APAC/SG, 3 October 2024 - Tinder is partnering with the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency in the first weeks of October to launch an in-app romance scam prevention campaign, marking World Romance Scam Prevention Day. The campaign aims to empower users with resources on how to protect themselves from romance scams and have a safer online dating experience.
World Romance Scam Prevention Day, which falls on October 3 every year, is founded to raise additional awareness and education around the issue of romance scams. These romance scams are becoming increasingly complex, and victims might overlook potential warning signs or red flags. Scammers typically befriend their victims first before developing a relationship, often to gain their trust and affection. Once they gain victims' trust, they eventually start to make financial demands such as asking for living expenses or offering lucrative investment opportunities. These types of scams are relatively new in Korea, especially with the rise of deepfakes and Tinder is partnering with the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency to help create a safer dating environment by recognizing the need to provide relevant information to help daters stay vigilant and informed.
The campaign will run from October 3 to 10, and Tinder users in Korea will see an in-app card to watch out for romance scams when they access the Tinder app. Users will learn information on the key signs of romance scams and reporting channels in case of harm such as local police agencies or Tinder. They will also be directed to more information on online dating safety via a link to Tinder's Korean Dating Safety Guide. Users can also browse the official social media channels of Tinder Korea and the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency for available tools, resources, and information about romance scam prevention and how to respond to them.
Jungwon Bae, a professor at Sejong University and the representative of the Center for Happy Sexuality Culture, said, “Recently, there has been increasing public interest when it comes to dating safety. From the beginning of a relationship to maintaining it, users' interests in safe dating are becoming more diverse and sophisticated. It is important for relevant organizations and industry stakeholders to share the right information and open up the conversation about dating safety, including romance scams.”
Papri Dev, VP of APAC Communications at Tinder said, “Our goal is to make Tinder the safest place to meet new people.” “This campaign is part of our efforts to drive a thriving fun and safe dating culture in Korea for young adults. We will continue to educate people about dating safety and preventing potential online scams, including romance scams, and to pave the way for fun and safe online dating experiences.”
Tinder is committed to online dating safety, having launched the ‘Dating Safety Guide’ and the ‘Share My Date’ feature earlier this year. Through ongoing investments in trust and safety, Tinder has been the first to market with many safety technologies and has introduced over 20 safety innovations in the past three years, including selfie video verification and features like ‘Does This Bother You?’, ‘Are You Sure?’ that detect explicit messages on the app.
