Paktor Opposes Romance Fraud With Social Media Campaign

Paktor has launched a social media push to provide singles with simple tips on how to protect themselves when dating online.

The ‘Dating Safely’ campaign was created after crime stats revealed that Singaporean singles were scammed out of more than S$27.5 million (£16 million) in 2018. By way of comparison, a total of $143 million (£113 million) was lost by romance fraud victims in the US last year.

Eight pieces of advice about staying safe, both while using the app and when meeting someone for the first time, were posted to Paktor’s Instagram page.

The advice included researching the person online, blocking people who are being inappropriate, never revealing personal and financial information, and reporting all suspicious behaviour.

In addition, the offline tips for daters were to always meet in a public place, tell friends about where the date is, be responsible for transportation and stay sober.

Paktor has also reaffirmed its commitment to identifying fraudulent accounts and removing them swiftly from the platform.

Vipin Pal Singh, a member of the product team, said in a statement: “The three main suspicious activities are: User performing too many swipes in an incredibly short amount of time, or when user shares personal contact information very early on in photos or on their bio and of course, when we detect that inappropriate profile picture with explicit content is used.”

The Singapore government introduced a new law in May that makes ‘cyber flashing’ illegal. Anyone caught sending unsolicited naked images could receive a prison sentence of up to two years.

Visit the Paktor website here.