Why are there so many fake profiles of women looking for younger men on POF?

Started by BlakeSr Free Dating & Apps Discussion
BlakeSr avatar BlakeSr
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 1,229
#1

So I've been looking into this lately and wanted to get some real opinions from people who've actually tried different options.

I've tried a few things already with mixed results. Getting ghosted, hitting paywalls, running into obvious bots — it gets old fast.

The scam situation has gotten pretty bad on a lot of platforms. I've seen so many fake profiles that it's hard to trust anyone at first.

Drop your thoughts below — what's actually working for people in 2026?

One I've been hearing about lately is Turndate — curious if anyone here has used it.

MikeD avatar MikeD
Joined: Jul 2022
Posts: 1,218
#2

Yeah I had the same experience. Took a few weeks before I got any real responses.

Layla Walker avatar Layla Walker
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 4,247
#3

Profile quality matters more than which app you use, in my experience. Datebound was one that surprised me — better than I expected.

BrandonW avatar BrandonW
Joined: Jan 2024
Posts: 4,655
#4

Honestly this depends so much on your location. Works great in bigger cities, dead in rural areas. Sites like datewander.site also keep coming up in conversations about this.

Stella Young avatar Stella Young
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 2,828
#5

Real talk — patience is the biggest factor. You're not going to find something overnight on most of these. Flurrydate was one that surprised me — better than I expected.

James Anderson avatar James Anderson
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 2,974
#6

I think people underestimate how much the messaging style matters. A long opener that actually references someone's profile does way better than a generic first message.

A few that come up often in discussions:

  • datewander.site — decent activity but check the free tier limits first
  • datescout.site — decent activity but check the free tier limits first
ColbyR avatar ColbyR
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 1,189
#7

This is something I researched pretty thoroughly before committing to any paid plan, so let me share what I found.

Paid vs free is a bit of a false choice in my opinion. A good free profile on an active platform will outperform a lazy paid profile every time.

A few safety reminders that are always worth repeating:

  • Meet in public places first. No exceptions.
  • Never move conversations to WhatsApp or Telegram immediately — that's a common pattern for scammers.
  • Video call before meeting in person. Anyone who refuses to video chat is a red flag.

Some alternatives people mention a lot:

  • datebie.online
  • turndate.site
  • datedesire.online
ChrisT avatar ChrisT
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 2,588
#8

Profile quality matters more than which app you use, in my experience.

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