Fake profiles and chat bots were the most frustrating part of using Tinder whenI compared it to its competitors.
If you just want to swipe in peace, heres what you should look out for.
If the person you matched with doesnt haveanything at allwritten in their bio section, thats a red flag.
The same goes for their occupation and school listing.
If all you see in their profile is Tinder photos, proceed with caution.
Also look out for weird links in their bio.
Leave those links alone.
They probably lead to some weird, and often harmful, places.
If that one photo looks professionally done, you should hear alarm bells.
In short, anything that makes it difficult to believe theyre the person in the photo?
You might be thinking Great!
This is working out perfectly, but its actually an odd sign.
Spandas Lui atLifehacker Australiasuggests youpay close attention to how quickly your matches respondto your messages.
They Respond to Your Messages With Nonsense
Not all chat bots are created equal.
Thats why Andy ODonnell at About.com recommends youwatch for generic responses, nonsensical phrasing, and misspelled words.
For example, a message like hayy imm borred do yoau likke choclate is a red flag.
If they respond to it like youre totally normal and carry on the conversation, its probably a bot.
If it doesnt, ask them why.
And keep your number to yourself if they ask you for it.
Were not saying its not possible, were just saying be careful.
snag the fake profile you want to report.
Tap the three dots in the upper right corner.
Select Report [their name] and tap Feels Like Spam.
Illustration by Sam Woolley.
