Tinder catfishing: How your stolen photos are being used in fake profiles
When Nicole got a call from a male friend saying her pictures were on a Tinder profile, she was immediately confused.
She didn’t have Tinder, wasn’t living in Canberra, isn’t 25 and yet her pictures were on a profile with the name Shar.
“In the description it says, ‘Hey I’m Shar, I’m moving to Canberra for a nanny job, I’m here for the year looking to meet some locals who can show me around, smiley face’,” Nicole told Hack.
The pictures had been taken from Nicole’s public Instagram account that she had posted about a year ago.
“I felt quite violated that someone had gone onto my Instagram and gone through all these images to create a fake profile,” she said.
It’s likely Nicole’s photos were taken by scammers to trap an unsuspecting user who thought she was good looking and had swiped right.
“A lot of people were saying it's a compliment that they have chosen your photos but I think it’s the creepiest thing you can ever do and I find it really a huge invasion of my privacy,” Nicole said.
Nicole has written to Tinder to ask for the profile to be taken down, but has not heard back. She now has a message to the scammers: “If you’re out there and you’re catfishing someone or you’re using my photos, could you please stop.”
Catfishing on Tinder
Nicole’s story is familiar to LifeHack tech writer Spandas Lui who has been researching the rise of fake profiles on online dating apps, known commonly as ‘Catfishing’.
“Catfishing is when someone assumes a fake identity to build a relationship,” Spandas told Hack . “A lot of times they will gain your trust and then they will fake their identity and ask for cash.”
The profile is usually controlled by a “chatbot” that will ask generic questions and try and move the user off the dating app as quickly as possible.
“It’s pretty much a lady robot talking to you,” Spandas said. “They have a script that they work with and based on your response, they will spit out a more generic line and then be like, ‘Hey do you want to chat with me on another app and then we can talk more intimately’.”
But it can also be more sophisticated than that.
One million dollars lost on Tinder Scams
According to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission, scams on dating apps have gone from 4 per cent in 2015, to 11 per cent in January this year. They’ve cost users $1 million.
Deputy Chair of the ACCC, Delia Rickard, said these types of scams work unbelievably well.
“I don't think Tinder was even on our radar a year ago, but we have certainly seen over 200 reports and a million dollars lost in scams via people connecting on Tinder.”
Ms Rickard said Facebook was a hotbed for romance scams, closely followed by dating apps such as Tinder.
“I think there’s a lot of people looking for love and looking for a relationship and these scammers know exactly how to emotionally manipulate people,” she said.
"They use social media to find out a bit about you, they come forward as someone who shares your interest, shares your values and they’re usually very quick to profess their love to you.
“But they always need money.”
What can you do if your photos are stolen?
The first thing is to contact the social media site where the pictures have been found and asking for that site to be taken down.
Having your pictures stolen is also form of a identity theft, so you can also lodge a complaint with police. The hard thing is knowing who stole your pictures.
You can also do a reverse Google image search to find out if your photo is being used elsewhere. The same goes if you’re on Tinder and unsure whether you’re talking to a real person or a chat bot.
Sextortion, and how to spot a fake profile
Scammers will try and build a rapport with you so that you feel safe. But there are some early red flags to be aware of.
They include:
- Not being able to meet the person
- Any mention of money
- Being asked to share intimate photos or videos
- Being asked to move off the app to another form of communication
- If they profess their love too quickly
“Be really wary if you can’t meet them in person quickly,” Ms Rickard said.
If users will not meet up online, but are quick to profess their love - that should signal alarm bells.
“Be really, really careful and don’t share personal photos or intimate videos because the pattern we are beginning to see explode is sextortion,” she said.
Sextortion is when the scammers will blackmail the users with nude pictures or intimate videos that they might have sent during their ‘relationship’. The scammer will threaten to send the photos to every Facebook friend you have if you don’t pay them money.
If you are concerned you might be scammed, head to scamwatch.com.au.
Hack tried to contact Tinder for comment, but did not receive a reply.
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