On first glance, scammy dating profiles have nothing but green flags. They're verified accounts, often posing as handsome men in their 40s. Their photos tell the story of a laid-back, yet exciting life — gym selfies, beach trips, a snowy hike in the Alps — except for the very last picture. It's not a photo at all, but an illustration, clearly AI-generated, depicting a totally different person's face pasted onto a billboard, a bobble head, an anime character, or an oil painting. One weird picture might not be enough to raise alarm bells (seasoned swipers have seen much worse on the apps), but, as journalist Christophe Haubursin uncovered, it is a surefire sign of a romance scammer. And if you're not careful, they can drain your wallet before you go on one coffee date (1). How the scam works Haubursin, a former Vox journalist and now independent YouTube creator, first heard about the issue when a friend showed him screenshots of strange Tinder matches. All the accounts were verified, and they all seemed totally normal — except for the AI images at the end. She wondered if this was some kind of subtle signal. Could these people be in a secret society? It was nothing so romantic as that. Haubursin figured out that, once you chat with one of these users, they quickly try to move the conversations to WhatsApp and steer the topic to cryptocurrency. They eventually pressure their would-be sweethearts to urgently send money. It's obvious scammer behavior. So what's with the odd images? They're a way to get around security features like Tinder's Face Check. To get a "verified" badge on a dating app, you need to take a video of your face from several angles, much like you would do to set up FaceID on an