Safety Tips

Last updated: September 28, 2026

Most people on Elsewhere are here to meet someone, just like you. But you're talking with people you haven't met, often in another country, so it pays to be careful. These tips help you stay safe while you chat, when you meet, and when you travel.

If you're in danger right now, call your local emergency number.

Protect your personal information

• Keep identifying details to yourself until you know someone well: your last name, home address, workplace, and daily routine. Watch for them in the background of your photos, too.
• Share your number and social accounts only once you trust someone. Social media can show where you live, where you work, and who your family is.
• Stay on Elsewhere at first. Scammers often push to move to WhatsApp, Telegram, or another app right away, where our safety tools can't help you. While you chat here, you can report and block, and our team can see what happened.
• Never share codes. Elsewhere will never message you asking for a sign-in code, a password, or payment details. Anyone asking for a code sent to your phone is trying to take over one of your accounts.
• Don't send documents such as your passport, ID card, or bank details to anyone you meet here.
• Be wary of links. Don't open links, scan QR codes, or install apps that someone you met here sends you.

Spot romance scams

Romance scammers spend weeks or months building trust, then ask for money. Long-distance relationships are where they do best, because they always have a reason they can't meet. Knowing the signs is the best protection.

Warning signs

• They say they love you, or talk about marriage, very quickly.
• They always have a reason they can't video call or meet, such as working overseas, on an oil rig, or in the military, or a broken camera.
• They ask for money for any reason: an emergency, medical bills, a plane ticket, a visa, customs or release fees, or to unlock an inheritance.
• They bring up investing, especially crypto or a trading app, and offer to show you how they make money.
• They ask you to pay with gift cards, wire transfers, crypto, or a payment app, which are hard to trace or reverse.
• They ask you to receive money and send it on, or to receive or carry packages for them. This can make you part of a crime.
• They want to move to another app right away, or their story changes and the details don't add up.
• Their photos look like a model's, or show up under another name when you search for them online.

Never send money, gift cards, crypto, or financial details to someone you met on Elsewhere, whatever the reason, even if you've talked for months, and even if they sent you money first.

If you think it's a scam

• Stop replying, and don't send anything more.
• Report them in the app, so we can stop them contacting other people.
• If you've sent money, contact your bank or payment provider right away. They may be able to stop or reverse it.
• Report it to the police or your country's fraud reporting service (see Get help).
• Be wary of anyone who later offers to get your money back for a fee. That's often the same scam again.

Fraud alerts. If we ban an account for fraud, we may send an alert to people who messaged with it. If you get one, stop contacting that person and don't send them anything. Our alerts never ask you for money or payment details.

Intimate images and sextortion

Sextortion is when someone gets intimate images or videos of you, then threatens to share them unless you pay or send more. It often starts with a match who moves fast, and sends images first to get you to do the same.

• Don't send intimate images to someone you haven't met and don't know well. Once they're sent, you can't control where they go.
• If someone threatens you, don't pay. Paying rarely makes it stop, and usually leads to more demands.
• Stop replying, but keep evidence: take screenshots of the messages, their profile, and any payment requests.
• Report and block them in the app, and contact the police.
• StopNCII.org helps stop intimate images from being shared on participating platforms. If the images were taken when you were under 18, use Take It Down.

Sharing, or threatening to share, intimate images of anyone is banned on Elsewhere, leads to a permanent ban, and is a crime in many countries.

Meeting in person

• Video call first. A quick call shows they're the person in the photos. Be careful with anyone who keeps avoiding one.
• Meet in public, and stay in public. Choose a busy café, restaurant, or other public place for your first few dates. Don't go to their home or invite them to yours.
• Tell someone. Let a friend or family member know where you're going, who you're meeting, and when you'll be back. Share your live location with them if you can.
• Get there and back on your own. Never agree to be picked up at your home. Have your own way home, and keep your phone charged.
• Watch your drinks. Know your limits, and don't leave your drink with someone you've just met.
• Leave whenever you want. If something feels off, you don't owe anyone an explanation. Ask staff for help if you need it.
• Respect consent. Anyone can say no or change their mind at any time, and someone who is very drunk or being pressured can't agree. Stop if someone says no or seems unsure.

Traveling to meet someone

Meeting someone from another country is what Elsewhere is for, and it can be wonderful. Plan it with extra care.

• Be sure they're real. Video call more than once before you book anything.
• Pay your own way. Book and pay for your own flights and accommodation. Never send money for tickets, visas, or fees, for you or for them.
• Stay somewhere of your own, such as a hotel you booked, at least until you know them well in person.
• Share your plans. Give someone at home your itinerary, where you're staying, and your match's name, profile, and number. Check in with them regularly.
• Keep your documents and money with you. Keep your passport, return ticket, and some emergency money yourself, and never hand your passport to anyone else.
• Never carry anything for someone else. Don't take a package, bag, or gift across a border for anyone, however harmless it seems.
• Know the local laws. Laws about relationships, sexuality, gender identity, and living together differ between countries. Check them before you go.
• Know where to get help. Save the local emergency number and the address of your country's embassy or consulate. US citizens can enroll in the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov.
• Have a backup plan, including enough money to change hotels or fly home early.

Reporting and blocking

If someone makes you uncomfortable, breaks our rules, or seems like a scammer, report them. You don't need to be sure.

In the app

• Report: tap the ⋮ menu on their profile or at the top of your chat, choose Report, and pick a reason. Reporting also blocks them, so you won't see each other again.
• Block: tap the ⋮ menu on their profile and choose Block. They won't be able to see your profile or contact you, and we won't tell them.
• Unmatch: removes the match and your conversation for both of you.

If someone broke our rules, report them rather than only unmatching. When you report from a chat, we keep a copy of the conversation for our team to review, even though it disappears from your screen. If you might go to the police, take screenshots first.

Without the app

Anyone can report a profile or content by emailing [email protected], even without an account. Include the profile name, what happened, and any screenshots.

How we handle harassment reports

Harassment includes threats, stalking, bullying, hate, unwanted sexual messages, and contacting someone who has said no or blocked you. When someone reports it:

1. The reported person is blocked from them right away, whatever we decide next.
2. A person on our team reviews the report, the account, and the conversation. Automated tools can flag problems for us, but only a person can ban an account.
3. Depending on how serious it is and whether it has happened before, we may remove content, warn the account, limit it, suspend it, or ban it permanently. Threats of violence, sextortion, sharing someone's private information or intimate images, and anything involving a minor lead to a permanent ban.
4. When we ban an account, we also block the devices, email addresses, and phone numbers linked to it.
5. If we believe someone is in danger, we may share information with law enforcement.

We never tell anyone who reported them. If you disagree with a decision about your own account, you can appeal as described in Section 9 of our Terms.

Child safety standards

Elsewhere, operated by SnowPea Studios LLC, is only for adults 18 and older. We have zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE).

What's banned

• Anyone under 18 using Elsewhere.
• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of any kind, including drawn, edited, or AI-generated images.
• Any content that sexualizes a minor, and any attempt to contact, groom, exploit, or traffic a minor.
• Sextortion of minors, and sharing or asking for images of minors.

What we do

• We check age at sign-up using the birthday you enter and age information from Apple or Google where available, and we remove the account of anyone under 18.
• Automated tools check profile photos, and our team reviews reports. Reports that involve a minor are our most urgent.
• When we find CSAE content, we remove it, permanently ban the account and its devices, keep the evidence the law requires, and report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and law enforcement.

How to report

• In the app, report the profile and choose “Appears to be underage,” or report the chat.
• Email [email protected] with “Child safety” in the subject.
• If a child is in immediate danger, contact the local police first. In the US, you can also report to NCMEC's CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.

Child safety contact: SnowPea Studios LLC, [email protected]. This is also our contact for app stores and authorities on child safety.

Get help

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call your local emergency number.

Anywhere

• StopNCII.org: helps stop intimate images from being shared online.
• Take It Down: helps remove intimate images taken when you were under 18.
• Find A Helpline: free, confidential helplines in your country.

United States

• Emergency: 911
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 (thehotline.org)
• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 (rainn.org)
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988
• Report scams: ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and ic3.gov for online fraud

Philippines

• Emergency: 911
• Scams and cybercrime: CICC hotline 1326
• Violence against women and children: PNP Women and Children Protection Center, 0919 777 7377

Indonesia

• Emergency: 112 (police: 110)
• Violence against women and children: SAPA 129, call 129 or WhatsApp 08111-129-129
• Financial scams: Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre, iasc.ojk.go.id

Brazil

• Police: 190
• Violence against women: Ligue 180 (free, 24 hours)
• Emotional support: CVV, 188
• Help with online abuse: SaferNet Canal de Ajuda

Questions or ideas about safety on Elsewhere? Email us at [email protected].