The online dating red-flags checklist.

Most people on dating apps are exactly who they say they are. But a few are not, and the ones who are not tend to follow a pattern. Here is what to watch for, and how to check before you get invested or agree to meet.

Warning signs in the conversation

• They fall for you fast, intense affection within days, before you have really talked.
• They always have a reason not to video call or meet in person.
• Their story keeps shifting: job, location, or details that quietly change.
• The conversation steers toward money, gifts, crypto, or an “emergency.”
• Their photos look too polished, or like a model’s portfolio rather than real life.
• They want to move off the app to private chat almost immediately.

Signs in their profile

• Very few photos, or photos that all look professionally shot.
• A thin profile with generic bio text and no real detail.
• Details that do not add up between their profile and what they tell you.
• Reverse-searching their photo turns up a different name or account.

How to verify before you meet

You do not have to guess. A few quick checks clear up most doubts:

• Ask for a live video call, scammers almost always avoid it.
• Search their photo to see whether the same face maps to a different identity.
• Confirm their profile links to real, consistent accounts.
• Tell a friend where you are going and share your live location on a first meet.
• Meet in a public place, and never send money to someone you have not met.

Verify a match with Sherlock

If you only have their photos, that is enough to start. Upload a picture and Sherlock searches that face across social networks and the public web, so you can confirm the person is real and consistent before you meet, privately, with the photo deleted right after.