Users of Tinder, the massively popular location-based dating app, are being targeted with a clever scam that may make them lose over a $100 per month.
A girl sent me a message and we struck up a conversation, she mentioned she might want to meet up but then tells me I have to register with this tinder safe dating website, with an address of Tinder-vcode.com. Everything looks normal until it asked for my credit card info, in order to verify. What is Noonlight? Tinder has partnered with Noonlight to give you backup every time you meet up with someone new. If you’re in the U.S., connect Noonlight to Tinder so you can: Add a badge to your chat threads and let people know you’re protected by Noonlight. Share where, when and who you’re meeting IRL via Noonlight’s Timeline feature.
The Tinder safe dating scam
The scam is perpetrated by spam bots impersonating lovely women, initiating chats with users, then asking them to make Tinder verify their account.
“While online dating has gone mainstream, safety concerns still remain when using these applications. The spammers use this legitimate concern to convince users to verify themselves and trick them into thinking verification will lead to a date,” says Symantec’s Satnam Narang.
“After asking if the user is verified, the spam bot tries to disarm the user by saying ‘it’s a free service tinder put up, to verify the person you wanna meet isn’t a serial killer lol’.'”
Users who fall for the scheme are directed to a site that looks like it might be associated with Tinder – a copy-cat logo is displayed, and the font is the same one used by the app. (Symantec found 13 distinct “Tinder Safe Dating” scam sites so far.)
To verify the account, they are asked to fill out a form with their username, password, email address, and credit card details:
The claim that this service is “$0.00 No Charge!” is repeated prominently a couple of times, but as is usual with these scams, the devil is in the details: the fine print at the bottom tells users that they get free trial memberships to three adult services, but also that if they don’t cancel them in time, they will be billed automatically each month for the memberships.
All in all, the victims stand to lose $118.76 per month – quite a hefty sum. The scammers, of course, get a commission for each user they trick into signing up.
Aside from that, victims have also shared their Tinder username and password, as well as complete credit card details with the scammers – it’s a sure bet that this information will eventually be misused.
How to protect yourself and others
Anything that’s extremely popular – a game, an online service, a social network – will attract its fair share of scammers trying to cash in on a wide audience of possible targets.
Tinder Verify Safe Code
To keep yourself safe while using them you should keep yourself informed on what the services do and do not offer, various related scams, and always read the fine print.
To keep other users safe, report scammy accounts.
Noonlight is not involved in identity or profile verification. If someone you've matched with on Tinder or SnapChat sends you a link to verify your identity with Noonlight or requests a safe code from you, this is a scam. Noonlight does not do identity verification and does not require your credit card information.
If you are scammed by someone, you should immediately report that user and any identifying information on them to the customer service team of either Tinder or SnapChat.
Tinder Safe Code Invite
Here is an example scam link that is fraudulent - scnoonlightprotection.org
A screenshot of an illegitimate, fraudulent website is shown below.
We are actively working with Tinder's team to resolve this issue. Information on the actual, legitimate safety feature that Noonlight powers for Tinder users can be accessed at the following links: