A year ago, I posted some tips on dealing with online dating scammers.
Today I discovered another scammer, so I have another tip: Reverse image search!
Ctrl.org has a Reverse image search. You upload an image, and the site searches the web for matches of that image.
Here’s the situation: A year and a half ago, I “liked” someone’s profile on OKCupid, and was told that he had “liked” me. So I sent him a short message. Then he never was online again. I figured he’d found someone else, but why didn’t he delete his profile?
Anyway, a couple days ago, he answered my message! But when I asked what the story was behind the year and a half absence, he said something about a long trip! Ummm, that’s a long trip.
On top of that, though he’s answering more quickly than a year and a half, he’s not exactly forthcoming or eager to talk with me.
And then I thought to do a reverse image search.
Sure enough! His picture comes up — on a Romance Scam site. The original photo is from a modeling agency. (I had thought he was maybe a little too good-looking to be real.)
I strongly suspect he’s a scammer with multiple profiles and had let that one rest for awhile.
I’m going to be doing this a little more often, any time I have any doubts at all.
I’m now torn between triumph and frustration. Triumph that I figured out this guy. Frustration that someone who seemed nice — isn’t.
But in the long run, I think I’ll go with triumph.