Australians seeking partners are increasingly turning to Facebook community pages — often once-used for local gossip or lost pets — and encountering a mix of genuine seekers, fraudulent profiles and abusive behaviour, a Daily Mail investigation found.
Users searching for companions have posted publicly in town "chit chat" groups and community pages, sometimes advertising detailed personal preferences or inviting others to meet, but many said those posts attract scammers, creeps and poor moderation that leaves vulnerabilities exposed.
The investigation catalogued a range of behaviours. In a Tasmanian town's local page, a man posted a photo saying he was "looking for love" with a male or female, describing himself as a "good cuddler" and noting he had "won big on the pokies...come at me girls." Another poster in Canberra used a community group to invite a single woman to join a married couple for a drink. Many similar posts have explicit sexual overtones, while others are simple pleas for companionship from people who say they have had no success on dating apps.
At the same time, users documented an influx of scam profiles that present as attractive young women and include links or WhatsApp numbers. Several community members said the accounts often use stolen photographs and direct conversations away from Facebook, techniques that Scamwatch, the Australian government’s consumer alert service, identifies as common features of romance and dating scams.
"It's impossible to know who is a scammer and who is not," one member of an Adelaide singles Facebook group told the Daily Mail. Users pointed to telltale signs: profiles that look "too good to be true," messages pushing recipients to WhatsApp or other free messaging platforms, and posts containing external links. People also reported being sent pitches about easy money, cryptocurrency schemes, or emergency requests for funds once a rapport had been built.
Some community pages have become sites of cruelty as well as fraud. Commenters on town posts sometimes harass people who shared photographs taken without their consent. In one instance, a poster on a Tasmanian page uploaded a photo of a woman smoking in the street and attracted derogatory comments; in Adelaide a woman advertising that she was single received unfounded accusations of illegal drug use in response.
Not all interactions are negative. The Daily Mail reported instances of supportive responses: a user who identified as transfeminine, non-binary, polyamorous and aromantic received encouraging comments and offers of friendship. Others described finding warm, welcoming replies amid the trolling and scams.
Administrators of community pages received criticism from members who said moderation is insufficient to stop scammers and harassers. Some users called for tighter gatekeeping, while others said the public nature of the groups makes them inherently risky for people seeking private relationships.
Scamwatch warns that scammers may spend months or even years building trust online before attempting to extract money. It advises users to be wary of anyone who insists on moving a conversation off the social platform to services such as Google Hangouts, WeChat, Line or WhatsApp, and to treat requests for money, claims of easy investment returns and refusals to meet in person or by video as red flags.
Experts and consumer advocates say the trend underscores broader shifts in how Australians look for relationships. Some singles turn to local Facebook pages because they are free and reach geographically proximate people, especially in regional areas where mainstream dating apps may seem ineffective. Others use the groups to seek nontraditional arrangements, such as polyamorous connections or casual meetups.
Community members contacted by the Daily Mail urged caution and greater digital literacy. "Never trust that someone you only know online is who they say they are," Scamwatch said in guidance echoed by several users. The agency recommended verifying identities through video calls, checking images for signs of being used elsewhere online, and reporting suspicious accounts to platform administrators.
The Daily Mail's reporting highlights a marketplace of connection where genuine intentions, poor moderation and criminal opportunism coexist. As Australians continue to experiment with nontraditional ways of meeting people, consumer authorities and community page administrators face pressure to improve protections while users weigh the risks of seeking intimacy in public forums.