Is Momo safe?

What is Momo?

China's first nationwide dating/social app, one of the country's largest; now emphasizes live-streaming, groups, and games alongside dating, under parent Hello Group Inc.

Category: Location-based social/dating app, dominant in mainland China (Asia) · Most popular in: Rest of World

Safety rating: Moderate

ID-linked registration and an ML-based scam-flagging tool are real features, but the app has a documented history of Chinese regulatory scrutiny (including a 2019 incident affecting sister-app Tantan), and safety information for international users is sparse.

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.

Momo safety features

• ID-linked account registration
• "Safety Suite" with video verification and automated scam-flagging (reported ~80% fake-account catch rate per industry coverage, not independently audited)
• 24/7 phone hotline for illegal/inappropriate content reports (reported, not independently re-verified)

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

Features and pricing

• Location-based discovery, live-streaming, interest groups, mini-games, messaging

How to report a scammer or harassment on Momo

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

• immomo.com/help (Chinese-language help center)

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 Momo

• Our research did not find a photo-verification feature on Momo, so reverse-image-search a match’s photos before you invest time in them.
• 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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