Bzzzt! Bzzzt! It’s your phone buzzing with potential suitors/suitresses for your next sugar date.

Your first Sugarbook date went incredibly well.

Your date was dreamy, eloquent, classy, and respectful. Not only did you get to go to your favourite restaurant, but you had a wonderful, invigorating time. 

High up on cloud nine, excitement for your next date overtakes as you rush to check your phone. Staring back at you is a list of profiles. Going through them, your gut feeling tells you that one of these profiles is a fake!

Thankfully, you know better from all the horror stories you’ve heard once before. 

There was also that time when McDreamy turned out to be an MLM agent who just wanted to get into your bank account! Scam!

While you can’t wait to be on your next date, you also don’t want to end up on the list of ‘top 10 online dating scam victims’.

To help you navigate these choppy waters of catfishes and scammers, we’ll make things easier for you by listing some crucial tips on how to tell if a dating profile is fake!

We’ll also include important pointers on how you can better protect yourself in the future. Keep reading!

 

How to spot a fake dating profile

#1 – Their pictures look straight out of a magazine (chances are, they are!)

Whenever someone attractive gives us attention, we tend to throw all cautiousness out the window. Been there, done that. 

Catfish and scammers know this, which is why they often hide behind (stolen) bewitching profile pictures that seem too good to be true. 

Nevertheless, we also know that our Sugar Babies do look too good to be true, and they usually are! 

A rule of thumb is to always remain cautious with revealing too much information until you can verify their identity by suggesting a video call. If they seem evasive, it’s a red flag.

 

#2 – No photos/dubious photos

Ever come across a profile where you really can’t make out what the person really looks like? Whether it’s blurry, pixelated, or cleverly angled to hide their face, you just can’t tell. 

Profiles like these might be someone hiding behind a fake profile to scam you, so best to be on guard!

At Sugarbook, a profile with no public photos doesn’t mean you should give up on them just yet, some users just prefer to be private. 

Dig deeper by requesting to view their private stash of photos at Sugarbook. If they have no private photos or these pictures also seem to be dodgy, then it’s possibly a scammer!

 

#3 – Watch out for fishy profiles

Be on the lookout for profiles that are riddled with grammar errors and weird links on their bio. Don’t click on them!

If their bio only contains their other social media information, such as WeChat, it could be some shady third party agent disguised as McDreamy so you won’t want to fall for it again!

 

#4 – Money

Lavish gifts and pocket money are a part of sugar relationships. 

However, if you encounter these scenarios, the person you’re talking to might be a fake:

  • A Sugar Daddy/Mommy who asks for monetary favours or who keeps giving empty money-related promises to a Sugar Baby
  • A Sugar Baby who only seems interested in the money but isn’t interested or invested in the relationship signifies ingenuity or a possible scammer. Either way, move along!

 

#5 – Spam

If your new Sugar Daddy, Sugar Mommy, or Sugar Baby is constantly spamming you with messages without even a reply from you, better keep your eyes peeled. 

Especially if they seem to have a persistent need to know everything about your personal life, be careful of the information you divulge. 

Secure sensitive information such as your ID, address, place of work, or any other information that could be used to locate you. This information could also be sold by scammers to other defrauders. 

 

Safety tips to protect yourselves

Knowing these telltale signs of an online dating scam or a fake profile is only the first step. Next, we’ll also share tips on how you can avoid falling for these impostors. 

 

1) Research their profile picture

One way to identify if an image is real or fake is to use reverse image search tools which will reveal if the picture has been used anywhere else on the internet, or if it was stolen from another person.

When it comes to sugar dating, it’s common for users to want to protect their identity, and keep things on the down-low. 

Thus, you might come across profiles with pictures of their favourite celebrities or no pictures at all. To make up for this, users can visit each other’s profile to request for their secret stash of photos.😈 

If you come across a sugar profile without any public nor private photos, or just a couple of photos that are too good to be true, it’s best to be on your toes!

 

2) Organise your socials

Criminals are creative. They know where to look for information to create some relatable story to capture your attention. 

At the same time, we offer this information up willingly when we post on social media. 

Before you sign up for any dating platform, it’s best to get all your socials in check i.e. make your profiles private or just ensure you haven’t posted anything sensitive online that can be used to entrap you.

 

3) Always be sus

Before you decide to meet anyone off the internet, it’s good practice to just always remain suspicious. Not paranoid, just sus enough so that you won’t dive headfirst into a trap and while being blindsided from the truth. 

Ask questions, lots of questions. Or, vet their identity by inviting them to a video call before meeting in real life. 

If it’s a scammer weaving a net of lies, chances are you can trip them up and expose them in their own lies. They’ll probably come up with even more lies to cover up dodging your calls. 

Also, the internet is a good place to verify whatever deets you can.

 

4) Take it slow 

Yes, we know, it’s nice when you think you’ve finally found the person of your dreams. But wouldn’t it be good to be extra careful in ensuring your whirlwind lover is even a real person? 

Everytime you feel like you’re getting excited over your mystery man/woman, remind yourself to breathe, and refer back to C.!

Taking it slow includes keeping all contact with your new love interest on the dating platform. If they suggest taking things to an unsecure chat app only after a few days, it’s 100% a red flag. 

 

5) Join a verified platform

Joining a verified platform like Sugarbook doesn’t entirely shield you from spammers and scammers, but trust us, we’re proactively on the lookout for scammers.

That’s what Sugarbook is all about, we want to create a safe and secure environment for sugar relationships to flourish.

So whenever you encounter something fishy, bring it to our attention by reporting the profile or contact our support team at [email protected] It’s always our top priority to make the platform as safe as possible for everyone. 

Check out: 5 Lessons From Experienced Sugar Babies

 

Call it a hunch or pure intuition…

At times, you just know when you’ve encountered a fake dating profile. But every so often, our instincts become clouded with naivety, or by a collage of supermodel shots in Calvin Klein underwear. We’ve all been there before. 

Unfortunately, there will always be con artists and scammers in the dating world, let alone online dating platforms. 

But that doesn’t mean that we can’t take the upper hand by always having some sense of suspicion or scepticism.

So, if you ever find yourself in doubt of a suspicious profile or a profile that’s just too good to be true, bookmark these pointers on how to tell a fake dating profile so that you always remain on safe ground.

For more safety tips from Sugarbook, click here.

Happy sugaring!