Security News > 2022 > May > Photos of abused victims used in new ID verification scam
Scammers are now leveraging dating apps like Tinder and Grindr to pose themselves as former victims of physical abuse to gain your trust and sympathy and sell you bogus "ID verification" services.
BleepingComputer came across multiple instances of users on online dating apps being approached by catfishing profiles who ask these users to prove that they are not a former sex offender by buying these services.
The "GDAH" service claims to run the user's identity against known registered offender databases, but it is unclear if they actually perform this service as you are forced to enter payment information before being able to log into the site and learn more.
We also came across dozens of domains, which are still up, that claim to be online safety and ID check services and charge users the same nominal amounts in a similar fashion.
While these websites may actually perform the advertised services, there is no proof or guarantee that they do, and many of them have no contact information listed, which can certainly breed suspicion among users who are being led here by these dating profiles.
With rising online dating scams, users should be wary of profiles trying to lure them to use identity verification services, no matter how convincing their story may sound.