Since one of the reasons that I started this blog was to speak out about outright scammy or phishing dating sites, this page will list the ones that have been proven to belong to this category. I will try to provide personal accounts and proof links to other sources when I can.
Hopefully not too many services and apps will appear on this list, but the ones that will do not deserve your time and money! 18,000 victims reported losses of over $362m in 2018 in US alone, and I would hate for any one of your to appear on that list.
Before we move on to the list, let’s do a checklist of things that one can do to avoid a potentially scammy service.
- If everyone is gorgeous and in great shape – this is most likely a service filled with fake profiles. People come in all shapes and sizes, and that representation should be apparent from the get go.
- Read the fine print – often services cover their backs by outright stating in their TOS some of the things they might use for attracting people in, like using fake profiles, etc. You agree to it, hence the service can’t be blamed.
- You are instantly popular – if you start getting messages quickly and constantly right after signing up it is very likely not because you were just the one the whole site was waiting for, rather that you have stumbled on a site operated by professional scammers who employ people to run multiple accounts to scam people out of money.
- There is no alternative way of communication – this is commonplace on websites that charge credits for actions like sending pictures or gifts. Any reasonable person would want the conversation to switch to another channel from a website like this after some time. If it doesn’t happen or your suggestion is declined – it is a huge red flag.
With that being said, here is a list I will populate from time to time:
Website: beautifulpeople.com
This is an extremely degrading place for shallow people. You have to be voted to get in with an acceptance rate of less than 20%, and you can only imagine what kind of person would be active on such a website.
Website: www.meet-an-inmate.com
The title is self-explanatory. While I totally understand that people in pases like that are some of the loneliest on the planet, you have to be fully aware of the possible consequences of such a relationship.
Website: victoriabrides.com
Here we are moving from questionable to outright malicious. There are numerous reports from victims and plenty of information from insiders about how this site employs people full time to run fake profiles to extort money from people.
Website: elitematchmaking.com
This website claims to set up face-to-face dates for busy professionals, but there are numerous reports about scams being run and money simply vanishing with no service provided.
Website: hily.com
I wrote about this app here. It might not be the worst dating application ever, but it is neither free (hot it claims to be) neither highly rated (as it appears to be because of fake reviews).