Swipe Right for Mandatory ID Verification on Dating Apps
The issue
“Swipe right for Mandatory ID verification” is a social change initiative to implement world first regulation requiring mandatory identity verification for dating app profiles in Australia.
When you swipe right, you have no idea who is actually on the other end of the screen. Not their real name. Not their real photo. Not their real identity.
In 2016, I met a man online who called himself Max Tavita - charming, attentive and completely fictitious. The man behind the profile was Hamish McLaren, one of Australia's most prolific conmen, who defrauded 15 victims of $7.6 million and stole my life savings.
What protected him? The same thing protecting every criminal, scammer and predator on dating apps today: digital anonymity.
Stories like mine are not unique. I speak to victims of romance fraud weekly, and sadly, the stories are all very similar.
Romance scam losses in Australia reached $140 million in 2025 - $1.4 billion in the US, £102 million in the UK - with these figures only capturing what victims report.
Financial devastation is only part of the story. Dating apps are also used to facilitate many other forms of abuse including sexual assault, stalking and domestic violence. Perpetrators create false identities, cycle through platforms after being banned and target vulnerable people with devastating consequences. Behind every statistic is a person whose trust was weaponised against them.
The solution is simple.
Mandatory ID verification.
This would require users to verify their identity against an official ID before creating an account - no more radical than supplying your ID to enter an RSL, buy cold and flu tablets, open a bank account, or board a flight.
Dating apps connect strangers in the most emotionally vulnerable moments of people's lives. The standard of care should match the risk. The multi-billion dollar tech platforms know ID verification is possible. They have the technology at their fingertips, but they continue to offer it as a voluntary option. Safety should not be optional anymore.
Please sign this petition calling on the Australian Government to protect Australians from future financial, emotional and psychological harm by mandating ID verification for dating app profiles.
Someone has to go first - if Australia leads, the rest of the world might just follow.
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The issue
“Swipe right for Mandatory ID verification” is a social change initiative to implement world first regulation requiring mandatory identity verification for dating app profiles in Australia.
When you swipe right, you have no idea who is actually on the other end of the screen. Not their real name. Not their real photo. Not their real identity.
In 2016, I met a man online who called himself Max Tavita - charming, attentive and completely fictitious. The man behind the profile was Hamish McLaren, one of Australia's most prolific conmen, who defrauded 15 victims of $7.6 million and stole my life savings.
What protected him? The same thing protecting every criminal, scammer and predator on dating apps today: digital anonymity.
Stories like mine are not unique. I speak to victims of romance fraud weekly, and sadly, the stories are all very similar.
Romance scam losses in Australia reached $140 million in 2025 - $1.4 billion in the US, £102 million in the UK - with these figures only capturing what victims report.
Financial devastation is only part of the story. Dating apps are also used to facilitate many other forms of abuse including sexual assault, stalking and domestic violence. Perpetrators create false identities, cycle through platforms after being banned and target vulnerable people with devastating consequences. Behind every statistic is a person whose trust was weaponised against them.
The solution is simple.
Mandatory ID verification.
This would require users to verify their identity against an official ID before creating an account - no more radical than supplying your ID to enter an RSL, buy cold and flu tablets, open a bank account, or board a flight.
Dating apps connect strangers in the most emotionally vulnerable moments of people's lives. The standard of care should match the risk. The multi-billion dollar tech platforms know ID verification is possible. They have the technology at their fingertips, but they continue to offer it as a voluntary option. Safety should not be optional anymore.
Please sign this petition calling on the Australian Government to protect Australians from future financial, emotional and psychological harm by mandating ID verification for dating app profiles.
Someone has to go first - if Australia leads, the rest of the world might just follow.
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Petition created on 25 June 2026