We’ve all heard the horror stories: going to meet a girl and waking up in a bath filled with ice, missing a kidney, or worse ending up in a serial killer’s basement, having to cut your own leg off to escape.
But does this really happen? Those two examples… probably not. But there are more dangers out there than murderers and kidney thieves. So are the dangers of dating apps scary enough that it’s worth missing out on a hook-up?
Related: Is Bumble Just A Hookup App?
Today we’re going to be looking at Bumble and answering the question: is Bumble a safe dating app?
The short answer is, as dating goes, Bumble is one of the safest apps out there. There’s always going to be some danger when you’re meeting a random person off the internet and there’s always the chance you’re being scammed but, to be fair to Bumble, it does its best to minimize these.
There’s no way to completely get rid of these dangers: online dating will always be a bit risky. If you’re really worried, it might be worth investing in a paid site like eHarmony or EliteSingles.
But if money’s tight (I know, it’s always tight… especially when you’re trying to impress the hotties with fancy dates), it seems that Bumble is one of your best bets.
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How Safe Is Bumble?
Well, according to a recent survey, most women said that they feel safer on Bumble than any other app. Pretty impressive, right? But it’s not really that much of a surprise.
Bumble’s whole deal is making women feel safer. Women have to make the first move, which puts them in control of the whole conversation.
It’s just an unfortunate fact that men are more likely to be the dangerous, creepy ones, so giving women this power is bound to make the whole thing a bit safer.
It also makes it about 1000X less likely that you’ll be getting those 4 am “you up” or “nudes?” texts.
Bumble is also pretty quick to ban abusive users, which you can read about in my article here, so if somebody seems like they’re not safe to be around, just report them and Bumble will jump on it.
What Are The Dangers Of Bumble?
Of course, there are more dangers out there than simply receiving an abusive text.
There’s always an element of danger when meeting a stranger and so you really need to have your wits about you.
While Bumble claims it puts the safety of women first (and they definitely do, to an extent), there are accounts of women reporting IRL sexual assault to Bumble and receiving nothing in response, which is pretty appalling for an app that prides itself on safety.
Unfortunately, sexual assault is a very real danger whatever the app.
Bumble is safer than other apps in this respect, simply because it has fewer users.
The more niche the app, the fewer dickheads it’s going to attract.
But what about other dangers? For example…
Can You Get Scammed On Bumble?
The short answer to this is, of course, yes, you can be scammed on Bumble. You can get scammed anywhere and, sadly, scammers are getting cleverer all the time (unless people are getting more stupid…).
So What Kind Of Scams Are You Likely To See On Bumble?
Basically, all of the scams you’re likely to encounter on Bumble (or any other dating app) will be based around catfishing.
It’s 2023, so I’m sure I don’t need to explain what catfishing is, but for those of you who live in a hole, catfishing is when you use someone else’s pictures, pretending it’s you, to attract people.
But not all catfishers are trying to steal from you. The vast majority are likely just lonely, boring losers.
So let’s ignore them and focus on the more dangerous catfishers, the ones known as “romance scammers”.
Romance scammers are a particularly low group of scammers who prey on people’s desire for a human connection.
They’ll hook people in with fake pictures, like a normal catfish, but then, when you’re hooked, they’ll start asking for cash.
Maybe their mom’s ill and they need a few bucks to see her, or maybe they can’t afford to come and see you so need you to transfer some cash.
These might seem obvious, but people fall for them all the time. The things a horny bro will do for a pretty face…
Is Your Privacy Safe With Bumble?
Honestly, privacy is an area where Bumble doesn’t quite shine.
They have some really good things, for example, they make it very easy to delete your data if you want to take a break and not have your profile show up.
They’ve also taken some other steps to protect your privacy, for example, you don’t have to sign in through Facebook anymore and they have an option to sign in using a phone number instead.
This is good because all of your info is public so anything that’s on your Facebook will also be on your Bumble if signing in this way, so any hacker who wants to could potentially see it all.
Possibly even those pictures from your boy’s holiday in 2011…
However, in November 2020, there was a pretty major security bug that ended up showing basically all of their members’ private information to anyone with a bit of technical know-how.
That included all kinds of random facts like height, weight, and political leanings. Scary stuff…
How To Be Safe On A Bumble Date?
While you obviously can’t always guarantee your safety, there are definitely some things you can do to make sure you’re as safe as possible.
First off, as the old saying goes: if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
If a straight 10/10er messages you getting hot and heavy quickly, think twice before believing her and, most importantly, never, ever send cash to people you don’t know.
In terms of IRL safety, there is something you can do to help yourself, Bumble gives some good ideas here.
However, it basically amounts to the usual advice for meeting a stranger: meet in public, tell someone where you’re going, do your best to make sure they are who they say they are (FaceTime them, Google them), and, most importantly, if someone seems sketchy or is giving off bad vibes, don’t be scared to dip TF out of there.
So that’s Bumble. It’s pretty safe if you don’t send money to pretty strangers. There’s the danger that comes with some humans being horrible, but that’s not exclusive to Bumble.
If Bumble doesn’t seem like the right app for you, take my dating quiz to see what our fancy, magic personality test thinks is best.
So, until next time, stay safe out there folks.
