I bought a hookup ID. And I couldn’t believe what happened next.

How irresistible? Thousands of men across the Internet are opening up their wallets and paying $30 or more for fake “hookup IDs”. With 60 million online dating users in the US alone, my best guess is the scammers are raking in seven figures.

In this post I dissect how this scam works, and what happened when I posed as a victim and bought a hookup ID. I documented the entire process with screenshots and will walk you through all of it. But first, a little more background on this scam.

How the Hookup ID Scam Works

If you’re a man using online dating apps there’s a very good chance you have been exposed to the scam. Maybe you even fell for it.

Update February 2020: Hundreds of men have written in and it’s clear that there are MANY versions of this scam. Dozens, if not hundreds. It goes by many different names, which we will get into further below. Just because it does not follow the below pattern does not mean you’re not being scammed.

I learned about this scam after encountering it myself, and decided to research it further. Eventually, I went ahead and put my credit card down and bought a hookup ID just to see what would happen (more on that later). The scam typically goes something like this:

• You match with a really attractive woman on tinder, or some other app.
• “She” chats with you, tells you she finds you attractive.
• She tells you she wants to meet you and is down for a hookup, in order to feel safe she needs you to get verified and see your hookup ID.
• She has also sent you a link to her own hookup ID profile (she wants you to do the same).
• Because she really is extremely hot, you are willing to do just about anything. You ignore the voice in the back of your head telling you something here is not right.
• Next thing you know you’ve clicked on the link she sent you and plunked down your credit card, only to never hear back from her again.
• Bonus: You kick yourself because suddenly it is so obvious.

The Oldest and Most Widespread Romance Scam

The hookup ID romance scam has been around since 2016 and is still going strong today. How do I know it’s still going strong today? They are running expensive Google Pay-per-Click ads. Just run a search for “hookup ID” and you will see these ads everywhere. They look surprisingly legitimate.

Ads like these typically cost one dollar more every time you click on them and at scale that really adds up. If the scammers are spending thousands of dollars on these ads it means people are following through and actually putting their credit cards down. Otherwise the scammers would be losing money.

Sophisticated Scammers Based in Russia or China

The hookup ID scammers are quite advanced. Using bots enables them to run the scam at scale and they have penetrated dozens of dating apps. These dating apps are legitimate companies that absolutely do have security measures in place, but they continue to be defeated. After all these years they somehow have still not been caught and shut down. My best guess is they’re operating out of Russia, but it could also be China.

Brilliant (and Devastating) Marketing

These scammers are not just tech savvy engineering geeks writing code while holed up in a dark room. They’re really good at marketing, too. In addition to being all over the dating apps with bots, they’ve launched dozens of fake websites that are posing as legitimate sites specializing in online dating security, and promoting the hookup ID.

If you run a search for “hookup ID“ or “online dating security ID“ or “meetup ID” or “dating security ID” you will one way or another find your way back to the same scam.

Update February 2020: They’ve added new names for the scam, including casual dating id, betchakan clearance, Casual Hookup Clearance, casual verify, safe casual dating verification, Safety Permit Verified MeetUp Pass, Online Dating Security and Clearance Badge, security hookup id and safe meet scan.

These fake sites all endorse the hookup ID or a similar scam, including linking directly to the many websites that take your credit card. Even taking it a step further, they acknowledge that there are hookup ID scams and direct you to the only one that is “legitimate”.

The Dating Security Advisor, as seen advertised below, is one of the site you’re most likely to come across.

Google Ad promoting the fake Dating Security Advisor website

 

The Gaasha ID Scam

The Gaasha scam is truly next level. “GASHA” stands for Global Awareness About Sexual Abuse. Posing as a non-profit for abuse victims, they conveniently also offer a fake verification service. For $40 you can get a gaasha ID (don’t do this!).

So I Bought a Hookup ID

So what happens if you actually buy a hookup ID? Like I said, I went ahead and put down a credit card (well, a cash card, actually) as part of my research for this article. In exchange, I was supposed to get what appeared to be an actual ID card with my photo and a unique identification number added to it. It was even supposed to have a bar code!

I was hoping t my hookup ID would look like one of these beauties (apparently some scammers have better photoshop skills than others).

I landed on the below site after visiting the Dating Security Advisor website, a fake site owned by the scammers.  With the prospect of hooking up with likes of that sultry model, who *wouldn’t* enter their email address? I went ahead a did so, but disappointingly nothing happened. They may just be using this site to collect email addresses. So I tried a different route: I went to the Hookup VIP website (another fake).

Above  is the Hookup VIP website. I went ahead and followed the instructions despite the broken English, and plunked down $30 for a lifetime membership.

$30 Down the Drain

Here’s the receipt. A company named Amethyst Online Marketing Sales collected my money. Did I get my ID delivered within the next 48 hours as promised? Unfortunately no, it never came at all. I lost $30 so you don’t have to.

If It Seems Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is

Look, it’s extremely rare for any woman to want a hookup, let alone an unusually attractive one. Most have men throwing themselves at them which means they get the pick of the litter and don’t have to settle for a hookup.

Next time you match with someone who seems out of your league, think twice before clicking on any links she sends you and never, ever put down your credit card!

Easy to Fall for the Hookup ID Scam

When you’re lonely and single it’s easy to fall for the hookup ID scam, and that’s why these criminals have had so much success.

If you’re tempted to laugh at people who fall for this scam, think again. These scammers are extremely clever and exploit mens’ worst instincts, and it could probably happen to you, too.

So, rather than judge, try to empathize with these victims. Spread the word so that fewer online dating users fall for it!

How to Avoid Romance Scams

DateID’s free tool make it easy to bust romance scammers. To learn how, read our post on how to avoid romance scams. We will not ask for your credit card.

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