Fraudster warning on Hinge

[hingewarning]

This isn’t really an AIBU or seeking advice as such, more a bit of a rant and just feeling a bit shocked although I’m not sure why given we all know what OLD is like 😩😆

Basically my hinge is currently paused after just a week or two of going back on it after months of being off the app completely.

However I got an email last night telling me that “Simon” who I’d previously matched with had been kicked off the platform due to fraudulent behaviour. And they had this spiel about not handing over money to people you don’t know etc.

So I guess it was just a bit unpleasant to think I’d matched with someone like that in such a short time of being back on it!

I’m super selective when it comes to actual meeting up and dating but Assuming their profile isn’t totally awful /red flaggish and they’ve liked me, I don’t mind liking quite a few of the men back so we match and then giving them a chance to at least send an initial message. I do unmatch fairly quickly once the conversation gets boring/weird/low effort etc, which is the case for most of them unfortunately.

I tend not to remember their names unless I talk to them for more than a couple of days (most get unmatched within 24 hours) so thankfully I assume I didn’t talk to “Simon” for too long if at all as I cannot l remember him at all.

But it was just a reminder of how often we can be talking to scammers and married men etc on dating apps (tbf same applies to men you meet in bars, on holiday etc )

Anyone else had any similar. experiences/near experiences lol ?

I found a catfish on Hinge! Put me off the app completely, fortunately I spotted she (or he, whatever) was fake early on, but it’s easy to see how if you were in a vulnerable place you could be blind to it. Also had a girl from a Facebook group who was clearly going for the crypto ‘pig butchering’ scam. Again, fortunately spotted soon enough. So it’s not just men who fake it (though my guess is that more men are ‘real’ but just lie to get a bit on the side, whereas the dodgy women are more likely to be scammers?)

I got this email yesterday morning about a "jon". I usually only match with verified users so perhaps this one slipped through but it's concerning that these people are allowed on these signs and have likely had to have multiple people reporting them before they take action because I've seen many accounts that are obviously fake and/or break the guidelines of their site.

Really! Was that from Hinge too? @NoHope4BobHope

Yeah the apps definitely don’t screen the bad eggs out easily even when you flag them . It’s all about numbers for them I guess so they’re loathe to kick people off .

I hate the accounts that have a series of photos which hide their face and have a random name like “P” , I mean if you don’t have even ONE photo showing your face why on earth would I match with you? It’s giving married man, it’s giving scammer! They should be kicked off instantly.

And the sad thing is you can meet far worse than scammers online- but again I do feel this also applies to men you meet randomly in bars/hotels or even through acquaintances.

I watched an Australian documentary yesterday. It was really sad, a woman had met a man off a dating site not knowing he had a long history of DV and that 5 different women had restraining orders put against him. He was actually out on bail at the time which she was unaware of. Two months later he killed her.

I feel perhaps in that case it was also an issue with the criminal justice system. because if a man like that is out on bail, he should at least had a tag limiting his movements which would maybe have alerted anyone he was intimate with that he was being monitored.

Stay safe out there people!

@hingewarning yeah mine was hinge too, though I'm pretty sure I hadn't even exchanged messages or anything with this person but it is sad that people are allowed to do this.

Crazy, I am still paused on hinge although I have an upcoming hinge date but just had another email from them today warning me I’d matched with another scammer. This man’s name was a bit more unusual so I think I vaguely remember him.

He did reach out first and then I responded but he was taking too long to reply and was giving off cocky player vibes if I remember correctly, so I unmatched him the same day.

I suspect a lot of scammers are having a zillion conversations so aren’t able to keep up.

Also I can’t believe anyone in 2025 is falling for people they haven’t met asking for money. This is another reason why I feel it’s best to stay on the app initially, because if the conversation then flips to them asking for money or being massively inappropriate you can easily report them to the app.

I’m always suspicious of men who insist on moving to WhatsApp immediately. I actually unmatched one man within 2 minutes of our chat starting, because he asked for my number right off the bat then tried to have a back and forth with me about how he NEEDS a woman’s number before he goes on a date.

We had literally only exchanged about 2 messages each, and were nowhere near arranging a date before he asked for my number. So it’s clear he just wanted to rush me off the app for other reasons.