How common are fake profiles on dating apps, who gets targeted, what platforms are doing about it, and how AI-generated photos have changed the game. Data from Pew Research, McAfee, FBI IC3, FTC, and platform transparency reports.
Sources: Pew Research Center • McAfee • FBI IC3 • FTC • Updated July 2026
The most comprehensive survey data on catfishing comes from a Pew Research Center study of 6,034 US adults in 2022. Key findings:
Source: Pew Research Center, "Online Dating in America" (2022) — nationally representative survey of 6,034 US adults
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Catfishing has fundamentally changed since AI image generators became publicly accessible in 2022. Scammers no longer need to steal real people's photos — they generate entirely fictional faces that have no real-world identity to trace.
Key findings from McAfee's 2026 study on deepfakes and online dating:
The implication: reverse image search — the traditional way to catch catfish — is now ineffective against AI-generated photos. A synthetic face has no online presence to trace. The only reliable detection method is AI-based image analysis.
Source: McAfee, "Deepfakes and Online Dating" (2026) • FBI IC3 2024 Annual Report
Every major dating platform removes millions of fake accounts — yet catfishers keep coming. Here's what the transparency data shows:
| Platform | Fake Account Data | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tinder | 5.8M guideline violations H1 2024; 44 spam removed/minute; 5M+ blocked at sign-up Q1 2023; Face Check (Oct 2025) reduces bad actors by >60% — but optional | Match Group transparency reports |
| Bumble | ~900K fake accounts blocked/month; Deception Detector blocks ~95% of fake profiles before interaction; 46% of women anxious about fake profiles on dating apps | Bumble safety reports 2024 |
| 1.1 billion fake accounts actioned Q4 2025; 27.67 billion removed since Oct 2017; 57% of all FTC scam-origin reports came from Facebook (2023) | Meta quarterly enforcement reports • FTC 2023 | |
| 80.6M fake accounts removed H2 2024; 86M removed H1 2024; catches 99.7% before user reports — still leaves ~30K escaping quarterly | LinkedIn Transparency Report H2 2024 | |
| Hinge | ~300K suspicious accounts removed/month; Match Group portfolio member; younger demo (20–29 primary age group) | Match Group enforcement data |
| POF (Plenty of Fish) | Accounts for 78% of all fake dating app installations detected by McAfee; free model creates lower account friction for scammers | McAfee mobile security research 2026 |
Platform data from company transparency reports and third-party research. Enforcement figures represent accounts actioned, not necessarily fake accounts created — scammers create new accounts continuously.
Catfishing does not affect all demographics equally. Key risk data:
The most targeted demographic by scammers is not necessarily the most financially harmed. Adults over 60 lose more money per incident, while adults 40–49 are most likely to file reports. Young adults (18–29) report the highest rates of sending money to someone they met online — but their individual losses tend to be lower.
Sources: Pew Research Center 2022 • FBI IC3 2024 • Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) 2023
52% of online daters think they have encountered a scammer, and 62% of people who used a dating app in the past year said they saw what appeared to be a fake profile (Pew Research 2022, n=6,034). 72% of male dating app users reported encountering a scammer or fake — compared to 28% of female users. 40% say platforms do a poor job of removing fakes.
1 in 4 Americans (25%) encountered an AI-generated or AI-modified photo on a dating app in 2026 (McAfee). 35% of respondents specifically spotted an AI-generated photo while dating online. 55% of malicious clones on Tinder now use AI-generated images — meaning AI-generated photos are now more common than stolen real photos in scam profiles.
$672 million was lost to romance and confidence fraud in 2024 (FBI IC3, 17,910 complaints). The FTC recorded $1.14 billion in 2023 romance scam losses. The Consumer Federation of America estimates the true annual total is approximately $4.7 billion when including unreported cases — only about 1 in 7 victims ever reports a romance scam to law enforcement. Average victim loss: $37,521.
Tinder does not disclose a percentage. Based on enforcement: Tinder removed 5.8 million accounts for guideline violations in H1 2024, and blocked an estimated 5 million bot/spam accounts at sign-up in Q1 2023 alone. Match Group's Face Check verification (Oct 2025) reduces bad actor exposure by over 60%, but it's optional — millions of unverified profiles remain on the platform.
The most reliable method is an AI image detector. Traditional reverse image search only catches stolen real photos — it won't find AI-generated faces, which are increasingly common. Faux Spy is a free Chrome and Firefox extension that analyzes any photo on any website and returns an instant AI vs. Real verdict with a confidence score. Right-click the photo and click "Investigate with Faux Spy" — results in under 2 seconds, no uploading required.
LGBTQ+ users are 2.5x more likely to encounter fake profiles than non-LGBTQ+ users (ITRC 2023). Male users encounter scammers at higher rates than female users (72% vs. 28%, Pew 2022). Adults 40–49 file the most FBI reports, while adults 60+ lose the most money per incident. Being in a vulnerable period — recent divorce, loneliness, new to online dating — significantly increases risk regardless of age.
Bumble blocks approximately 900,000 fake accounts per month using its Deception Detector system, which blocks roughly 95% of fake profiles before any interaction with real users. Despite this, some fakes slip through — especially those using AI-generated photos, which don't trigger most behavior-based detection signals. Bumble's photo verification confirms a selfie matches the profile but doesn't detect AI-generated images in the photo gallery.
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