Online dating safety
Scams, fake profiles and sextortion. No affiliate links — this section is built to be read.
This section covers everything that can go wrong in online dating in Finland: romance fraud and its three stages, the marks of a fake profile, blackmail with images, the rules for a first meeting, and the accusations made against paid services taken one at a time. No page in this section carries an affiliate link or a button — that is a decision, not an oversight. The answer to “is this a scam?” cannot stand next to an invitation to sign up.
- Safe online dating in FinlandWhat to do before a first meeting and what not to share.→
- Spotting fake dating profilesNine signs that recur in almost every case the police handle.→
- Romance scams in FinlandThe three-stage pattern as the police describe it — and what to do if you recognise it.→
- Sextortion: image blackmailWhat to do in the first few minutes and who to report it to.→
- Are dating sites a scam?On Suomi24 the question comes up year after year. We go through the claims one at a time.→
- Dating safety in FinlandFinnish emergency numbers, reporting in your own language, and the police figures behind romance fraud.→
If you need help right now
The short version first, the detail below.
If you are being threatened with violence, or something is happening right now — 112.
If someone is blackmailing you with images: do not pay and do not reply, save the screenshots, block the sender. The full sequence — what to do when you are blackmailed with images.
If you have sent money to someone you have never met in person: the bank first, the police second. How the pattern runs — romance fraud and its stages.
A police report is filed online at poliisi.fi; the service runs around the clock apart from the window between 22:45 and 06:00. It may be filed in a language you understand and can speak well enough, and where an interpreter is needed the police arrange one themselves.
Support for victims comes from Victim Support Finland, Rikosuhripäivystys, free of charge on 116 006. You can call there when nothing formally criminal has happened and you are simply finding it hard.
Why there is not one affiliate link in this section
The rest of the site earns from affiliate links, and we say so openly. Here there are none, and the reason is not generosity.
Someone reading about blackmail, or about how to recognise a fraudster, is not in a state where selling them anything is appropriate. A “sign up” button next to the instruction “do not pay the blackmailer” cancels the instruction.
There is a practical reason as well, and we will name that one plainly too. A state authority or a specialist non-profit will not link to a page that leads to an offer. A section without monetisation can collect links from places a commercial one never will.
Technically this is fixed in the code rather than in a promise: the pages in this section are marked as non-monetised, and the template physically renders neither buttons nor the affiliate disclosure on them.
What to read, depending on the situation
The section is built around situations rather than terms.
Nothing has happened yet, but you are going to a first meeting — what to do beforehand and what not to share. The same page has the checklist, and what to do if you feel uneasy once you are there.
The profile does not look real — nine marks of a fake profile. It deals separately with how to check photographs generated by a neural network, and with the fact that a deepfake on a video call still copes badly with a sharp turn of the head.
The messaging has run for months, the meeting never comes, and money has entered the conversation — the three-stage pattern as the police describe it.
An email has arrived threatening to publish photographs — how to tell a bluff from a real threat. In most such cases the sender has nothing.
You are unsure whether paid services are honest — the accusations one at a time: which hold up, which do not, and what changed in the law.
If it is happening to someone close to you rather than to you
A separate and fairly common situation: the person outside sees the pattern before the person inside it does. And almost always makes the same mistake.
The mistake is to start with proof. “Look, his photo is on another profile.” “That is obviously a fraudster.” “How can you not see it?” In a romance scheme the relationship has already been built by then, and a head-on refutation reads as an attack on someone your friend trusts. After a conversation like that the messages usually start being hidden from you, and you lose the only channel you had.
What works better: questions instead of statements. Not “he is a fraudster” but “have you spoken on video?” Not “do not send money” but “why can he not borrow from the people around him?” Someone who answers for themselves hears themselves; against a conclusion handed to them they defend.
Money is a separate matter. If transfers are already going out, there is less time for delicacy: the bank comes first, and that can be done faster than a person can be talked round.
And the part that gets forgotten: a victim needs support at other times than the moment everything comes out. Victim Support Finland on 116 006 advises family and friends as well as victims themselves, and you can call before any formal step is taken.
Shame here works for the criminal: the longer someone stays silent, the more freely the other party operates. Your task is not to win the argument but to make sure people keep talking to you.
What the official statistics show
The figures matter here because the subject is surrounded by exaggeration and by dismissal alike.
According to the police, a total of 32 449 reports of network-assisted fraud were filed in Finland in 2024, and the total damage was at least 84.2 million euros — an increase of 70 per cent in a year.
Of those, romance and document fraud accounted for 460 reports with damages of at least 7.2 million euros. Most often the acquaintance began on a social network. Most victims are women, and the age distribution is shifted towards the 60 to 79 range.
Eastern Finland has separate figures for 2025: 1 033 frauds of this kind, with damages of around 7.8 million euros. Fifteen per cent of them were romance fraud, and the losses from those came to around 1.8 million.
An important qualification: these are reports, not cases. A substantial share of victims never contact the police at all — out of shame rather than distrust. That is exactly why we say separately that asking for help is not an admission of guilt.
Who to contact in Finland
| Situation | Where | How |
|---|---|---|
| Threat right now | 112 | Call |
| A crime has already happened | poliisi.fi | Online report, except 22:45–06:00 |
| Money has left a card or account | Your own bank | Immediately, before the police report |
| The victim needs support | Victim Support Finland | 116 006, free of charge |
| Cyber incident or data leak | National Cyber Security Centre | Form on the website |
| Dispute over a paid service | Consumer advice, Kuluttajaneuvonta | 09 5110 1200, Mon–Wed 10–12, Thu 12–14 |
A police report may be filed in a language you speak well enough; the police arrange the interpreter.
Frequently asked
Who do I contact in Finland if I have been scammed on a dating site?
If money has already gone, your own bank first, then a police report through poliisi.fi (the online service is open except between 22:45 and 06:00). Support for victims comes from Victim Support Finland, free of charge on 116 006. If the threat is immediate, 112. The report may be filed in a language you speak well enough.
Why is there no advertising in the safety section?
Because someone reading about blackmail or about the marks of a fraudster is not in a state where selling them anything is appropriate. Plus a practical reason that we name plainly: an authority or a non-profit will not link to a page that leads to an offer. The absence of monetisation is fixed in the code, not in a promise.
How common is romance fraud in Finland?
Police figures for 2024 record 460 reports of romance and document fraud with damages of at least 7.2 million euros, against 32 449 reports of network fraud overall. Most victims are women, and the age distribution is shifted towards 60 to 79. These are reports, not cases: many people never report at all.
What do I do first if someone is blackmailing me with photographs?
Do not pay and do not reply. Take screenshots of the messages and of the profile, block the sender, close your social media accounts to outsiders and file a police report. The Finnish National Cyber Security Centre warns plainly that in most cases the blackmailer does not have the thing he is threatening you with.
What do I do if someone close to me is caught in this?
Do not start with proof: a head-on “he is a fraudster” reads as an attack on the person they trust, and after a conversation like that the messages start being hidden from you. Questions work where statements do not — “have you spoken on video?”, “why can he not borrow from the people around him?” If transfers are already going out, the bank comes first. Victim Support Finland (116 006) advises family and friends too.
Can a police report be filed in a language other than Finnish?
Yes. The report is filed in a language you understand and can speak well enough. If an interpreter is needed, the police arrange one themselves, usually the same day; with rarer languages it takes longer. You may also bring someone who speaks your language with you.
Sources
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