Lot's of chatter (whining? here about the increase percentages of bogus profiles. We all have to deal with them, and we all are looking for tips on how to spot them (preferably before we go through all the steps that proceed "her" ask for money upfront).  

 
Here's a list of what I consider yellow and red flags.  No single "flag" is necessarily definitive. But each additional flag adds the likelihood of a scammer/GPS Rob/Pig Butcher/Simp Farm disaster.  I'll break this into several categories:
1. Pics
2. Profile text
3. Logical flaws
4. Communication modes
5. Timing
6. Real world verification results

 
I will make a separate post for each of these. This is Part 1-Pics:  

 
The main profile pic is the first datum we see om a profile. It's probably fair to say that pic drives 90% of the reason we go on to look at the full profile. I'll go on to posit that most, if not all, of us don't even bother to look at profiles with no pics.  

For this discussion I will define pics into these categories:  
A. Solo selfies
B. Solo "location" shots
C. Multiple subject shots  
D. "Professional" shots versus "amateur" shots

 
Now think about the process a legit POT might follow to set pics on a profile. As she goes through the profile set up, she gets asked to add one or more photos. This typically comes as an afterthought, especially for POT's who are new and "testing the water" on Seeking. That means they will probably look on their phone for the latest pics available that make her look good. She probably doesn't have on her phone, or want to go look for, those pro shots from her prom or cousins' wedding. And she probably isn't going to travel to Paris, rent a G4 Jet, or drive to Maestro's Steak House in an evening gown at 9:30pm to get that perfect glamour lifestyle shot just to add it to her profile. She may have pics from her travel locations, but these will likely also be selfies, or opportunity shots taken on her phone.  

 
So what pics are likely to lend credibility to her profile? Selfies and non-pro shots are good. Staged "location" and Pro shots are bad. Multiple subject shots are possibly good or bad, depending on who else is in the pic and the location:  
- A night out with her besties at a local bar or at a rave, ,maybe sporting bikinis at the beach, all good.  
- Pics with a guy's arm around her, cropped or not, or pro-looking, staged with another model, are bad.  

 
Pic content: What's in the pic besides the POT? Look at the background, the visible objects around and in her hand. A home-bathroom selfie might show multiple girly products on the counter or in the shower. This tends to be good. Pics in a hotel can usually be spotted by looking at the door, which will have hotel locks, or the bed, which will have a lamp on each side and a corded phone, on one side, and finally power outlets on back of the nightstand or headboard. This could mean hooker (could be bad, could be good!), or scammer. The key question if it is not a  hotel selfie: Who took the pic?  For mirror selfies, look at her phone: Latest model iPhone (look at the multiple cams on the back), or early model (single cam means iPhone 8 or earlier). Is there an ID, credit card, or stickers on the back/ What are they and why are they there?  How is she dressed: vacation casual like T-Shirt and yoga pants or jeans, or designer clothes accessorized with designer stuff like a handbag, gloves, glasses, jewelry In other words, does she look like a regular babe from your area, or is she selling fashion for Vogue Magazine?  

 
Pic continuity: When using multiple pics, take in the full set. Are they 3 versions of the same place/time/action (like sitting in a car)? Are they from different places and times (like one at the beach, one at a Starbucks, one home)? Are all of these taken within a year or so? Is that really the same women in each pic? Does the setting match the background/lifestyle of the woman described by her profile?  Inconsistencies are generally bad.  

 
I will talk about profile text in Part 2.  

 
Feel free to add comments, questions or other tips on any of the 6 parts.  

 
Life is good

 
The Cat

Lotsa good food for thought here.  My personal pet peeve is when they post a bunch of head shots, but no body shot!  We all know that the descriptors such as slim, average, curvy, mean different things to different people.  I've seen some very chunky monkeys who call themselves slim!  So I wish they'd all post at least one really good head to toe photo that shows their figure! No baggy clothing either.  Doesn't have to be a bikini shot, although they are the best.  Any profile with only head shots is big yellow/red flag.

I've been dabbling with Seeking's sister site Whats Your Price (WYP) for the last 10 days.  WYP tweaks the model a bit in a few key ways:  

 
1. Generous (male) members offer an "incentive payment" to Attractive (female) members to accept a platonic date. Offers might range from less than $100 to well over $400, but the typical amount is usually $100-$150.
2. If the offer is accepted by both sides the generous member must spend some credits to unlock two-way messaging.  Credits cost between $0.25 and $0.50 each depending on the quantity purchased. And credits spent to unlock messaging increase with the offered amount (20 credits at $100, 25 at $125). Once messaging is unlocked, additional messages between the two are free.  
3. The presumed model is that at the 1st date a decision can be made to schedule additional dates outside the system if both parties agree.  
4. WYP does not have a searchable field for sugaring, but females are not prohibited (or even noticed) from stating a desire for an SD/SB arrangement.  

 
Background: I logged in after several months of inactivity, refreshed my profile text and pics and started looking at local profiles.  As I've bitched about many times in the past, profiles that list a location of "Los Angeles" are problematic as LA is simply HUGE.  A pot can easily be a 30, 40, 60, or even 120-minute (if traffic is unusually heavy) drive from me and still be in "LA."  So it's important to ask a POT early what part of LA she is in.  

 
Story for the day: I found a profile for a 28-yr old hot blond (at least an LA 8) in LA. Her pics had yellow flags all over them: Well-dressed without being slutty, upscale locations, and posed. No selfies or "hanging out" pics.  Out of curiosity, I made a low-ball offer of $100. Most profiles of women this hot, especially over 28 and living in an upscale area were suggesting they want an offer of at least $150-$300.  I expected her to counter with some absurd amount well over $250, but instead she accepted.  I spent the credits to connect with her and after opening her message, asked her what part of LA she was in.  She replied with a small neighborhood name I've never seen before. Looked it up on Google Maps and replied to her: "Not sure this will work, as you are at least a one-hour drive away from me with light traffic. Are you ok travelling to my area?"  She told me she was ok with it and that she had a car.  I was quite doubtful that a woman this hot would drive for an hour just to get $100, but no harm in continuing, for now...so w switched to text...  

 

By text, I sent her a recent pic of me and asked what she was looking for - the usual SD/SB qualification questions.  Her text responses were sometimes slow - as much as 2 hours - but we eventually settled on a day, time and location to meet for our paid date, and set the date agenda on working out arrangement details. Note that she had not sent a pic to me by text, which I consider unusual (another yellow flag). The day before I texted confirmation and the address for the restaurant. She confirmed. The day of (today) she sent me a text at 6:00 am acknowledging the address. I replied after 8:00 am and told her I was looking forward to our lunch.  That's when she blew it, and not in that wet, sloppy, "Daddy, fuck my face hard, please" kind of way that we all love so much.  

 
She sent two pics. Both were in what looked like a hotel room, both in a green cleavage-revealing swimsuit on the bed. I zoomed in on the 1st pic. No, not on her tits! I looked at the power outlets on the wall next to head of the bed. They were definitely not US outlets, more like European outlets. I made that observation within about 20 seconds of getting the pics. And at 25 seconds she sent this:  

 
Her: "I need $50 now, to get my nails done."  
Her: "I need to look good for you and for myself"  
RED FLAG ALERT activated.  

Here's the rest of the brief chat:  
Me: "I'm sure you look beautiful now. I will have your $100 incentive ready for you at the restaurant."  
Her: "I need like $50 now, to get my nails done. I don't want $100 incentive because this is our first date."  
RED FLAG ALERT activated again.  
(The whole point of WYP is that women get paid to eat. Over the years I have met many "professional daters" on WYP, They try to get 3 to 5 dates a week for $100-$300 per date. This works out to around $800 per week, or $3,3,60 a month, or $41,600 a year for letting simps watch her eat salads.  No attractive member EVER forgoes the incentive payment.)
Me: "(Her name), I never send cash in advance. Shall I cancel our date?"
Her: "Ok. Yes you should cancel our date." I think she thought she was calling my bluff, and I would backtrack fearing losing my "chance" to meet a hottie. But obviously I was not bluffing.  
Me: "Ok, Good luck in your search."  

 
If she had not sent those pics I may have assumed she was just new and trying to follow some Reddit thread's bad advice. I might have tried to talk her back from the cash advance.  But there was no need for a  Hail Mary pass here.  I won't bother reporting her to WYP for the same reasons I don't report or block POT's on Seeking.  

 
Fortunately, as I was texting her (if it really was a "her") I got an offer accepted from a local POT who's pics and profile were easily verified. I know who she is and she's looking for an arrangement. I messaged her today with my text number and am awaiting her message.  

 
Life is good

 
The Cat

Herb, thanks for walking us through this encounter.  I always wondered just how WYP worked.  The last minute request to send them $$ is a consistent scamming technique across all dating platforms I imagine.  I run into it all the time.  And I always tell them that I never send $, so that's generally the end of it.  The worst outcome is the opportunity cost.  I will have reserved the day and the time to meet "her"  which I could have used to better purpose.  Last minute blowups like that are very annoying.