I told you that Tinder account was fake!

Alright, we've all either had or have a Tinder account and you may or may not be so active. Tinder is undeniably the biggest dating app in the world. Although it is also undeniably a great way to meet people (for whatever reason), we have to understand that we are very vulnerable on dating apps. With that being said, although this app may be fun in its on way, we must be careful because there will be people who are going to try to take advantage of you. From the many stories I've heard, it really does not matter whether you are male or female.

Real talk: I'm not a fan of tinder. I think it's sorta like an Instagram but for dating or one time dates, one time hook ups and since it's sorta Instagram, there's a little bit of superficiality behind every Insta- I mean, Tinder account. Sure, every dating app or website revolves around the same damn concept but MAN ain't it a dangerous place.

I've been wanting to write about this for a while. Not only have I experienced the absolute weird on Tinder but it pissed me the hell off when I had friends telling me about their encounters with fake accounts and bots. UGH BOO, YOU RUINED TINDER AND ALL THE FUN. But hey, can we really blame them? People can be intelligent yet do stupid shit but all of us get bored I guess.

SCREW EM! Well let's get to know a little bit of our cyber enemies shall we. There's a difference between fake accounts and bots. Their goals are rather different. In 2017, a survey stated that 52% of profiles online were confirmed to be bots. I am completely assured that the numbers are growing into 2019. A bots account main goal is to attain any sort of personal information for financial gain or potential scams. There were reports of women being scammed for transferring hundreds of thousands (RM) to men, sometimes seeking help or promising monetary returns on an investment etc. However all of them are just scams on the gullible and most vulnerable.

The thing about spotting a bot, sometimes you don't have to look so hard. Bots will send you phishing links that may get access to personal data.

Bots are always anxious to take the conversation elsewhere. They would give you a weird link to continue "chatting". However, the thing about bots is that you must realise they are just BOTS. That only means there is no real person at the other end of the conversation. Some pathetic idiot programmed a bot to reply a certain way that will phish for information which is why bots only respond to a limited amount of things in a very limited way.

Based on the picture above, you can see that bots will never respond to a cheeky comment/question the way a normal human being would. I would have simply replied "A Neverending Story had one of the best endings of all time and my eyes were sweating from how good it was". However, bots are certainly not programmed to respond like me but they will respond to certain keywords in a specific way. Basically, if you think they're a bot, ask them crazy question like "What would you do if I stabbed you in the eye with my pen?" Trust me, you'll know in an instant. My advice, please don't click any of these evil bots links!

Moving on, fake accounts are equally as dangerous. Although they may also phish you for information or personal data, their goal is more towards causing emotional damage. They are real people often tormenting people behind a fake account to stroke their ego (and/or dick), get someone to play along their cruel mind games which include saying things you want to hear or sexting and engage in up close conversation just to light up their crazy online fetishes. Lookout for the kind of profiles with only 1 picture. Come on, you're suppose to "sell" yourself on Tinder, an average Tinder account would have 3 to 5 pictures. Also, if they do have a string of pictures, look at quality. They might all be different quality, really edited and sometimes too good to be true. And really, if someone on Tinder seems too good to be true, they probably are.

This one weird guy I matched with seemed fake as hell because he was pretty damn gorgeous, bio and pictures were all on point. I knew once he started talking to me, "Sorry for being crude, but you and I would look great in bed together" From trying to sext, he would ask me really personal questions like "Have you had threesomes?" or " Would you date black guys?" I MEAN COME ON. Then, the final test which is KEY to finding out if the account is fake. I simply said to him, "How bout we take this conversation to WhatsApp" and a normal dude would send me his number in an instant no questions asked. This brotha said "Why the rush love?" What sort of high school musical bullshit is that? OH and one more very important thing, these fake accounts will reply you in an instant. Nah man, you won't have to wait really long for the conversation to escalate. The next thing I do is forward this creepy dude's profile to some groups with my girlies and BOOM, a girl friend of mine told me she found that same guy on another dating app, with the same string of pictures just a different name. PHONY. Come to think of it, he did seemed too good to be true. He even linked an Instagram account which was obviously fake but did not link a Spotify account and had no Spotify anthem. So in the end, I played along with this guy who eventually asked me out that night after work. I messaged him back on Tinder telling him I was done and he unmatched me so quick. Thinking back on all the weird personal questions he asked me, I'm glad I didn't answer any of them the way he wanted me to.

Whether you are bored, searching for true love or a hookup, Tinder can be a really fun place. My advice is just to be careful whenever you lurk on Tinder because you never know who's out there lurking with you. Just remember that not everyone has the same intentions on this dating app. Do not agree to meet anyone especially if you feel something off. I always get my bestie to call me half an hour after I've settled down with my date. Always suggest a public or open area to go on a date. And for the love of God, please do not give your personal contact number or address to just anyone who thinks you and them would look great in bed together.

Be safe kids & Have fun

DAN xx