Although it has fewer complaints than its competitors, the beloved dating platform Bumble still deals with the “fake profile” issue.
Fake Bumble profiles have become a hindrance for the 50+ million active users trying to find love on the app—since eliminating every single scammer isn’t possible, we have to fend for ourselves.
This is why it’s essential to know the signs of a fake Bumble profile!
– Is the Bumble dating app safe?
It’s a bit tricky, you see.
In general, online dating platforms are perceived as an unsafe way to meet people—research by AIC discloses that 3 in 4 four survey respondents experienced sexual violence enabled via dating platforms.
We need to conduct background checks.
Bumble is an advocate for safety, however, and it makes the fact known with its many safety measures.
- Bumble bans users from displaying weapons, hate speech, fetishization, sexual harassment, and other vile behavior on their profiles.
It has a photo-verification procedure which upon completion, users get a badge confirming they are not a catfish.
Bumble also gives users the option of video-calling—which makes verifying a person’s identity way easier!
All in all, yes, Bumble is a safe dating app because of the many safety actions users can take to keep themselves safe while online dating.
We need to play our part too in safe online dating, though! This is how you can tell that a Bumble profile is fake:
1. Fake profiles on Bumble aren’t usually verified.
Like Tinder, Bumble also verifies its members with a badge—if they complete the photo-authentication process, the badge appears on their profile.
- The Bumble verification process is reviewed by a real person on Bumble’s team, making it problematic for catfishes to bypass it.
If you started talking to a match on Bumble, check if their profile has a verification badge (if you don’t see anything, it could be a fake account).
If you’re a verified account yourself, you can request for your match to verify their account and if they don’t, it’s a bad sign.
2. They always have an excuse as to why they can’t video chat!
On their page, Bumble encourages users to use their video chat feature before meeting people—which is an excellent idea.
- If the dating platform you’re a part of supports video calling, use it to your advantage to verify that your match isn’t a catfish.
If you keep asking your match to video-chat with you but they always whip out some silly excuse and cancel it at the last minute, they might be operating a fake Bumble profile.
3. Malicious catfishes and bots on Bumble are overly flirty or sexual.
Because a lot of dating app users are looking for romance (or something on the side), scammers have adopted this bold, overly flirty, and sexual persona.
Their hypersexuality (e.g. insisting you click a link to access their nudes) and tendency to over-compliment you are signs that this person is trying to make you fall for their trap.
4. They say they’re madly in love with you (even though you two just met)!
If your Bumble match starts professing their love within 15 minutes of meeting you, run. It’s a rule of thumb.
They’re telling you something that you want to hear and that’ll encourage you to do a specific action, like giving out your credit card number.
It’s very unlikely for a stranger online to fall in love with someone they’ve known for a few days—they’re tricking you.
5. Their replies are speedy but don’t make any sense.
If your Bumble match is typing long paragraphs and sending them to you all within a second, then they’re A) a bot, or B) a scammer stealing prompts.
Other than the speed at which they respond, look at how they respond! Do their replies make absolutely zero sense?
E.g. you ask them where they live, and they reply with something like, “You’re hilarious! I’ve never met someone like you. By the way, here’s my phone number.”
- Also keep an eye out for constant typos, irregular speech, and too many emojis (spread-out words, incorrect usage of letters, sexual emojis, etc.).
6. They want to move your conversation to other platforms…immediately.
Here we have scammers trying to gain valuable, personal information about their victims (like their phone numbers and social media accounts).
Although there’s nothing abnormal about asking for a person’s social media after getting to know them better, doing so from the beginning is a red flag.
It’s not recommended to give your number and handles to sketchy Bumble users who pressure you into moving your conversation elsewhere.
They know how strict Bumble’s guidelines are and insist on getting you off the platform in order to continue their sham!
7. They refuse to meet you in person/they’re very eager to do so.
Both of these instances are bad signs—let’s take them one by one!
If your Bumble match doesn’t want to meet up with you, they could be prioritizing their own safety, however, if it’s been a while and you two have even established a relationship, not seeing each other in person is suspicious.
This suggests that your Bumble partner has been lying to you about their identity.
And if they want to meet up ASAP right after meeting you, do not accept—they could be one or multiple dangerous people.
8. They don’t share important, basic details of their life.
They constantly take and learn information about you, but give nothing back—people with fake profiles on Bumble do this because they’re lying.
I want you to ask yourself this: “Do I know anything about this person? Like what their name is, what they work, or where they live?”.
If you don’t know valuable details like these, then no matter how much they insist your relationship is real, it’s not—they’re a risky individual.
9. There are no candid photos on their profiles, only professional ones.
This is how you can usually tell if someone’s a catfish or not.
- Their Bumble profile mainly consists of low-quality, professional pictures (most likely of a famous person)—if their profile has no photos, though, or at least no photos of their face, there’s still a possibility it’s fake.
Catfish pictures are quite easy to detect! Just look for pictures that are low-resolution and look too good to be true!
10. They ask you for money-related favors!
Probably for your credit card info or just straight-up gifts—actually, they’re trying to scam that information out of you by pretending to be someone else.
For instance, they keep telling you fairytales about how you’re the love of your life even though you’ve known each other for like, a day.
Stage 2 is asking you for money in the hopes that their little con has worked; if not a scammer, you’re dealing with a gold digger.
11. They’re literally too perfect to be true.
This sign isn’t as reliable because there are people whose lives and appearances are just that alluring!
But, when we think about it, if a person is using pictures of a really attractive person and claims to be a famous model leading the most interesting life, are they real? Probably not.
Objectively attractive individuals’ photos are commonly used by catfishes to capture their victims’ attention, so you could be getting catfished.
12. Fake Bumble profiles don’t have plausible bios or other information.
One of the first things we stress about when creating a new dating account is the perfect bio—it makes all the difference in finding matches!
So your person not caring about this could mean that they’re a bot (or a catfish, but a real person wouldn’t make the error of not picking a good bio).
It’s usually something like, “Looking for fun! I am a woman. Add me on [virus link]”.
- If their bio contains links or sexual content, then trust your gut and don’t interact with that user.
The same goes if they haven’t made any information available (e.g. the place they live in, their education, or job).
13. People with fake accounts on Bumble love sending links.
They randomly send them while you’re having a conversation! I hope you know that those links shouldn’t be clicked on as they contain viruses.
Scammers sell believable narratives, like telling you to add their phone number, social media profile, or other platforms.
Do not trust them.
14. Bumble catfishes often contradict themselves.
It’s like saying they live in a city one time, and a different city another time—their constant lying makes them contradict themselves.
Watch out for inconsistencies! If a person always changes their narrative (about what they work, where they live, etc.) then their profile is fake.
Their whole identity is actually fake, and their reasons for lying to you could be hazardous, so keep a keen eye on them.
– How to expose a fake Bumble profile?
Outsmarting a catfish is no easy work, but this wouldn’t be an issue if it were.
These are the tricks you can use to expose fake Bumble users, just make sure to pick a fitting method:
– Ask them to start a video call.
Thanks to Bumble’s video-chatting feature, we can confirm a person’s identity.
Ask your match if it’d be okay to have a video chat together—if they really don’t want to do that, they might be a catfish.
In case they are one, showing themselves live on camera will reveal their secret.
– To eliminate the possibility of them being a bot, use specific prompts!
For example, ask them something nonsensical to see if they stop to question you about it.
“Is stormy weather your favorite snack on your sleep?”
If the Bumble user is real, they’ll be confused and ask you what you meant by that—a bot will bug out or carry on saying something completely unrelated.
– Search the name they gave you on Google.
Google their alleged name and see if the information matches up.
If they’ve stolen another person’s identity, then the actual person’s social media accounts and photos should come up.
If they’re legit, then your Bumble match’s social media profiles will be shown to you! Doing this is recommended, but doesn’t exactly mean they’re not a dangerous person.
– Search their selfies on Google Lens.
Another way you can use Google to expose a Bumble catfish is by reverse-searching their images on Google Lens!
Go to the Google search bar and upload their image by clicking on the camera icon.
– Don’t ignore the signs.
If you get the feeling that something is wrong, don’t ignore it—no matter how small it is, your subconscious mind is noticing something.
Analyze your match’s behavior for any suspicious signs (like the ones I mentioned) and if they act that way, they’re up to no good.
It might seem unlikely to fall for such an “obvious” scam but trust me, some scammers are crafty and end up hurting unsuspecting people as a result.
– What to do after encountering a fake Bumble account?
To prevent yourself and other Bumble users from getting hurt, do the following:
1. Report the fake account.
Bumble takes all the reports they get very seriously, resulting in those accounts getting banned or at the very least restricted until further notice.
On their profile, scroll down and tap the Hide & Report or Unmatch & Report buttons—after that, choose your reason for reporting that specific user.
Do not hesitate to report faux profiles and keep fellow users safe!
2. Do not disclose sensitive information like phone numbers, social media handles, email, place of residency, etc.
Unless you’ve done everything you could to verify they’re real (like reverse image searching or finding their real socials), do not give out any details.
Wait until you’re comfortable enough to do it and don’t give in no matter how much they insist!
3. Do not agree to meet IRL, at least not without confirming that they’re not a threat.
No matter how desperate they are to see you in person, never accept unless you’re 100% certain your Bumble match is not a threat.
Even if you do decide to meet them, always pick public, familiar places, have a friend with you, and never hop inside their vehicle.
Fake Bumble profiles are a real issue—never forget this.
Sometimes we throw caution to the wind and think, “Fake dating profiles? Hah! I would never fall for them!”, but that’s not smart in the dating world.
Go above and beyond to keep yourself safe and never agree to do something you feel is not right just for the sake of the other person.
Aside from time-wasting bots and annoying scammers, dating apps are also home to genuinely dangerous catfishes.