Two things go wrong far more often than anything else: someone asking you for money, and someone pushing to move off the site before anything has been established. Both are worth treating as a warning sign immediately, not afterwards.
Not for a gift card. Not for help with a medical emergency. Not for a customs fee, a legal bill, a phone top-up or the airfare to come and see you. Not as a loan they will pay back next week. This is the single most consistent pattern in romance fraud and it is the reason this page starts here rather than with meeting in person.
The ACCC's Scamwatch is the Australian authority on this and publishes current guidance at scamwatch.gov.au. It is worth ten minutes before you talk to anybody, not after.
If it happens to you, stop replying, report the member to us, and report it to Scamwatch. If you have already sent money or handed over identity documents, tell your bank immediately and contact IDCARE, which supports Australians through identity theft and misuse at no cost. Nobody at either place is going to make you feel foolish, and speed matters more than dignity.
Being asked to switch to a personal number or another messaging app within the first few exchanges is the second pattern, and it usually precedes the first. It moves the conversation somewhere we cannot see it and cannot help if something goes wrong.
There is nothing wrong with moving a conversation eventually. Most people do. What is worth noticing is somebody who is unusually insistent about doing it quickly, particularly if they have a reason why they cannot keep talking here.
You decide which photographs go on your profile and you can take them down at any time. Nothing you have not uploaded is shown.
Nobody is entitled to photographs you have not offered. If somebody asks and you would rather not, no is a complete answer, and somebody who asks again after a no has told you something useful about themselves. Sending nothing costs you nothing here.
If somebody threatens to share images of you, or shares them without your consent, that is image-based abuse and it is unlawful in Australia. The eSafety Commissioner has the power to have material removed and handles exactly this, at esafety.gov.au. Report the member to us at the same time.
There is no reason to give anybody your home address, your date of birth, your bank details or a copy of your licence or passport to talk on a dating site. Anybody asking for those has a reason and it is not a good one. Be careful too about how much you give away without being asked: the suburb, the workplace and the name of the local club are enough for somebody to find you.
You can block a member, which stops them reaching you, and you do not have to explain yourself. You can report a member, and a report is read by a person. You do not need to be certain and you do not need to justify it. A report about somebody who turns out to be harmless costs nothing. A report not made about somebody who is not harmless costs somebody else a great deal.
Reports are read by a person and acted on.
If you are a woman weighing this site up, dating for women over 50 covers photographs, blocking and ending a conversation in more detail. Pricing covers billing and cancelling.
A request for money, in any form and for any reason. Nobody genuine will ask you. Not for a gift card, not for a medical emergency, not for a fare to come and see you.
Because it moves the conversation somewhere we cannot see it and cannot help. There is nothing wrong with moving eventually. There is something wrong with being pushed to move in the first few messages.
The report is read by a person. You do not need to justify making one and you do not need to be certain.
To the ACCC's Scamwatch. If money or identity documents are involved, IDCARE provides free support to Australians, and your bank should be told immediately.
That is image-based abuse and it is unlawful in Australia. The eSafety Commissioner can have material removed and is the body to contact, alongside reporting the member to us.
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