DateableShould you post a scammer's photos online to warn others?
No: the photos are usually stolen from an innocent person, so posting them hurts the wrong person. Report the profile to the platform instead.
Do not post a scammer's photos online to warn others. The photos are almost certainly stolen from someone innocent, so you will be shaming and harassing the wrong person. Reporting the profile to the platform and to scam services is what actually removes it.
Scammers use stolen photos
Scammers do not use their own photos. Scammers use photos stolen from real people: social media accounts, stock photos, or taken without permission from dating sites. When you post a scammer's photo to warn others, the person whose photo was stolen sees it. They see themselves accused of fraud. They see themselves circulating online as a scammer. That is the opposite of helping.
The real person's friends and family see it too. Future employers see it. People they know in real life see it. A scammer operates for weeks or months, sometimes longer. In that time, the photo circulates to dozens or hundreds of people as a warning about fraud. The real owner's reputation takes damage that can take years to undo, if it ever does.
A reverse image search usually finds the real owner. 1 If you want to warn others and verify you have a scammer, search the photos yourself. If the same photo shows up on a legitimate social media account, a modelling website, or in different scam reports under different names, you are looking at a stolen photo.
How a reverse image search works
A reverse image search is free and takes seconds. Use Google Images, TinEye or your phone's built-in search. Upload the photo or paste the link. The search shows you everywhere that photo appears online.
What you will often find:
- The same photo on a real person's Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook account with a different name and location
- The photo on a stock photo site, sold for use by anyone
- The photo in multiple scam reports, all with different names and stories
- The photo in news articles about romance scams, used as an example
Any of these means the photo is stolen. The person you think is the scammer does not exist. The scammer is someone else entirely, using someone else's face.
Posting their photo invites retaliation
When you post a scammer's photo and publicly name them as a fraud, you are telling them you have caught on. You are showing you are watching. Some scammers respond by targeting you: doubling down on messages, moving to harassment, creating new profiles to contact you, or finding your other accounts. You have made yourself a problem to solve.
Scammers are organised. A scammer operating a profile is often part of a team or a network. They talk to each other. They share tactics. Your name, your messages, your profiles circulate among people looking for revenge or looking for another way in. What felt like a small warning post becomes a flag in their network that says this person is worth targeting.
Other scammers adjust their photo and try again on another platform or with another person. Posting their photo does not stop them. It just moves them along. The same scammer opens three new accounts on Dateable alone, each with a different stolen photo. The warning you posted is forgotten. The person whose photo was stolen is damaged. The scammer continues.
What actually removes the profile
Three things remove a scammer's profile: the platform, the scam report service, and the person who reports it.
Report the profile on Dateable. That reaches a person who reviews it. A profile that violates the community guidelines is removed. A profile that looks like a scam is investigated. Block the person so they cannot message you again.
Report the scam to Scamwatch (Australia), your local scam service, or the FTC (United States). These services track patterns. Multiple reports from different people make it harder for that scammer to hide. They file cases. They make data available to law enforcement. 2
If you are warning a friend
Tell them what you found, not where you found it. Do a reverse image search together. Show them the evidence: the same photo on a real person's legitimate account, or on a stock photo site, or in multiple scam reports with different names.
I found that photo on Google Images used by three different accounts. It belongs to someone real, not this person.
Help them report and block the profile. That is the action that matters. Posting the photo publicly does not protect your friend. It protects the scammer by distracting people from actually reporting them.
What you can do instead
- Do a reverse image search on any profile photo you are unsure about. It takes a minute.
- If the photos are stolen, report the profile to Dateable straight away. Block them.
- Report the scam to Scamwatch, your country's scam service or the FTC. Give them as much detail as you have.
- Never send money to someone you have not met in person, no matter what story they tell.
- Share what you know with people you trust, but do not post the photo publicly. You will hurt the wrong person.
Staying alert protects you and everyone else on the platform. Reporting protects the person whose photo was stolen. Posting their photo helps no one.
Sources
- Consumer Protection (New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) (2026). Types of scams.
- Scamwatch (ACCC) (2026). Relationship scams.
