Dating apps: Bio-baiting preys on Indian singles — how users are adapting
In India’s expanding dating-app market, a subtle form of deception known as “bio-baiting” is emerging as a growing concern, according to reporting by India Today. Bio-baiting occupies a grey area between harmless self-presentation and deliberate misrepresentation: users embellish or curate profile bios to attract matches, but those small falsities can have outsized consequences.
The practice can be as simple as an engineer who lists themselves as a “mountain lover” after a single trek, or someone who adopts buzzphrase-style descriptors like “spiritual but not religious” because they test well. While such tweaks may feel innocuous, India Today’s reporting shows they sometimes lead to mismatched expectations, emotional exhaustion and, in extreme cases, criminal harm.
One dramatic example cited by India Today involved a 28-year-old man from Gurugram who matched with a profile claiming to be an investment analyst interested in finance and coffee. Conversations turned to crypto and an online trading group; after investing Rs 15 lakh he discovered the profile and app had vanished. Police later traced the incident to a cross-border scam ring that used curated bios to build trust and defraud victims.
Not all responses are reactive. Mumbai-based marketing executive Rhea Mehta, 29, developed a personal screening routine after several disappointing dates — including one “foodie” who disliked trying new restaurants. Mehta limits interactions to verified profiles, insists on a brief video call before sharing personal details and chooses public meeting places. “Everyone presents a version of themselves online,” she says. “It’s about figuring out whether that version holds up in real life.” Her approach, India Today reports, has helped her filter performative profiles and find more authentic matches.
Industry observers note that the pressure to stand out on platforms such as Tinder, Bumble and Hinge — alongside Indian apps like Aisle and TrulyMadly — encourages ever more polished, marketable bios. Experts quoted in the India Today piece argue bio-baiting feeds on social comparison and insecurity and reflects how modern dating often resembles marketing: each profile positioned as a brand, each match viewed as a conversion.
Solutions being discussed range from personal safety habits to platform-level changes. Practical steps include verifying photos, avoiding financial or emotional oversharing and using brief video chats to confirm compatibility. Apps are reportedly adding AI-driven detection for fake profiles and rolling out stronger safety nudges. Yet India Today’s reporting emphasizes that cultural shifts — valuing authenticity over aesthetics — may provide the most durable protection.
As dating apps continue to grow in India, the lesson for users is pragmatic: polish is common, but caution is warranted. Small embellishments may be harmless, but when bios are weaponized they can lead to serious harm — and the simplest safeguard may be insisting on honesty before offline trust is granted.
