Millions of people have been virtually stood-up by a potential partner that swiped left on the dating service, Tinder. To swipe left or swipe right—a decision made in an instant—is love in the times of the Smartphone…or so we think.
There is something that we didn’t take into account while using Tinder to find our future soulmates: many of our matches, and potential hook-ups, are actually robots that want to take us for all we’re worth. And unfortunately, these scammers are getting better and better at what they do.
Once they have established contact with their victim, the scammers use Tinder’s chat service to message their victim a link that will lead them outside of the app, usually to a premium service that takes users to a payment area (or any area where they may have to submit credit card credentials).
A seemingly less-dangerous variant of this scam encourages the victim to download some type of software, so that the bot’s creator can pocket some change for every visitor they deceive. In the worst cases, the download will contain a malicious code that might infect the victim’s phone.
Your “match” will lead you to a premium service area where you will have to pass through a payment page.
How can I detect them?
You will be able to recognize these scammers by the type of actions they attempt to carry out, like asking you to exit the app to an external private chat, tempt you with a better “glimpse of them” by asking you to pay for “their” videos or photos, or even try to play a game with you to see if you can beat them. They might attempt the classic “Nigerian Prince” illusion, and ask for a money transfer so they can buy a ticket to come see you, since they are so far away.
You can recognize these robots by the appealing yet limited phrases they use
You can also recognize the Tinder bots by their profile photos. The scammers use photos of models and actors from the internet, sometimes from pornographic pages, to attract their victims. If the procedure is automated, the language used will be very limited…whatever you say, the response will be similar. If you find anything like this, be suspicious!
Panda Security specializes in the development of endpoint security products and is part of the WatchGuard portfolio of IT security solutions. Initially focused on the development of antivirus software, the company has since expanded its line of business to advanced cyber-security services with technology for preventing cyber-crime.
