Hinge recently started letting users add video to their profiles if this feature grows commonplace in dating apps, it'll become more difficult to build a fake profile.
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Besides that, you get the person's full name - which makes them searchable online. That means your potential mates are more likely to be real people. Hinge uses social media to make connections, so your matches are already in your extended social network. The catch: To get these safety features, you have to buy an eHarmony premium subscription. It also offers Secure Call, which allows you to chat without sharing your real phone number. But if you look carefully, you can probably tell whether your potential love interest's profile reflects the life of a real person.ĮHarmony employs RelyID, which uses public information to verify your identity. The catch: Anyone can make a fake social media account. That means the photos you see are probably legit, because they're the photos users share with their mom, their best friend and their high school basketball coach. Tinder authenticates users by connecting to their Facebook profiles. The catch: To initiate a matchPhone call, you'll have to pay extra - it's a premium service. Match issues you a new phone number, and when your potential date calls, it's forwarded through Match to your phone. 's matchPhone lets you talk on the phone without giving out your real phone number. Most dating apps offer at least a few tools to help users protect themselves from a potential swindler or predator. Grindr, on the other hand, knows its users are often looking for a "rando." It tells members to be "careful about revealing your identity" and reminds them that "a photo can't always be trusted." Hinge displays each user's full name and pulls profile photos directly from Facebook. It connects users with friends of friends online. The Hinge dating app, for instance, forged its identity by promising "no randos," or random strangers. If you want a one-night stand, you won't find as many safeguards. If you're trying to find a long-term relationship, the apps offer tips and tools for staying out of harm's way. The "rules" are different, and so are the safety concerns. Of course, there's a big difference between using apps to find a relationship and using them for a quick, anonymous hookup. "It's about doing your due diligence and taking time to trust but verify." "You don't have to be paranoid," she said.
There's not a killer lurking behind every dating profile, said Kristin Judge, director of government affairs at the National Cyber Security Alliance. This doesn't mean we need to ban dating apps - or even the ones used mostly for hookups. "It's pretty nonchalant, and people don't really consider the risks." "I think a lot of gay men do not really take any precautions when using these apps," said Wright, who has covered the issue and done some online dating himself. And four Dallas-area men have been indicted on federal hate-crime charges for using fake Grindr profiles to target gay men, tying up their victims and stealing their property. In London last year, a man was sentenced to life in prison for drugging and killing four young men he met through Grindr. Of course, dating apps aren't new, and this isn't the first time they've been used to hurt someone. "As men, we are used to having the privilege of going where we want to and when we want to, not having to worry that our lives may be in danger or that we could be attacked," he said, adding that the news about Soliman and Nguyen "makes us realize how very vulnerable we might be."
But men tend not to think of themselves as potential crime victims when they're meeting strangers for dates or sex, said Andrew Edmonson, a gay rights activist in Houston. Women almost always are urged to take precautions when meeting men they don't know.