Guides

How to report and block

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Report a profile, a message or a Board listing, block a member so they never see you again, keep your evidence, and know what happens next.

9 minute readUpdated 2026-09-30

By the end of this guide you will have reported a profile, a message or a Board listing to Dateable, and blocked the member if you want them gone. You will also have kept your own record, and you will know when a report to Dateable is enough and when to call someone else too.

Report tells Dateable's team something is wrong. Block removes you from that member's view. They do different jobs, so most of the time you do both, in the order below.

Report, block, or both

Pick from this table, then go to the steps for the place it happened.

A plain mismatch needs neither. If a conversation fizzles, stop replying or say so kindly. Keep report for behaviour that breaks the community rules, and block for anyone you no longer want near your profile.

Blocking matters because a no does not always land. In a 2022 survey of US adults, 43% of women under 50 who used dating apps said someone kept contacting them after they said no ¹. You do not need to explain a block, and you do not need to wait for a third message.

Before you press anything: keep a record

Take your evidence first. A report is stronger with it, and you may want it later for your bank, eSafety or the police.

1. Screenshot the profile. Capture the display name, the photos, the headline and the city. A fake or a scammer can change all of these, and eSafety advises screenshotting a person's profile and messages ².
2. Screenshot the conversation. Scroll back to the first message and capture every screen, dates showing. The early messages often show the pattern best.
3. Screenshot the listing if it came from the Board: the title, the offer and the details. A listing can close or come down while the team looks at it.
4. Write down what happened off the screen. A date, a call, a payment request by another app. Note the day, the time and the words used, while they are fresh.
5. Save it somewhere private. A folder on your phone with a passcode, or an email to yourself. Not a shared family album.

Report a profile

Report a profile when the person behind it is the problem: photos that belong to someone else, an age that cannot be right, a profile that exists to ask for money, or a member who treated you badly on a date.

1. Open their profile. The report belongs where the problem is, so the team sees exactly what you saw.
2. Press Report. Report from the profile itself, so the reviewer opens exactly what you saw.
3. Say what you saw in two or three sentences. Facts, in order, with their words in quotation marks. The team reads the profile alongside your words, so point them to what matters.
4. Send it, then decide on block. If you want them gone from your screen too, block now (steps below).

Words you can use:

"These photos appear on another person's account elsewhere. I ran a reverse image search and the same pictures come up under a different name."

"This member asked me to pay a 'loyalty fee' before they would cover anything. The request is in our messages from Tuesday."

A reverse image search is worth the minute. Scamwatch advises it for anyone you meet online ⁴, and it turns "something feels off" into a fact the team can check.

Report a message

Report a message when the words are the problem: a request for money or gift cards, a threat, a push to move off Dateable, contact after you said no, or sexual content you did not ask for.

1. Stop replying. You do not owe a reply to pressure. Every answer gives them something new to work with.
2. Screenshot the whole thread, as above, before anything else.
3. Open the conversation and press Report. The team reads the messages themselves, so you do not have to retype them.
4. Add one line of context. Say what they asked for, and when. Quote them.
5. Block if you are done. A blocked member no longer sees you in messages.

"This member asked me to buy gift cards and send the codes. Messages from 12 to 14 October."

"I said I was not interested on Friday. They have sent eight messages since."

If you want to end it in the chat before you block, one line is plenty. You do not need to argue or explain.

"I'm not going to continue this. Please don't contact me again."

Report a Board listing

Every listing on the Board goes through review before it opens. Some still slip through, and some turn wrong after they open. Report a listing that asks for sexual services or prices intimacy, trades on youth, shows a phone number, email, handle or link, asks the guest to pay or send money, or sets a private home or hotel room as the first meeting place. These are the things a listing may not contain.

1. Open the listing on the Board. Report from the listing itself so the team sees the version you saw.
2. Press Report and name the rule it breaks. "Asks the guest to pay" or "shows contact details" is quick for a reviewer to confirm.
3. Do not apply to test it. An application puts your profile in front of the host. Your report is enough.
4. Block the host if you want. A blocked member does not see you on the Board, so your own listings disappear from their view too.

"The listing asks guests to send a deposit to 'secure the place'. That is in the second paragraph of the details."

When two members report the same listing, it comes down at once while a person reviews it. Your report may be the second one that takes it off the Board tonight.

A host or guest who cancels late or does not show is a different matter. Dateable records those without a report, and after three in 90 days the member's posting or applying pauses for 30 days. After a date on the Board you can also leave a private rating. Ratings are never public; they feed trust signals and moderation. Report a no-show only if something else went wrong.

Block a member

Blocking is for you. It needs no reason and no review.

1. Keep your screenshots first. Once you block, assume you may not see the conversation the same way again.
2. Open their profile or your conversation with them and press Block. It takes effect straight away.
3. Check your blocked list in Settings. Every member you have blocked sits there, in one place, so you can see who you have shut out.
4. Report as well if they broke a rule. A block protects you. A report protects the next person they message.

After a block, the member no longer sees you: not in search, not on the Board, not in messages. Dateable checks blocks on every request the app makes, so a block does not depend on someone remembering to hide you.

What happens after you report

Your report goes into Dateable's review queue, with photos, verifications and listings. A person on the team reads it alongside the profile, the messages or the listing it points to. Every message and listing also passes automatic content checks, and every photo is reviewed before anyone else sees it, so your report joins what the team already knows about that member.

The most serious outcome is removal. A removed member can do nothing on Dateable, and their data is deleted after the retention period. Private ratings from past dates feed the same picture, which is why an honest rating after a bad Board date matters.

Reports are limited per member over time, as every write in the app is, to stop anyone flooding the queue. One clear report with the facts beats five short ones.

If you are not signed in, or the problem happened away from the app, use the form on the report page.

When Dateable is not enough

Dateable is a dating site. Dating apps are not investigators, and reporting to the app is not the same as reporting to police ³. Australian research found that people who were given information about other services by a platform were more likely to also report to police ⁹. So here are the other services.

In Victoria there is no time limit to report a sexual offence to police ³. If you are not ready today, your screenshots will still be there. For the full first hour and first day after something serious, read the sugar dating safety guide and Dateable's safety page.

Look after yourself afterwards

• It is not your fault. If someone hurts you after you meet, eSafety is plain: it is not your fault ². The person who pressured, lied or threatened owns that.
• Tell one person you trust. Scamwatch advises talking to people you trust ⁴. Say it out loud once: it takes the power out of a secret someone else built.
• Take a break if you need one. You can pause your account from Settings. Paused, you are hidden and your data stays.
• Come back on your terms. When you return, read how to spot a scam and keep conversations on Dateable until you are sure who someone is.

A script for telling a friend, if the words will not come:

"Something went wrong with someone I met on a dating site. I've reported them and I'm fine, but I'd like you to know. Can I show you the messages?"

Questions people ask

Does someone know when I block them on Dateable?

Dateable does not describe a block notice in its app notes, so do not rely on either answer. What changes for them is clear: after a block, they no longer see you in search, on the Board or in messages. If you worry how they will react, screenshot your conversation first and tell someone you trust. Block anyway if you need to; your safety comes before their feelings.

Should I report or just block?

Block when you simply want someone gone. Report when they broke a rule: asked for money, kept messaging after a no, threatened you, used someone else's photos, or posted a listing that asks guests to pay. Most of the time, do both. Screenshot first, report, then block. A block protects you; a report protects the next person they message.

What happens when you report someone on a dating site?

On Dateable, a person on the review team reads your report alongside the profile, messages or listing you flagged. Messages and listings also pass automatic checks, and photos are reviewed before anyone sees them. The most serious outcome is removal: a removed member can do nothing on Dateable. When two members report the same Board listing, it comes down at once while the team reviews it.

Should I delete messages before I block someone?

No. Screenshot the whole conversation first, from the very first message, with the dates showing. Keep the profile and any Board listing too. Your copy helps Dateable's team, your bank, eSafety or the police. Police can request information from dating apps even after one person blocked or deleted the other, but your own record is faster and stays in your hands.

Someone is threatening to share my photos. What do I do?

Do not pay and do not send anything more; paying brings more demands. Stop all contact, screenshot the threats, report the member to Dateable and block them. In Australia, report it to eSafety, which can help remove the content, and to police. In the UK, the Revenge Porn Helpline is on 0345 6000 459. You did nothing wrong by trusting someone.

Can I report a dating profile without an account?

Yes. Dateable's public report page has a form for anyone. Give the member's display name and city, or paste the link to the profile or listing, say when it happened, and describe what they said or did, quoting their words where you can. Signed-in members get the quickest review by reporting from the profile, conversation or listing itself.

Is reporting to a dating app the same as reporting to the police?

No. A dating site can review and remove a member, but it is not an investigator. If you were assaulted, stalked, threatened or defrauded, report to the police as well. In Victoria there is no time limit to report a sexual offence. In Australia, 1800RESPECT answers 1800 737 732 around the clock, and your bank and IDCARE help if money moved.

Sources

1. Vogels, E. A., & McClain, C. (Pew Research Center) (2023). Key findings about online dating in the U.S..
2. eSafety Commissioner (2026). Online dating | How to stay safe.
3. Victoria Police (2025). Dating apps, online platforms, and sexual offences.
4. Scamwatch (ACCC) (2026). Relationship scams.
5. Government of Western Australia, Consumer Protection and WA Police (2024). Alarm at young adults and teenagers caught up in 'sextortion' scams.
6. eSafety Commissioner (2026). Image-based abuse (including revenge porn, sextortion and nude image blackmail).
7. WA ScamNet (Government of Western Australia, Consumer Protection) (2026). Sugar baby scam.
8. New Zealand Police (2026). Safety advice.
9. Lawler, S. M., & Boxall, H. (Australian Institute of Criminology) (2024). User experiences of reporting dating app facilitated sexual violence to dating platforms.
10. 1800RESPECT (2026). 1800RESPECT.
11. Suzy Lamplugh Trust (2026). National Stalking Helpline.
12. Revenge Porn Helpline (SWGfL) (2026). Revenge Porn Helpline.
13. IDCARE (2026). IDCARE.
14. GOV.UK / City of London Police (2025). Report Fraud: new service from City of London Police.
15. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint Center (2025). 2024 IC3 Annual Report.
16. New Zealand Police (2021). Don't let a love scam break your heart.