How can you recognise a fake chat rip-off?

What is a fake chat? The name explains itself very well. Usually you create an account on a dating portal with the goal to meet that person in real life and maybe fall in love with. You chat or exchange e-mails to find out more about each other and see if it could work out between the two of you.

Many companies take advantage of this and hire their own employees or employ chat bots. Their job is to encourage users to send as many messages as possible. The reason for that is that the company earns money with every message that is sent. A real meeting will never happen as the chat partner uses excuses to get out of meeting in real life.

This ends up being expensive for the user. We will explain to you how you can recognize such a fake chat rip-off.

We recommend one of our winners!

Test winner

Casual Dating

Report
Website
Test winner

Dating sites

Report
Website
Test winner

Matchmaker

Report
Website

1. Use the search function of DatingSpot24.com

We have almost every company outlined on our site, and many of their scams in our database. We take a good look at each website and determine exactly what kind of dating portal they are based on clear evidence. If it is a good website we mark it as reputable. If there is a dating website that uses fake profiles and professional employees we write a negative review. We constantly add new reviews to our website as these rip-off companies create new dating portals on a daily basis. In our test reports you can easily find out if there is a threat of rip-off on the corresponding dating site.

2. Read the terms and condition

Every website must have terms and conditions. If you can’t find this it is a clear sign of a scam dating website. Anyone who runs a moderated chat must also indicate this in their terms and conditions. Fortunately, most operators do mention fake profiles and a moderated chat even though the terms and conditions are often hidden and try not to indicate the rip-off by using its name. Many times the company show terms and conditions as a graphic so that it makes it impossible to search for certain keywords. If you can search for keywords you should take time to read the terms and conditions. This might save you a lot of unnecessary trouble and money.

In any case, you should look for these keywords in the terms and conditions:

Moderator
Animators
Agents
Operators
Fictitious profiles

Here is an example from the terms and conditions of Festivus Media BV the operator of MilfFindr:

“Festivus Media BV explicitly reserves the right to create profiles on the Platform and to send messages to the User on behalf of these accounts. By accepting these Conditions of Use, the User understands and accepts that some of the profiles on the Platform are therefore fictitious and they have been created only to exchange Messages with; real-life meetings are not possible for such Accounts.”

3. The general terms and conditions are displayed as a graphic

If the terms and conditions or the imprint are displayed as a graphic you should already pay attention and act very carefully. A graphic makes it impossible to search for certain keywords. It is a strong indicator that the operator is trying to hide something.

In any case you should read the terms and conditions very carefully – or refrain from registering with this provider.

4. The company headquarters is abroad

Even though you should never judge a book by its cover the location of the headquarters of a company that runs a dating website can be another hint. Check out the imprint and check the name of the company in a search machine. Locations like Malta, Cyprus, and Kosovo are unusual places for dating websites in the US. If such a location is displayed you should pay special attention – especially if there is no office in the country or if it is not shown at all. A reputable provider will have its headquarters in the US or at least its contact details will show an address from the US and a telephone number which is registered there.

5. Use a search engine

Use a search engine

If it is a scam website the chances are very high someone has been ripped off already and will have shared their negative experiences on the internet. Search for the name of the dating portal and for the name of its company. If it is a black sheep you will also find negative reviews or experience reports from burned customers. Additionally, you can find articles and official test reviews from our website. If there are negative reviews from people complaining about the website being a scam with fake profiles and fake people, the case is clear: Keep your hands off of that website!

6. Check out the costs and the value

A reputable website will show all the important information. If you cannot find anything about the price per message or the costs for a subscription you should be very careful. If you find some details about the price you should think about what you will pay and what you will get in return. Just ask yourself this simple question, does it really make sense to pay a dollar or more for every message you send? A professional employee will try to entice you into a long and pointless conversation. The only reason for the chat is to get your money. The more messages you write the more money the company will earn.

7. Use the picture search of a search engine

Use the picture search of a search engine

A fake chat means that professional employees operate fake profiles. The profiles show pictures of a person but of course they don’t belong to a real person. It is very simple to see if the profile is real or fake. Simply copy and paste a few pictures from the member’s area of the dating portal into a search engine like Google or Bing and you will see.

If the image search shows results that are related to some erotic website or to profiles of another country like Russia you have your answer. Of course the search for a picture of a profile on a dating website from the US should bring up some results from the US as well. If this doesn’t happen extreme caution is advised.

While this does not always work out 100% of the time, it is still a good way to see if it is a fake chat. Companies like this are always one step ahead. Nowadays the operators manipulate the pictures of their fake profiles to make the picture search more difficult or even impossible.

So be very careful if one of these points applies. If two or more points of our list apply to a dating website you should really keep your hands off that platform. If you are not really sure and are suspicious about a rip-off you can also report this dating portal to us and we will then take a good look at it. We will create an extensive test report.

To be 100% sure we recommend one of our test winners!

We recommend one of our winners!

Test winner

Casual Dating

Report
Website
Test winner

Dating sites

Report
Website
Test winner

Matchmaker

Report
Website