SAFE DATING GUIDELINES

In simple terms:

Be genuine, be honest and be kind, both online and offline.  Failure to do so can lead to your account being paused or suspended.

 

We randomly view profiles to ensure they comply to the expected standard.  Depending on the severity of non-compliance, we will either pause your profile temporarily until your profile has been updated to meet our guidelines, or we will permanently suspend your profile for continued non-compliance.

 

We also have mechanisms in place for other users to report non-compliance with our guidelines.

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Main guidelines

Ekluv should not be used for:

• Harassment - aggressive pressure or intimidation to others using the service.

• Violence - behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something.

• Hate speech - public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.

• Spamming - sending the same message to a large number of those using our service.

• Scamming - committing or participating in a fraudulent scheme or operation such as insurance or credit card scamming.

• Catfishing - creating a fake identity for fun, emotional manipulation and/or financial gain.

• Promotion - publicising of a product, organisation, or venture so as to increase sales or public awareness.

• Impersonating - pretending to be another person for entertainment or fraud.

• Nudity or sexual content - material depicting or encouraging sexual behaviour.

• Anything illegal - anything contrary to or forbidden by law.

 

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Catfishing and how to spot it:

• Catfishers will create a fake identity for their own fun, emotional manipulation and/or financial gain.

• In the light of easier access to AI generated content, catfishing is becoming common and more difficult to spot.

• Here's a list of things to look out for to spot a catfish:

  • They may claim they are an only child and have only 1 parent alive - usually shared to get you to sympathise with them (emotional manipulation).

  • They have been through a trauma like a mugging - usually shared to get you to sympathise with them (emotional manipulation).

  • They live abroad or are on holiday/working abroad and are on their own - usually shared to get you to sympathise with them (emotional manipulation).

  • They display early signs of affection such as sending love hearts and kisses - used to form a romantic connection with you early on (emotional manipulation).

  • They change their profile photos to incite a response to new photos - used to form a romantic connection with you early on (emotional manipulation).

  • They send revealing/nude pictures early on in the conversation - used to form a romantic connection with you early on (emotional manipulation).

  • Their replies to messages and questions show they have almost everything in common with you - used to form a romantic connection with you early on (emotional manipulation).

  • Their spelling and grammar is poor despite being well educated.

  • They send you photos of their passport or driving license in an effort to show you they are a real person.  Most people wouldn't do this with someone they've only just connected with online.  Catfishers can easily generate this content using AI.

• Here's a list of things you can do to confirm if they are a catfish without getting pulled in further emotionally, romantically or financially:

  • Ask them to voice or video call.  After 3-7 days of texting, most people will be ready to call with you.  Catfishers will make up excuses to avoid voice and video calls.

  • Ask them to connect with you on social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn).  Catfishers will sometimes create fake profiles to convince people they are real.  Look out for:

    • No profile photos or poor quality profile photos on their social media profiles

    • Discrepancies of information like where they live/have lived or where they studied on their dating profile vs their social media profiles

    • Very few friends, followers or connections

• Most catfishers will eventually ask you to send them money for something (such as to replace a belonging like a phone or laptop).  This is the biggest red flag - do not send any money.  A genuine person would not ask someone they've only just met to send them money.  If you've sent any money and realised the person you were speaking with was a catfish, get in touch with your bank immediately.

• You can report catfishing through our app - we will suspend a person's profile permanently after investigation.  Please keep screenshots of the communications you've had with the catfishers as it helps with investigations.  As you will have the best information and a first hand account, we recommend you also report catfishing to the following authorities:

  • UK Action Fraud - https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/​

  • UK CrimeStoppers - https://crimestoppers-uk.org/

  • US Internet Crime Compliant Center - https://www.ic3.gov/

  • US Federal Trade Commission - https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/​

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Other guidelines:

• Ekluv should not be used by minors.  Minors are defined as anyone under the age of 18. 

• Never send money or financial information to anyone on this platform, regardless of the reasons they ask, including emergencies.

• Never share your personal information with other users of this platform, including your date of birth, address or other ways for people to identify you such as a driving license or passport.

• Once we’ve found a match and we’ve created a chat for you to talk to each other, we recommend you first get to know the person via text based messaging through our platform.  Once you feel comfortable around the person and you have got to know them, we then recommend video chatting next.  This will allow you to verify the person you have been speaking with is genuine and they match their profile pictures.  Only once the above 2 steps have been followed do we recommend meeting in person.

• When you meet in person, be sure to:

  • Meet and stay in a public space

  • Tell someone (family or friend) about your plans to meet this person including where you will be meeting, what time you will be meeting, and what time you expect to be home.

  • Text someone (family or friend) at the end of your meet to confirm you are ok.

• If ever you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, leave the meet.  If you still feel unsafe, speak to someone such as the waiter for help.  In the event of an emergency, always call your local law enforcement authority.

 

 

First name and last name guidelines:

• Your first name and last name should be genuine human names.

• Your first name and last name should not be the same unless this genuine.

• Your first name and last name should not be sentences.

• Your first name can be your nickname (e.g. Tom instead of Thomas).

• Your job title and company should comply with the main guidelines listed on this web page.

 

 

Job title guidelines:

• Your job title and company should reflect your actual job title and company you work for.

• Your job title and company should not be the same.

• Your job title and company should not be sentences.

• Your job title and company should comply with the main guidelines listed on this web page.

 

 

Profile photo guidelines:

• Your profile photos should contain images of you.

• Your profile photos should not be the same.

• Your profile photos should not include unaccompanied minors.

• Your profile photos should comply with the main guidelines listed on this web page.

 

 

 

How can you help keep our platform safe:

• Report any profiles which don’t comply with the above guidelines.  We get notified of this, will review the report and determine the necessary course of action (such as pausing or permanently suspending a user’s profile).  You won’t get notified on what actions we've taken once you’ve submitted the report.

• Reporting a profile can be done through the mobile app.  Simply click on the “!” button when viewing a profile or chatting with someone and select the reason for reporting, or add more information in the text field provided.

• If you don’t want to report a person because you feel they haven’t broken any of our guidelines, but you feel uncomfortable or they are bothersome, you can block a profile instead.  We don’t get notified of this.

 

 

Ekluv reserves the right permanently suspend your account without a refund of any purchases if you have failed to comply with the above guidelines.

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Last updated August 25, 2025