Well OP, I was just thinking the same. In fact, as I'm under the "14 day limit" I'm going to try and get a refund from the dating site I recently joined. Though I'm late middle-age, so perhaps its worse now!
Some of the profiles - indeed when they bother to write them - are distinctly "red flag" odd and they seem to have no self-awareness. I also realise nearly all the contacts I've heard from are "try ons" - a short, generic message where they clearly haven't bothered to read my profile even. I guess they hope if they contact 100 women at least 2 will take the bait!
And, as another woman said, one must be also be careful of the too canny profiles. I saw a previous short-term boyfriend of mine on a recent dating app. Quite a good profile actually. Obviously well-thought out. I saw what he valued most - "honesty" he wrote. How I laughed. He was a complete nut-job, definitely Narcissistic Personality Disorder (I'd never heard of it till I met him and had to try and work out what the H was wrong with him).
So, yes agree OP.
OLD is a minefield. There are still a few OK guys on there (I imagine!) but I see weirdness and red flags almost everywhere, at least in terms of a relationship with a woman.
In conclusion, think you have to have a very clear sense of who you are and your own self-worth to do OLD, or you will have repeated experiences of meeting very unfortunate or unpleasant men. I think lots of nice, intelligent women don't have that clarity and so going into OLD is like going into the bull ring without protection.
I think you also have to be very careful with safety, including all your where you live, work, etc. IME you have to be very sensitively choosy in fact. Even though in many ways I'm a "give people the benefit of the doubt kinda person" I have had to really balance this with facts people have written about themselves and the photos they put up (e.g. photos mixed in of when they were clearly alot "younger" are a complete no-no now).