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11/07/2026 8:34 pm
TL;DR: Romance scams, synthetic profiles, and AI-generated sextortion are driving measurable losses across dating platforms, with global romance-related fraud exceeding $1 billion in 2024 and older adults losing $389 million, according to Incode’s cited sources. Identity verification is no longer a front-end convenience layer; it is core fraud infrastructure for protecting users, retention, and platform trust.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Incode: Romance Scams Are Everywhere. Does Your Dating Platform Have the Right Protection in Place?
By the numbers:
- In 2024, global romance-related fraud exceeded one billion dollars.
- $389 million in romance scams that same year., ce scams that same year.
- Barclays reported a 20 percent rise in romance scam reports in the UK in early 2025.
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should security teams stop romance scams at account onboarding?
A: Security teams should treat onboarding as a trust decision, not a form-filling exercise.
Q: Why do dating platforms need more than basic identity checks?
A: Basic checks can confirm that a user exists, but they do not prove the account is authentic, safe, or resistant to abuse.
Q: What do teams get wrong about fraud prevention in consumer identity flows?
A: Teams often focus on friction reduction and miss that fraudsters exploit trust gaps, not just technical gaps.
Practitioner guidance
- Separate proofing from age assurance Define which checks prove age, which prove account authenticity, and which only reduce abuse risk.
- Add layered synthetic identity signals Combine liveness detection, document analysis, device fingerprinting, and behavioural anomaly monitoring at onboarding.
- Block high-risk accounts before messaging begins Apply stronger review to accounts that show rapid profile completion, repeated device reuse, or suspicious location shifts before they can initiate conversations.
What's in the full article
Incode's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:
- Specific identity verification workflow options for dating and marketplace onboarding
- Product-level examples of liveness detection, facial biometrics, and document checks in consumer apps
- Implementation framing for blocking synthetic profiles before they can message or match
- Brand and user trust messaging that sits alongside verification controls
👉 Read Incode's analysis of romance scams and dating platform identity verification →
Dating platform identity verification: what fraud teams need now?
Explore further
11/07/2026 9:02 pm
Consumer identity verification has become fraud infrastructure, not just onboarding hygiene. Dating platforms that treat identity checks as a conversion trade-off are already operating on a broken premise. The article shows that romance scams, synthetic profiles, and AI-generated abuse can scale faster than manual moderation can absorb. Practitioners should frame verification as a control that protects trust, retention, and liability at the same time.
A few things that frame the scale:
- 97% of NHIs carry excessive privileges, increasing unauthorised access and broadening the attack surface, according to Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
- Only 5.7% of organisations have full visibility into their service accounts, according to Ultimate Guide to NHIs.
A question worth separating out:
Q: Who is accountable when a platform allows synthetic profiles and romance fraud?
A: Accountability usually sits across product, trust and safety, security, and compliance. Product defines the onboarding journey, security sets proofing standards, and trust and safety manages abuse response. If those roles are not explicitly aligned, the platform will optimise for sign-up speed while absorbing the cost of fraud later.
👉 Read our full editorial: Dating platform identity verification is now fraud infrastructure
