International dating safety checklist

The checklist in one minute

If you read nothing else: the site names a company a register confirms; prices and a refund policy are public before you register; the site says what it checks and what it does not; you can report to a person and call on video inside the site; nobody has asked you for money; you have seen each other live on video more than once. Six yes answers and you are on solid ground; the twenty questions below are the full version.

How to use this checklist

Each item is a yes/no question. For the site, look for the answer on public pages before you register — a site that makes you sign up to find out who runs it has already answered one question. For the conversation, keep the list next to you for the first few weeks. A single "no" is a reason to look closer; two or three are a reason to walk away. The checks come from what consumer-protection agencies and police say romance fraud actually looks like (FTC; Action Fraud; Met Police) and from what it takes to run a platform honestly.

Part 1 — ten checks on the site, before you pay

1. A named legal entity you can look up. The company name, registration number and registered address should be on the site, and the register should confirm them. For a UK company that is Companies House (Companies House); most countries have an equivalent public register. A site that names no company, or names one that does not exist in any register, fails this check.
2. Prices you can see without an account. What is free, what costs money, and how much — in plain figures, before you register. If you cannot find out what a message costs until you have paid, that is a design choice, and not one made in your interest.
3. A clear statement on subscriptions and renewal. Does anything renew automatically? Does a trial convert to a paid plan? Does your balance top up by itself? The answer should be written down, and it should be the same on the pricing page, in the Terms and at the checkout. Contradictions between those three are a warning in themselves.
4. A refund and cancellation policy you can read. What is refundable, what is not, how to ask, how long it takes — and a promise that asking will not cost you your account.
5. Terms you can open at a URL. Not a pop-up, not a scroll box at registration: a page with a date. Read the sections on billing and on who writes the messages. Terms last updated many years ago, or describing a product the site does not sell, mean nobody is looking after them.
6. A described moderation and verification process. What is checked before a profile appears, what is checked afterwards, and — the honest sites say this too — what is not checked. "All profiles are verified" with no description of how is a slogan, not a process.
7. A reporting route to a person. A way to report a profile or a message, and a statement of what happens next. A support email that is answered by people, not a form that disappears.
8. A way to block someone. You should be able to stop any member from contacting you, without explaining yourself and without paying.
9. Video inside the site. Built-in video calls mean you can see a person without handing over a phone number or another app account — and a site that offers them wants its members to be seen.
10. No feature for sending money to members, and a rule that says so. The FTC's first rule is never to send money to someone you have not met in person (FTC). A site that lets members send money to each other, or that stays silent about it, has left the most common scam route open.

Part 2 — ten checks on the conversation

1. Nobody has asked you for money, gifts, cards, crypto or a "loan". Any such request, however framed, is the one sign that needs no second sign (FTC; FBI).
2. The conversation is still on the site. Police note that fraudsters push early towards private messaging apps (Met Police). Staying on the platform keeps reporting, records and video in one place.
3. You have seen each other live on video, more than once. A live call is the check a stolen photograph cannot pass. Repeated reasons why a call is impossible are the answer to your question.
4. The photograph does not belong to someone else. A reverse image search takes a minute; the FBI and UK police both recommend it (FBI; Action Fraud). Professionally taken photos are normal on dating sites; photos that appear under other names are not.
5. Her story stays the same when you ask twice. City, work, family, plans — consistent a week apart.
6. The pace is one you set. Declarations of love in days and plans in weeks are the script, not a romance (FTC). A real person accepts your rhythm.
7. No third parties have appeared with a bill. Doctors, lawyers, agents and customs officers who need paying are part of the fraud, not of the relationship (Action Fraud).
8. You have not been asked to keep it secret. The FTC suggests talking to someone you trust; anyone who asks you not to is asking for something (FTC).
9. You have not shared documents, passwords or card numbers. Police advice: protect your privacy and do not reveal too much online (Met Police). No site needs a copy of your passport to let you write a letter.
10. Any plan to meet is after several calls, in a public place, on a ticket you booked and paid for yourself. Never a ticket you paid for her, never a first meeting arranged around a payment.

Safety checklist before a first trip

A first meeting is where the two lists above turn into a plane ticket; meeting in person for the first time, abroad goes through each item in detail.

1. Several video calls behind you, weeks apart, with the same person each time.
2. A public meeting place agreed in writing, in daylight, in a third country both of you can reach.
3. Your ticket, hotel and travel insurance in your own name, paid by you; hers paid by her.
4. Passport and return ticket on you or in the hotel safe for the whole trip.
5. Someone at home who knows the city, the hotel and when you will check in.
6. No payment to her, to an "agency" or to a "visa service" to make the trip happen. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv describes exactly this pattern — money sent for a visit, growing requests, then silence — and adds that money already sent is probably not recoverable (US Embassy Kyiv).
7. A city you would enjoy alone for three days, in case it does not work out.

Safe dating tips that are habits, not checks

• Decide your rule about money before you like anyone, so it cannot be argued with in the moment (FTC).
• Set the pace yourself, and tell one person you trust; affection hides what a second pair of eyes sees (FTC).
• Keep your documents, address and bank details to yourself until you have met (Met Police).

The "dating ID verification" scam

A message — sometimes claiming to come from the site or from "security" — asks you to pay a small fee for a "dating ID" or "verification certificate" before she can talk to you or meet you. It is a scam in every case: no dating site, police force or government sells verification by private message, and a genuine site's checks cost members nothing. The FTC's rule covers the fee like any other payment (FTC). On AnnaBrides, payments for verification are on the list of things the site will never ask for (dating safety); report any such message to support.

Scoring

Ten out of ten on the site list is the minimum for a site you should pay money to. Anything less than eight, look elsewhere. On the conversation list, one "no" is a pause; item 1 or item 3 failing is a stop.

How AnnaBrides answers the site list (checkable facts)

We include this so you can hold us to the same standard, and so that the checklist is not an abstraction. Each answer points to the page where you can confirm it.

• Entity: ANNABRIDES LTD, company number 17430138, registered office in London — on the about page, the contact page and in the footer; verifiable on the Companies House register.
• Prices: credit packages and per-action costs are public on the pricing page, no account needed.
• Subscriptions and renewal on the website: none. Two things are sold there, and both are one payment at a time — a credit package is bought once, and a membership level is a one-month package: one payment for one month, after which the account returns to the free level. Nothing bought on the website renews on its own, no money is taken again, and the card is not kept in order to charge it (pricing, how it works). The Android application is the exception and says so: a level bought inside it is a Google Play subscription that renews until it is cancelled in the buyer’s Google account (app subscription terms).
• Refunds: the current policy is on the pricing page; a full refund and cancellation document is in preparation.
• Terms, Privacy, Cookies: at /terms, /privacy, /cookies.
• Moderation and verification: described, including what is not checked, on profile verification.
• Reporting: to a person, at support; profiles that ask for money are removed.
• Blocking: there is no block button in the web app today — this is the item on our own list we do not yet pass. To stop a member from contacting you, write to support; a person handles it. Report anyone who persists.
• Video: built-in video calls, charged per minute, ended by either side at any moment (video dating).
• Money between members: there is no feature for it, and any request is treated as a scam signal (dating safety).

If you find that any of these answers is no longer true, write to support — this page is reviewed when the site changes.