Estimates suggest that approximately one out of every ten online dating profiles is fake, resulting in nearly $50 million lost to scammers annually, as reported by the FBI.

With the rise in popularity of online dating applications, even platforms like Bumble are not immune to complaints about fake accounts and romance scammers. Just several months ago, a Redditor shared his detailed story with a romance scammer matching on Bumble¹. He met a very attractive girl who soon exchanged phone numbers and had a video chat with him, but she later asked him to pay her rent because her bank account was frozen.

If you’re a Bumble user and have encountered issues with fake profiles, this post offers five methods to help you distinguish them from genuine users. Additionally, these strategies can assist you in determining whether someone you’re interacting with might be a scammer or not.

Signs of Bumble fake profiles

After reviewing forum posts, we have listed common signs of fake accounts, some of which are real user experiences. For example, a user successfully identified two problematic accounts by requesting video chat, which they declined².

• Poorly written Bumble bio (grammatical or strange mistakes, blank sections)
• Only one photo, poor quality images, or no face shots
• Endless excuses to avoid meeting up or video chat
• Asks to chat off the dating app or on other sites
• Sends odd links
• Messages full of errors or copies of generic messages
• Asks for personal financial information (bank or card info)
• Moves too fast (e.g. sudden intimacy)
• Keeps contradicting themselves
• Seems too good to be true

How to spot fake accounts on Bumble?

The best way to identify fake Bumble profiles is to try and find out the real identity and information about the account owners, so that you can know in a matter of minutes if they’re lying.

Method 1 Cross-search social platforms

This trick stems from Bumble’s registration process.

As the app shows, you can create an account via Facebook login or with your phone number. Not to mention that many individuals use the same or similar usernames across various online platforms. All make it possible to cross-search social network, especially Facebook, to get profile owner’s information.

Simply search the Bumble username on social media and search engines to see if there is any luck.

With more profiles and posts, you’ll be able to learn more about that person, before making financial decisions or building a romantic relationship.

If nothing turns out, don’t be sad. Try BeenVerified reverse username lookup — a tool that enables people to access publicly available information and compile it into a detailed report.

Just enter a username on this search page and click Search Now.

You’ll be redirected to a result page where your report will be generated in minutes. You may find the username owner’s real name, contact info, other social media accounts, photos, criminal records and more.

Method 2 Unveil identity with phone number

As mentioned above, Bumble features a phone number as one of the sign-up methods. Therefore, if you know a Bumble user’s phone number, you can run a reverse phone number search to unveil his identity.

PeopleLooker is capable of identifying a phone number by scouring millions of public records in an attempt to gather as much information as possible. It may include:

Step 1. Go to the PeopleLooker search page, enter a phone number and click Search.

Step 2. Wait minutes to get your report, which lists all potential owners of the phone number in the report.

You can click Search person to further obtain a specific person’s detailed info. Also, PeopleLooker is a subscription-based service, and you need to pay to access the report.

Method 3 Spot Bumble fake profiles with image

Some scammers fake an attractive profile by using a high-quality image they stole online. Since a profile image is a must for Bumble users, you can use it to do a reverse image search. Social Catfish uses proprietary technology to scan millions of social profiles and even forums, ensuring you get the best coverage and most accurate results.

Upload Image >>

With the image uploaded to Social Catfish, you may find the photo’s information about when it was taken, what device was used, and what editing software was applied. In addition, you can find exact and similar image matches in the report, with link addresses attached. Therefore, you can find out what website or social account has posted this image.

Hire a Search Specialist

TIP: If you’re serious about learning as much as possible about the person, and you want guaranteed results, you can pay for a Social Catfish Specialty Service. The people search experts at Social Catfish will do all the hard work for you, using the same tools that the FBI uses. And they guarantee they’ll find the person.

Method 4 Search with Google image

If you don’t want to pay for image reverse service, you can take advantage of search engines like Google Image. Though it may be as accurate and effective as Social Catfish, you’re still likely to get some valuable results, especially when the image is related to famous places and people.

Step 1. Browse google.com and click the camera icon.

Step 2. Paste the image link and click Search. Or you can upload the image by dragging it or uploading it from your computer.

You can also just right-click an image in the Google browser and click Search image with Google Lens to look up the image.

Method 5 Uncover fake profiles with name

TruthFinder is an online public records search service that provides background checks and people search capabilities. It allows users to search for information about individuals, including their personal and contact details, criminal and traffic records, social media profiles, and more.

TruthFinder searches data from various available public sources to create detailed reports on individuals. Just enter a name in the above search box and it could provide you with a detailed report showing someone’s associated social accounts including Bumble. Note that you’ll need to purchase a plan to view the report.

Method 6 Consult friends

If you have a feeling that something is wrong, don’t hesitate to consult your friends or family. Let them know about your situation and keep you safe financially and physically.

How to report Bumble fake accounts?

To report someone from their profile:

Scroll to the bottom of their profile and tap the Hide & Report or Unmatch & Report button. Choose one of the report reasons and include any additional comments. Then tap Submit report.

To report a user from the Conversations menu:

From the conversation, tap on the three dots in the top right-hand corner. From here, tap Block & Report. Be sure to specify the reason as Fake profile for the report and submit it.

Protect your privacy when dating online

Numerous instances have arisen where dating apps have been implicated in the inadvertent exposure of users’ private data to third-party applications. This has led to the unintended disclosure of not just users’ geographical information, but also their photos and other sensitive particulars. As time has progressed, concerns regarding the security of digital information have escalated.

Free Dark Web Scan >>

If the prospect of your personal data being compromised troubles you, one possible avenue for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones from potential fraud and data breaches is the utilization of identity theft protection services like Aura. This service aims to provide comprehensive protection across all your devices.

1. Scams [Dramatic_Quarter_323]. (2023, October 10). Could this Hot Girl I matched with be a Scam? [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/17417sh/could_this_hot_girl_i_matched_with_be_a_scam/ ↩︎
2. [Admin]. (2015, April 6). Catfish (fake profiles) [Online forum post]. CDFF. https://www.christiandatingforfree.com/forum/forum_details.php?topic_id=21312&forum_sub_cat_id=3 ↩︎

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