Anyone who’s dipped their toe into the often murky world of dating apps has come across a fake profile or a bot.
If you’re sitting here thinking that I’m wrong, try to remember all of your interactions: it’s almost guaranteed at least one was fake.
But who’s making these fake accounts and why? You might have heard some of the rumors that Tinder themselves are responsible for some of these accounts, that they do it as a way of bolstering numbers and keeping you interested.
The answer is a straightforward no, they don’t create fake accounts. That would be incredibly malicious, manipulative, and really, just bad business.
Fake profiles annoy people and are more likely to drive people away towards one of the ever-increasing, more specific other dating apps there, like Christian Mingle or Silver Singles.
But this just leaves us with more questions. If Tinder isn’t responsible for the multitude of fake accounts… who is? Check this article out to see a few of the people who might be.
So let’s look in a bit more detail about fake accounts on Tinder, starting with the most important question…
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What Percentage Of Tinder Profiles Are Fake?
This is a difficult question to answer completely accurately.
A lot of fake accounts don’t stay active for very long and just kind of float around in the dating app either, neither fully existing nor fully dead.
Should we count those? Probably not. If fake accounts are set up for the purposes of a romance scam, they’re pretty likely to become inactive once they’ve stolen the money they want.
That said, it is possible to estimate. This 2016 study from a cyber security agency estimates that 10% of new dating app profiles are fake.
I think it’s probably fair to assume that this number will have risen in the last five years, as very little has been (or can be) done to put an end to the practice.
It’s also fair to assume that, as the biggest and most famous dating app out there, Tinder probably has the fakest accounts.
So that means that it’s a fair bet that around 10% of profiles on Tinder are fake.
So potentially one in every 10 people you’re chatting with isn’t who they say they are.
The study also came up with some other cool facts about fake profiles. Like, did you know that male profiles are 21% more likely to be fake than females?
And what do you think is the most common age listed on a fake account? 36.
I would have expected the most likely fake ages to be women in their early 20s, which shows that I, the man you’re entrusting to teach you this stuff, know nothing.
So now you know how big the fake profile problem is, let’s answer the next obvious question. Why?
What’s The Point In Fake Tinder Profiles?
There are a few reasons people would set up a fake profile. The first and most obvious is the driving force behind most douchey behavior… money.
There are few people more vulnerable to being parted from their money by unscrupulous scammers than those who are looking for love. It’s horrible, cruel, and sad but it’s true.
Scammers look at dating apps and dollar signs flash in their eyes. Tinder is always going to be the biggest target as well.
Due to its fame, it’s most likely to attract the most noobs. The more noobs on a platform, the more likely you are to scam some of them.
The next reason is the second most powerful driving force behind douchey behavior… sex.
If somebody doesn’t like how they look or thinks there’s no way anyone will ever like them, they might be tempted to cosplay as an attractive person on the internet.
There are, of course, more reasons people might set up fake profiles, but these are by far the most common.
But why does Tinder allow these fake profiles, especially if companies like the one that conducted the study can spot them so easily?
Who knows. Maybe they don’t want to spend the money needed to detect the fakes.
Maybe they just don’t see it as an important issue. Or maybe fake profiles have a positive effect on them after all.
A more cynical man than myself might suggest that Tinder wants you to subscribe to their unlimited package so that you can swipe all day long.
Having fake profiles means there are more profiles for you to swipe, making you more likely to continue with one of the premium services.
But I wouldn’t possibly suggest that…
Does Tinder Create Fake Matches?
So we know that Tinder doesn’t actively create fake profiles (even if they do possibly benefit from their existence) but does Tinder create fake matches.
There’s no buzz quite like seeing that you’ve got a match and the more Tinder creates that buzz, the more likely you are to keep spending on it. So does it create fake matches?
The answer is no. Tinder does not create fake matches. The only way they would be able to do so would be if they were in control of the profiles, either by creating fake ones or hacking already existing accounts.
A lot of companies might use devious tactics to keep you engaged but doing this would be downright malicious and also massively illegal.
So no, it’s safe to say that Tinder certainly doesn’t create fake matches.
What they can do, however, is use their algorithm to show you people with who you are more likely to match. But this is good and works for both Tinder and yourself.
So we know that Tinder doesn’t create fake accounts, but it does still have a lot. It’s worth remembering that there are a huge amount of dating apps out there that all offer something special.
So if you want to see which app might be best for you, take my quiz.
