What Percentage of Facebook Dating Profiles Are Fake?

Nobody outside Facebook can give you that number, and Facebook does not publish one that we found. Any percentage you read online is a guess. A better question is how many of the profiles shown to you look wrong, and you can answer that for your own area in a week by counting.

A fake profile is, by design, one nobody has caught yet. So the people who run an app cannot count them exactly, and the count changes every day as accounts are made and removed.

An outside writer has even less to go on. A figure like twelve percent or forty percent, with no source, is invented, and you should treat it that way. The honest statement is that every dating app has some, none publishes a share, and the share near you depends on your city and your settings.

Facebook sets an age floor of 18 and an account standard for Dating. It may ask you to verify your profile with a short video selfie that matches a photo on it. The aim is to guard against impersonation and underage use.

You can block anyone and report a profile or conversation that looks wrong. Facebook also says your Dating profile is separate from your main one, and that your Facebook friends cannot see it.

It states plainly that Dating does not run criminal background checks or other screenings. So verification tells you a profile is tied to a real person, and it does not tell you the person is honest.

The most common fake is built from photos taken from someone else. The person running it does not have the face in the pictures, so it falls apart once you ask for a call.

Another kind is a real person who is not on the app for a date. She may want money, attention or a way to move you somewhere else. Facebook's own list of warning signs covers those, and another article on this site goes through them one by one.

A smaller kind is the old photo. She is real, but the face in the pictures is not the face you will meet. That is annoying and not a scam, but it leads to the same wasted evening.

Look at the photos first. One polished shot, or several that look like one shoot, is a flag. So is a set with no ordinary pictures at all, like a table, a friend or a street.

Look at the details. Facebook builds suggestions from the preferences you set, the details you add and what you do on Facebook, like shared Groups and Events, your hometown and the schools you list. A real woman usually has some of that filled in. A profile with almost nothing in it, and nothing in common with you, deserves a second look.

Look at who connects you. Facebook suggests friends of friends unless you switch that off, so a real woman often comes with a mutual friend. A mutual friend can tell you who she is, and tell her who you are. That is something a stranger on another app can almost never offer you.

Pictures can be copied. A conversation is harder to fake.

Ask her something only a local would know, such as which part of town she likes for a drink. A real woman answers in a line. A fake changes the subject or gives a vague reply.

Then suggest a short video call before you meet. A real woman who likes you will usually agree, or offer another way to show she is who she says she is. An account run by someone else will find a reason not to.

Pick the next thirty profiles the app shows you. For each one, write down whether the photos look like a real person's life, whether the details are filled in and whether you have anything in common. Count how many you would call suspicious.

That is your local number. It is a rough one, and it is yours. If most of the thirty look like real people, the app is usable where you live. If a third look like stock photos, you know to be careful or to try another app.

A man who sees a fake in every profile tends to reach out to none. That costs more than the fakes do, because the real women are there too. a dating coach counts the choice of app as part of your results, and he advises testing more than one.

Make your own profile believable as well. Women do the same checks on you, so use clear recent photos of your face, fill in your details honestly and complete the verification if Facebook asks. Then get to a short call and a public first meeting. Those habits protect you better than any percentage could.