Experts Discuss Online Dating Scams at Tech Show London
At Tech Show London, industry experts examined the growing issue of romance scams and the steps needed to improve safety on dating platforms. The panel discussion, Swipe Left on Romance Scams: Combating Romance Fraud Through Ethical App Design and Communication, featured Simon Newman, CEO of the Online Dating and Discovery Association (ODDA), and Becky Holmes, author of Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You, moderated by researcher Stephanie Hare.
The speakers highlighted how the pandemic accelerated online dating, creating new opportunities for scammers. Fraudsters take advantage of users’ emotional vulnerability, often attempting to move conversations off dating apps to encrypted messaging services, where scams are harder to track.
One key takeaway from the discussion was the need for friction – extra security measures such as ID verification, image checks, and AI-driven fraud detection. While app developers typically aim to reduce friction for user convenience, the panel argued that some level of security friction is essential to prevent scams. While making user experiences worse is obviously a bad outcome, providing overwhelming friction to scammers could make conventional scams much more time-consuming and hard to plan.
The panel also discussed deepfake technology, which has made online scams more sophisticated. “A year or two ago it was relatively easy to spot a deepfake, but now it’s really hard. We have to rely on tech to spot this as human capabilities are diminishing,” said Newman. As scammers refine their methods, dating platforms must invest in advanced AI detection and user education to combat fraudulent activity.
Legislation may also play a role in increasing platform accountability. The Online Safety Act has already introduced stronger age verification requirements and platform responsibilities. In the U.S., Congress is considering a Romance Scam Prevention Act as a larger solution, which would require dating sites to notify users if they are engaging with flagged accounts – something that would require new approaches to scam detection on many platforms.
