Tinder introduces passport-scanning ID checks for UK users

Tinder is introducing enhanced identity checks for UK users, involving a passport or driving licence being checked against a video selfie.

Anyone who signs up to the voluntary scheme will get an icon on their profile, verifying their age and likeness are authentic.

The dating app has been repeatedly targeted by fraudsters.

The charity Victim Support said the move was welcome but added platforms like Tinder needed to "go further".

"Ensuring ID verification is mandatory across all dating apps, rather than optional, would be more robust," charity spokesman Wayne Stevens told the BBC.

"Romance fraud is a devastating crime, particularly because of the shame and stigma around it."

The fraud - also known as catfishing - involves a person entering a relationship while pretending to be someone else.

Their goal can be to deceive someone into a romantic relationship, often with the aim of scamming money from them.

There have been calls for tougher action to combat the practice.

Tinder says the system it is introducing should give users more confidence that the people they meet on the app are who they say they are.

It will see users who verify a photo receiving a blue camera icon badge, and those who prove their ID is authentic getting a blue ID icon badge. Anyone who completes both steps will be given a blue checkmark.

The system was introduced in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.

The firm says those who chose to be verified in these countries were far more likely to get a match - with a 67% increase in matches compared with unverified users.

Along with the UK, the tool is also being brought in for people based in the US, Brazil and Mexico.

It is not the first such initiative from the app - which has been downloaded more than half a billion times, and describes itself as the "world's most popular app for meeting new people."

It has previously tried to verify people through selfies as well as giving blue checkmarks to celebrities.