I get surprised someone has to post something like this, but I have talked to a few people that have been taken by online scams and felt a bit of knowledge will help people. The following advice is true on both apps and sites, for the most part. I will mention if it does not uniformly apply.

There are numerous categories on sites and apps. This is a general list.

1. Sex Workers - they tend to be women targeting men, primarily.
2. Scammers - Often acting to be sex workers or women searching for a man to date.
3. People only seeking sex - Primarily men
4. Cheating spouses - Also primarily men, but anyone in travel mode could potentially be in this bag
5. People seeking a partner - this can be short or long term

If you break this down into buckets, an even split will mean 80% of the posts and profiles are either sexually focused, or scams, or both. In reality, it depends on the platform. The number of sex workers and scammers reduce on platforms where people can be reported (although this is abused to have legitimate posts removed, especially from men, as others see it as competition - write a great post and that is sometimes removed quickly, btw). The method of contact also brings in a variable. If the person can simply swipe, it is higher. If either party can start a conversation, also high. The worst are apps that do not have a monthly/yearly/lifetime membership and sell you tokens. Why? Because the person putting the app out knows a scammer getting you to spend tokens for every message is money in the pocket. And they know their apps are shit and people will stop buying tokens, so it is like a slot machine in a casino ... with very, very little payout. I advise staying away from these apps.

NOTE: I am including the crypto and car sales scammers in this mix. Just join my crypto group? No thanks. I will also include "influencers" with adult accounts (OnlyFans, etc.) searching for subscribers in the mix under sex worker, as it fits closest with most being explicit snapchat or OnlyFans.

How to spot a fake (sex worker/scammer).

• Explicit profiles or ads. Nearly 100% of ads that are about having sex right now are fakes. Exception for forums aimed at this, but there is still a lot of fakery out there even in the random acts forums.

• Profiles not filled out. If there is just a picture or set of pictures, it is most likely a fake. It could be a newbie, but I would not take a chance unless you have time to waste.

• Profiles barely filled out. If the answer to all of the questions are one or two words, or worse, spaces on required fields, swipe left.

• Bad English, unless it matches where they are from. Even then, it can be a fake, normally a scammer. Unless you can make sense why the English might be bad, not worth your time.

• On apps with the ability to post daily pix, finding all of the profile pics are the pics in the daily is a sign of a fake. This is less sure than others.

• On platforms that have an age range for what they are looking for (like Doublelist has 25-35 as the default), the default is a clue it is probably a fake. The same is true if you see a really, really wide age range, like 18-90, 25-70, etc.

• Their post asks for a picture up front. While some people unwittingly do this (will not answer without pictures), it is very common in two scenarios. 1) a person collecting pictures that are not on the web to create fake profiles. 2) Someone who is a picture collector. On #2, it can be a real person who is just focused on sex, so this could fall into the cheaters.

Expanding to cheaters:

• No pictures with faces. Cheaters don't want to get caught, so won't leave any chance someone sees their profile and recognizes them.

• Pictures look like a professional model. Not 100% sure, but few people are that good with their profile pictures.

• Profile states your town, but all of the pictures are from a foreign country. Especially, if the profile is of a person from a foreign country with similar characteristics.

• Profile states executive/CEO and the person is not dressed to fit the model. This screams influencer who bought the "how to use dating apps to make millions on OnlyFans" course.

• If you look at their Reddit profile, they have posted the same "dating" post in numerous cities. If it has been every few days, they are likely a traveling sex worker. If they are in cities across the US or world, then they are either looking for subscribers and scamming.

• They are in the army stationed overseas. I talked to a woman that was part of the US Army helping fight in the Ukraine. Problem? We have no military personnel in Ukraine. And, if we do, it is top secret and not something a person would tell me on a non-top-secret platform, app, or site.

You've connected? Great. How to spot fakes and cheaters.

• They move physical location after you match. Okay, some people are traveling, but they will state that. Just be wary the "I was in Nashville, but moved on" could also be because they changed locations in the Android emulator they are running the app on. If the location changes because you see they are in your city (I mean mid conversation), it is a spoofed location and you should terminate.

• They ask the same questions you get over an over again. What do you do for a living? (Did not read my profile, eh?) How long have you been on this app/site? (If Reddit, you can open and see my "cake day", some apps, I understand, but why does it matter, esp. as a first question?) What are you looking for here? (This wording is almost verbatim on sites and apps - like a script?)

• They ask the same questions over a short period of time. Most likely a shift change in the Asian (normally Indian) scam center. It could be someone talking to hundreds of other people, as well, but do you really want to compete against a lot of people? Yes, they could be that forgetful, but is that the one for you?

• They use strange English construction, bad grammar, or misspell common and easy words. Yes, it could be bad grammar and that might be okay with you, but awkward sentence construction sends my spidey senses through the roof.

• They ask a lot of personal questions early on? It is alright to get personal with someone after a connection, but getting into them really early or asking a lot of them can be a scammer. The more information, the more likely they can find your accounts and try to start hacking your passwords. Don't give out birthdates.

• They fall in love with you really quickly, or start using pet names. This happens in RomComs because they sell. This person is trying to sell you something, like free access to your bank account. Do you have pets? Did you have pets when you were younger? Oh, that's cute. I had a cat named buttons, but we called him butthead. LOL What was your childhood pet and did you have a nickname? I talked to a woman that gave out things like her mother's maiden name to someone trying to date her. Also have a friend that was almost scammed until we showed him the signs on a woman he was about to wire $2,000 to for a ticket to the US.

• They ask for money or gift cards. Various game cards are common, as they can easily be turned into cash. Sure, maybe only half the value, but if you are in India working a job that pays less than $10k a year ($5/hour roughly), selling a $100 card for $50 is worth 10 hours of work.

• They want to move to another platform, app, to email, or get your phone number. Email is rare. It is normally communication apps or phone number. Don't do it, unless you have enough of an exchange that you are pretty sure they are real.

• They start getting insulting or belittling when you refuse to do what they want. Why won't you move to Whatsapp? You must not really like me? Note that this gets worse.

• They get pushy. You have not answered me in over an hour. Don't you want me?

What real people do?

• It is a conversation, not an interrogation. They will exchange more personal information if you do the same.

• They are cautious and wait until they feel you are real before moving to another platform. The platform they choose will fit their age group. And Whatsapp is ALMOST NEVER used by people who are serious about dating.

• They will share pictures once a connection is established.

• Depending on their goals, they will likely want to meet in a reasonable time. And they will not ask for money to meet.