What differs between countries

The basics of a private profile are the same everywhere: a username, a location shown as your nearest town or city, and conversations that stay on the site until you choose otherwise. What changes across borders is everything around them. Prices are charged in local currency. The age rule differs, since members must be 18 or over in the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia, and in the United States members must be 18 or over (21 in some US states). Each country also has its own agency for reporting romance fraud, and its own habits that can expose a private life, from toll tags and payment apps to rail e-tickets and family phone plans.

Calendars differ too. Clocks change on different dates in Europe and North America, so the time difference between London and New York shifts for a few weeks each spring and autumn, and the Australian states that change their clocks do so in the opposite season. School holidays and public holidays also fall at different times, so a quiet weekday in one country can be a busy holiday in another; check the local calendar before you suggest a date.

Country guides

  • The United States guide covers toll tags, Venmo settings, family location apps and the FTC's reporting service, with links to every state and city guide.
  • The UK guide looks at rail e-tickets, number plate cameras and Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud.
  • The Ireland guide deals with small town life, M50 tolls, Leap cards and Garda advice.
  • The Canada guide covers winter meeting spots, cottage country, Interac e-Transfer warnings and CAFC.
  • The Australia guide explains fly in fly out rosters, e-tags, transit cards and Scamwatch.

State and city guides

For more local detail, the city and state guides go street by street.

Matches across borders

Plenty of affairs start between people in different places, so a few points apply wherever you live. A match in another country brings a time difference, a different currency and a different fraud agency, so read both country guides before you arrange anything. Long distance contact is also where romance scams thrive: someone who can never meet, keeps postponing a visit or needs help with a fare home is following a known script. A match who writes fluently but cannot answer simple questions about their own city deserves a second look. Keep travel bookings, hotel receipts and roaming charges in mind as well, because they can reveal a trip on a shared account or a family phone bill. If you plan to meet abroad, choose a public place, share no more of your plans than you need to, and hold your own return ticket. Support answers live chat and messages 24/7, which helps when the person you are talking to sits several time zones away.

Prices and reporting at a glance

Every country guide shows the full VIP and VIP Plus price table in pounds, euro, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars or US dollars, and the pricing page lists them side by side. If a match asks you for money, end the chat, then contact your bank and the national fraud agency named in your country guide. Our safety page brings those agencies together with practical advice for first meetings.