Protect yourself from fraud

If we sent you a safety notice

We send a notice when someone you’d been messaging in the past 30 days is banned for fraud or for an identity issue. It doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. Here’s what to do:

1. Stop contact. Don’t send this person money or gift cards. If you moved the conversation to WhatsApp, text or anywhere else, block them there too.
2. Save what you have. Take screenshots of the conversation and any payment details they gave you. The chat stays readable in the app for now, but it can be removed later.
3. If you sent money or shared details, follow the steps below.

Money requests

People running these schemes may spend weeks building trust before anything is asked of you. The request is the warning sign, however real the relationship feels.

• An emergency: a medical bill, a stranded trip, a family crisis, a customs fee
• Payment through gift cards, wire transfers, Cash App, Venmo, Zelle or PayPal
• An investment tip: crypto, forex or a trading platform they can show you profits on
• Money to pay for a visit to you, with reasons why it keeps falling through
• Asking you to receive money and pass it on. That can get you in legal trouble

Other signs: pushing to leave the app quickly, avoiding video calls and meetings, and a story that changes.

Protecting your personal information

• Never share sign-in codes. MatchMachine can send a code to your email to sign you in. Nobody needs it but you, and we won’t ask for it.
• Keep bank details, card numbers, Social Security numbers and passwords to yourself.
• Take your time sharing your home address, workplace and daily routine.
• Be careful with intimate photos. Threatening to share them is a common way to demand money. If it happens to you, don’t pay. Save the messages and report it.
• A profile on MatchMachine isn’t proof of who someone is. We don’t check members' identity documents or run background checks.

Reporting someone

1. Open the person’s profile or your chat with them, and open the menu.
2. Tap Report and choose a reason: Spam, Scam or asking for money, Inappropriate content, Harassment, Fake profile, Underage or Other. For money requests, choose Scam or asking for money.
3. Blocking is separate, so tap Block as well if you don’t want to see them again.

You can still report someone after a match has ended. We don’t tell people who reported them. Our team reviews reports, and several reports from different people can suspend an account automatically while that happens.

To add details a report doesn’t have room for, such as screenshots or payment details, email [email protected]. Include the person’s first name and what happened.

If you’ve sent money or shared details

This happens to careful people. Act quickly, because it can help.

1. Call your bank or payment provider and ask about stopping or reversing the payment. For gift cards, contact the card’s company and keep the receipt.
2. Change passwords for any accounts they could reach, and turn on two-step sign-in.
3. If you shared identity details, consider freezing your credit with the credit bureaus.
4. Report it. In the US, use the FBI’s ic3.gov and the FTC’s reportfraud.ftc.gov. You can also go to your local police.
5. Tell us at [email protected], so we can look at the account.