How Do You Report an Online Dating Scam?

Do it in this order. Save the evidence first. Stop all contact. Report the account in the app. If you sent money, call your bank or payment service right away. Then file a report with the police and your country's fraud service. Each step takes a few minutes, and the first one is the easiest to skip.

Once you block or report an account, the conversation can become harder to reach, so collect it first. Take screenshots of her page, the full chat, the name as it appears and anything she sent you.

Write down every phone number, username on another app, payment detail and link that came up. If she sent a payment request or an address, keep the original message and note when it arrived. A screenshot alone is weaker than the real message.

This takes ten minutes and it is the thing the police, your bank and the app will all ask for.

Stop replying. Do not send a farewell message that lays out what you figured out, and do not try to win the exchange. Whoever is on the other end has done this many times, and a heated reply only tells them you are still engaged.

If she has your number or your other accounts, do not delete anything yet. Block her only after you have saved what you need, and keep her account details in your notes.

Every major dating app has a way to report an account, usually found in the menu on her page or in the chat. Use it, and say plainly what happened: that the account asked for money, pushed you to another app or threatened you.

Apps want these reports. Tinder, for one, says it works with law enforcement and asks anyone who thinks a crime was committed against them to tell it. A report also protects the next man, because the app can shut an account down before it writes to him.

This is the step where speed matters. Call your bank, your card company or the payment service you used. Say that you were scammed. Give them the dates, the amounts and the account details you saved.

A fraud team may be able to stop or flag a recent transfer. Some payment types, such as gift cards and crypto, are hard to pull back, but ask anyway instead of assuming the answer. The earlier they hear about it, the more options they have.

Report it to your local police, even if you doubt anything will come of it. A report number is useful for the bank, and it gives investigators another case to connect.

Then use your country's national fraud reporting service. In the United States, that means the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Other countries have their own services. Search for the official site of yours, and type the address yourself instead of following a link in a message.

Bring your notes. A clear timeline helps: when you matched, when the money talk started, and when you paid.

After you report, someone may contact you claiming they can get your money back for a fee. Treat that as a second scam aimed at the same man. Genuine recovery runs through your bank, the police and the fraud service, and none of them ask you to pay to begin.

The same goes for any message that says you must act now or that you are in trouble. Slow down and check it with your bank by calling the number on your card.

Many men do not report because they feel stupid. Scammers do this for a living, and they are good at it. A person who tells you about a scam in a calm voice is not the one who did something wrong.

Reporting is not an admission of anything. It is how the account gets closed and the next man is spared. When you go back to the apps, add one small rule. Aim to set a real meeting within the first handful of messages, and treat endless reasons why she cannot meet as your answer.