Is Instinct safe?

What is Instinct?

Small-operator casual-dating app targeting non-monogamous, open, and casual-intent daters, available in Australia and Canada; privacy policy names a single data controller based in Estonia — a niche, lower-resourced product.

Category: Casual dating / open relationships / ENM, LGBTQ+-inclusive · Most popular in: Canada/Australia

Safety rating: Basic

Selfie verification and reporting exist, but this is confirmed as a very small team (support response time stated as up to one month in its own privacy policy), limiting realistic capacity for proactive enforcement.

Ratings are qualitative (Strong, Moderate or Basic) and based only on safety features we could verify from the app’s own help pages and reputable reporting. How we rate apps.

Instinct safety features

• Selfie verification ("confirm you're a real person"), images not shown publicly, deletable on request
• Report/block on every profile
• Stated zero-tolerance policy for minors, with authority reporting where relevant
• Retention of verification selfies/reports/anti-fraud signals limited to legal necessity
• ⚠ Support response time stated as up to one month

A red cross marks a feature that has ended, is missing or could not be confirmed.

Features and pricing

• Intent tags (casual, open, ENM, monogamous, long-term), turn-on/interest listing on profiles, 18+ only

How to report a scammer or harassment on Instinct

Report the profile inside the app first, then use Instinct’s own help and safety pages:

• [email protected] (response time up to one month per own policy)

Screenshot the profile and messages before you block or unmatch, because the conversation may disappear. If you have lost money, contact your bank straight away and report it to the police or national fraud service listed on this page.

Staying safer on Instinct

• Use Instinct’s verification and give more weight to verified matches. Verification confirms a face matches the photos; it says nothing about intentions.
• Keep the conversation in the app until you have met. Scammers push early for WhatsApp, Telegram or text because the app can no longer see or moderate the chat.
• Ask for a live video call before meeting. Repeated excuses, a camera that never works or a face that looks off are all reasons to stop.
• Never send money, crypto, gift cards or a verification code to someone you have only met online, whatever the story.
• Meet somewhere busy and public, arrange your own travel and tell a friend where you will be.

Scams to watch for

Pig butchering

A friendly or flirtatious contact – often on a dating app, social media or a 'wrong number' text – builds a relationship and casually mentions success trading crypto, gold or forex as a 'side job'.

Romance scams

A scammer builds an online relationship using a fake or borrowed identity, often over weeks or months, and invests heavily in attention and affection.

Catfishing and impersonation

Scammers build profiles from photos stolen from real people – often soldiers, professionals or celebrities – and invent a life that explains why they cannot meet: deployed overseas, working on an oil rig, with an international organisation, or too famous.

“Send me the code” account takeovers

A match says they want to 'make sure you are real' and asks for your phone number, then sends you a six-digit code and asks you to read it back.

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