrate the apps and take advantage of well-meaning, vulnerable people. Their goal? Usually money. Sometimes darker things.

As HUD App's Online Content Moderator, I'm a customer service rep with a particular set of skills... And spotting scammers is something my team and I are really good at, because it's our job to help weed them out and keep our app a safe, enjoyable place for our users to have a good time and meet real people. Often scammers will start off seeming genuine, but then things will take a turn for the worse. And if you're not totally switched on to their tricks, they will try to extort you.

So how can you spot the scammers, and how can you keep yourself safe and actually have a good time on the dating apps?

Things to look out for

Here are some of the things I've learned in my years working in customer service and content moderation at HUD App. While some of this advice is specific to HUD App, it's generally applicable to all online dating apps - because at HUD App we want you to be safe everywhere you're meeting people. Here are some signs to look out for:

So how can you protect yourself?

Besides using your common sense, here are some things we recommend you can do to help protect yourself from scammers.

How is HUD App working to keep me safe?

We're a team of human moderators and we work round-the-clock to keep our users safe. We have inbuilt tools and tech that stops a lot of the scammers in their tracks, and we move fast when a user reports a scammer who sneaked through. Here is a bit more important info that can help as you navigate HUD App.

And maybe the most shrewd piece of advice I can offer is this: The old saying is true - if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!

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