AdultFriendFinder profiles: 3 tips to sort legit from fake

Fake dating accounts have always been the bane of online dating, but with ubiquitous and cheap generative AI now able to falsify photos, videos, and profile bios, and even plausibly mimic a human in a text-based chat, vigilance is more important than ever. 

Because it's one of the world's oldest and largest online dating sites, and because of its adult content, AdultFriendFinder has attracted a lot of scammers over the years, resulting in an abundance of fake profiles. And while the company likes to boast of having hundreds of millions of accounts across the world, the truth is that many of these accounts are now inactive.

While this doesn't have to ruin your AFF experience, it does mean you have to use your judgment when it comes to where you focus your time and attention. Here are the best tips for sorting legit profiles from fake.

Prioritize verified accounts

To help combat fake profiles and give users greater peace of mind, AdultFriendFinder offers a chance for you to verify your profile using the Confirm ID service. It's a two-step process that's just involved enough to be effective without being overly onerous. 

First, you need to provide the site with a piece of government-issued identification. Next, the site will ask to scan your face via webcam. Completing this process verifies not only your profile but also your age, location, and gender, which will confer a blue checkmark on your profile that shows up in search results. Best of all, just because you used your ID and face scan to get the blue checkmark does not mean that you have to show your face on your profile, so if you're trying to keep a low profile but still want to give people confidence that you are who you say you are, the profile verification process is a must.

Once you've verified your profile, it's a good idea to limit your on-site interactions to other verified profiles as well. If you do decide to chat with unverified people, be especially vigilant about not sharing personal information about yourself.

Finally, don't assume that because a profile is verified, it is also legitimate; accounts can be sold or stolen, for example, so treat profile verification as a positive sign rather than perfect confirmation of the profile's legitimacy. 

Scrutinize their photos

Because people curate their own profiles, the photos they choose to share speak volumes about them, so if you're at all suspicious that you may be viewing a fake account, take a closer look at the pics the person has shared. If they look AI-generated, if they're all of professional quality, or if they're incredibly generic, these are all red flags.

To take things a step further, you can use a reverse image search on Google to see if the photos appear anywhere else (a strong indication that they're not original to the person or profile), or you can use a service like ZeroGPT or Sightengine to discover if they're AI-generated. 

Just as you look for red flags, you should also look for green flags, which would include photos with friends or groups of people, a mix of selfies and more staged shots, and photos that feature unique landmarks specific to your location, such as a well-known store, restaurant or public area.

Engage in conversation

If you're on the fence about whether or not a profile is fake, the next step is to actually talk to the person (or bot?) in question. This doesn't mean you should let your guard down, though — far from it. Pay very close attention to the things the other person says, the questions they ask, the replies they give. Here are some common red flags that indicate you're talking to a scammer or bot:

• They push for specific information about you early in the conversation

• They send links to outside websites or chat platforms like WhatsApp or Telegram

• They tell you a sad story to create a sense of urgency in you

• They ask for nude or compromising photos of you 

If you're still uncertain, you can request a video call or an in-person meet-up in a public place. Scammers will be reluctant to verify their identities over video calls and especially reluctant to — or even incapable of — offline meet-ups. 

Finally, remember that while all of the above are useful guidelines, they're not iron-clad or fool-proof, and a clever scammer, catfisher or bad actor can still find ways to circumvent these safeguards. Always be cautious with who you speak to and what you share, especially when it comes to personal or financial information, and under what circumstances.