1. What we do — and what we honestly cannot
- Never send money to anyone you met on a dating app. Not once, not for an emergency, not for an investment.
- Video-call before you meet. It costs two minutes and rules out most fakes.
- First date: public place, your own transport, someone who knows where you are.
- You can leave at any moment, without an explanation.
- Save 112 (emergency), 1930 (cyber financial fraud) and 1091 (women's helpline) in your phone today.
This summary is here to help you read faster. The sections below are the part that counts.
What we do: we moderate photos, review every report, act on blocks immediately, keep your phone number and exact location hidden from other users, and remove accounts that break our Community Guidelines.
Paheli does not run criminal background checks or verify anyone against government records. We cannot tell you whether someone is single, honest, or safe. We cannot supervise a conversation once it moves off the app, and we cannot be with you on the date. Your safety when you meet someone is in your hands, not ours. That is why this page exists — please read it before your first date, not after.
2. While you are still chatting
- Stay in Paheli chat at first. Someone pushing hard to move to WhatsApp or Telegram in the first few messages is a pattern worth noticing — off-platform is where scams and abuse are easiest.
- Video-call before meeting. A short call rules out stolen photos, wrong ages and most fake accounts. Refusing every call while insisting on meeting is a red flag.
- Reverse image search their photos. Thirty seconds, and it catches a surprising number of catfish.
- Guard your details. Do not share your home address, workplace, daily routine, financial information, Aadhaar or PAN, or your OTP with anyone — including anyone claiming to be from Paheli or from a bank.
- Do not send intimate photos. Anything you send can be saved, forwarded, or used to blackmail you. This is the single most common way people get hurt on dating apps.
- Trust the small wrongness. Inconsistent stories, unusual urgency, love too fast, a camera that never works — you do not need proof to stop replying.
3. Scams we see in India, and how they start
Almost every romance scam ends with a request for money. The only question is how long it takes to get there.
| The pitch | What is really happening |
|---|---|
| Investment or trading tips | You are moved to a “trading app” or a Telegram group, shown fake profits, and cleaned out when you try to withdraw. Often called “pig butchering”. |
| A sudden emergency | A hospital bill, an accident, a stuck relative. A small UPI transfer first, then a bigger one. |
| Gift stuck at customs | A “courier” or “customs officer” calls asking for a clearance fee for a parcel that does not exist. |
| Part-time job or task work | Easy tasks pay out at first, then a “deposit” is required to unlock your earnings. |
| The video call that turns explicit | The call is recorded and used for sextortion, sometimes with a fake police call demanding a settlement. |
| “Digital arrest” or a fake officer | A caller claiming to be police, CBI or narcotics says a parcel or case is in your name and demands money to settle it. Indian police never arrest or fine anyone over a video call. |
| A link, an APK or a QR code | Sent to “book the restaurant” or “receive money”. Scanning a QR code never receives money — it only sends it. |
Never send money, never scan a QR code to “receive” anything, never share an OTP, and never install an app or APK someone from a dating app sent you. Money sent this way is very hard to recover, and Paheli cannot recover it for you.
If you have already lost money, call 1930 and file a report at cybercrime.gov.in within the first few hours — that window is when a transfer can sometimes still be frozen. Then report the profile to us.
4. Meeting for the first time
- Public, busy, familiar. A café, a restaurant, a crowded market. Never their home, your home, a hotel room, or a deserted spot — not on the first meeting.
- Get there and back on your own. Do not be picked up, do not be dropped home, and do not let anyone see your building on date one.
- Tell someone. Share the person’s name and photo, where you are going and when you expect to be back. Turn on live location sharing with a friend for the evening.
- Keep your phone charged and carry enough money to get yourself home independently.
- Watch your drink and know your limit. Do not accept a drink you did not see poured, and do not leave it unattended.
- Stay in daylight and in public for a first meeting. There is no rush, and anyone worth meeting will not mind.
- You can leave at any point. You owe no explanation, no apology and no politeness to anyone who makes you uncomfortable. Tell the staff if you need help getting out.
If you are travelling to another city to meet someone, book your own accommodation and keep it to yourself.
5. Extra care worth taking
Some people carry more risk into a first meeting than others. If that is you, a few extra steps are worth it:
- If you are not out, be careful about how much of your face, workplace or neighbourhood is identifiable in photos, and think hard before sending intimate images to someone you have not met.
- If you have been threatened or blackmailed before, tell a trusted friend the details of every new meeting in advance.
- If you are recently out of a controlling relationship, avoid meeting anywhere near home or work, and consider a friend nearby in the same venue.
6. If something goes wrong
- Get safe first. If you are in danger, call 112. Everything else can wait.
- Keep the evidence. Screenshot the profile, the chat and anything else before you block — blocking hides it from you too.
- Report to the police where a crime has occurred. For online financial fraud, call 1930 and file at cybercrime.gov.in.
- Report and block on Paheli so the account cannot do it to someone else.
- Email us at support.paheli@gmail.com with what you have. We prioritise safety reports, and we cooperate with lawful requests from the police.
- Talk to someone. A bad experience is not something to carry alone, and it is not your fault.
Nothing that happened to you is a reason to be embarrassed about reporting it. Scams and abuse work precisely because people stay quiet.
7. Indian helplines worth saving now
| Number | For |
|---|---|
| 112 | National emergency — police, fire, ambulance. |
| 1930 | Cyber financial fraud. Call within hours of losing money. |
| 1091 | Women's helpline (police), available 24×7. |
| 181 | Women in distress — support, shelter, counselling. |
| 1098 | Childline — any concern about a child. |
| 14416 / 1800-891-4416 | Tele-MANAS, free mental-health support, 24×7. |
Online complaint portal for cybercrime, including online harassment and non-consensual images: cybercrime.gov.in. Complaints about intimate images can be filed anonymously.
8. Where our responsibility ends
We give you the tools — moderation, blocking, reporting, a hidden phone number, an approximate distance instead of your address — and the advice on this page. What we cannot do is vouch for another human being.
Paheli is not responsible for the conduct of any user, online or offline, and you use the app and meet the people you meet through it at your own risk. That is set out in full in our Disclaimer and in section 5 of the Terms of Service. It is not a legal formality — it is the honest description of what a dating app can and cannot do for you.
Please take the precautions above seriously, and tell us at support.paheli@gmail.com when something is wrong. Reports are how we find the accounts that need to go.
Questions about this page? Email support.paheli@gmail.com — or see every other policy on the legal index.