Have you noticed a huge decline in your Tinder matches? Well, you may have been slapped by a Tinder shadowban. As if avoiding being banned wasn’t enough to worry about, now we have to worry about a shadow ban as well.
A couple of months ago, I ran into my first shadowban, and it took me a few weeks to figure out what was going on.
I think Tinder now operates similarly to a bank since they are the #1 grossing app.
Each additional day they can keep paying members signed up is another day they collect membership fees from people who have been shadowbanned.
It’s their way of penalizing people while milking those same people for a profit.
In this article, I’ll show you how to know you’ve been shadowbanned on Tinder and how to create a fresh account that won’t link to your banned account.
How does the shadowban work?
At first, you may not even realize you’ve been shadowbanned, hence the title.
I think of it as a progressive illness that gets worse over time until you’re gone altogether.
Here are the key symptoms to look out for:
- Significantly lower match rate – if you were accustomed to new matches every hour, you’ll suddenly have a slow trickle of new matches or none at all.
- Fewer people who have liked you in the Tinder Gold circle
- No responses from your matches – This was the first symptom that raised a red flag in my case because I couldn’t believe how low my response rate had gone. I use a clipboard app to message many matches at once. When hundreds of my matches didn’t reply, I knew something was up.
- If you see the message “Something went wrong. Please try again later.” in the area of the app where you swipe instead of “There’s no one new around you,” then you may have a tripped an alarm. I’ve experienced instances where I couldn’t swipe for 12 hours while the “something went wrong” message displayed, despite being a Tinder Plus paying member. Be aware that paying for unlimited likes doesn’t mean you can use them all at once. Tinder may think you’re a bot if you swipe too fast, which can result in a shadow ban.
- If you’ve already received a warning for breaking the Tinder guidelines – In the past, Tinder would display a message that you’ve been reported. I think now they are sending warnings instead of telling you that you’ve been reported. The last time I received the message, I was being extra careful to follow the guidelines and still received a warning.
- If you decide to delete your account and create a new one using the same phone number or Facebook account, a shadowbanned account will receive zero new likes in the Tinder Gold circle. This is perhaps the best way to run a shadowban test. I’ve noticed that Tinder always gives my fresh accounts a newbie boost to help them compute their so-called ELO score for your profile (the higher the score the more exposure you get). A fresh account racks up likes in the Gold circle out the gate while the shadowbanned account gets zero in the first few hours.
How to Get Shadowbanned
Now that we have the symptoms out of the way, let’s explore reasons you may have been shadowbanned in the first place.
Here are the reasons:
- Messaging too many members at once with the same message – A couple of years ago, this was okay. You could even use companion apps to mass message your matches. The people who ruined this for everyone are the bots. They mass messaged people to convince them to sign up for dating sites outside of Tinder to get an affiliate fee. I recently noticed that if I messaged more than roughly 20 of my matches in an hour, it could lead to the “something went wrong” message.
- Mass liking – I don’t know if this can lead to a shadow ban, but it can significantly decrease your ELO score, landing you at the bottom of everyone’s stack. Long gone are the days of using a Tinder companion app to mass like thousands of people, then watch the matches roll in. This goes back to bots. They mass like to rack up matches then mass message with their scripted message to make their money.
- Deleting and restarting an account too many times – I’ve been able to get away with deleting an account and starting it fresh again 1 or 2 times without noticing a significant decrease in my results. As mentioned above, once you’ve been shadowbanned, you’ll know because your account will receive zero likes after reset. A good rule to follow is never select the reason for deleting your account as “I want a fresh start.” I like to choose the option I’ve found someone already.
- Breaking their guidelines and being reported – It’s crucial to avoid making enemies with anyone on Tinder. If you do, your enemies will report you every time you restart your account because they’ll see you again. Be smart and polite; play by Tinder’s rules inside the app.
Proof
I confirmed my shadow ban in December 2018, and here’s how I did it.
I received a message from one of my matches. She told me that she was seeing a notification saying that I had messaged her, but there was no message from me inside the app.
We were chatting in the Line app at the time.
After she told me about it, I went inside my Tinder app, and the message she never received had the “sent” confirmation below it.
Check out the photo below of her telling me she couldn’t see my messages. Notice how they turned blue as sent on my end:
That’s right, Tinder is telling paying members who have been shadowbanned that their messages are being sent when they aren’t.
At this point, it’s impossible to know if your matches are always receiving your messages. I’ve started asking girls I’m interested in sooner than ever before for their numbers to move the chat elsewhere.
Now, fast forward a bit. I deleted this account and created a new one with a fresh phone number.
Later on, I began matching with some of the same girls I had matched with on the shadowbanned account.
Several of my matches told me the same thing as the girl in Line had told me.
Check out the photo below:
This confirmed that it wasn’t an isolated incident or bug.
More Proof
At this point, I wanted to investigate further.
I used my backup phone to create a Tinder account with the shadowbanned phone number account.
Once I finished setting up the account and adding my photos, I turned the phone off and let a few hours pass.
After allowing the time to pass, I picked up the phone to check my account.
I had zero likes in the Tinder Gold circle. In fact, the Tinder Gold circle that appears in the match list didn’t appear at all.
It was only the message telling me that I have no matches yet.
This additional proof was everything I needed to confirm the existence of the shadow ban.
Ever since that day, I’ve been more careful than ever not to trip any alarms with my profile.
How to Create a New Account
Once you’ve been shadowbanned, the first thing you should do is end your subscription to Tinder Plus or Gold before you get bamboozled.
Also, never contact Tinder support over this issue; you don’t want to be on their radar.
These are the steps to successfully create your new account/things you need:
- A new phone number (I don’t think a new Facebook account works)
- Don’t link this new number to your previous email address or Facebook account
- Create a fresh email address or use a different email address than before
- If you have a backup smartphone, use it to create the new account (although, I think you can get away with using the same phone)
- Delete and reinstall Tinder on your phone
- Delete any browsing history that could be linked to Tinder
- When you sign up with the new phone number, try to use a different IP address than the one you had used to sign up with the shadowbanned account
- Slightly change your information when you sign up (this may not be necessary)
- You can use the same photos but alter them a bit by using different filters, trimming a few pixels, and renaming the files. It’s even better to use photos you’ve never posted on Tinder before.
- Write a brand new Tinder bio
- If you sign up for Tinder Plus or Gold, you may want to use a different Google Play store email or Apple ID. The first time I created a fresh account after a shadowban, I used the same Google Play store subscription without a problem.
- Don’t link any accounts you’ve linked before, e.g., Spotify and Instagram
- And that’s it, you’re ready to start Tindering again.
This time around try to avoid the same mistake(s) you made before.
Go back and read over the reasons you may have been shadowbanned above.
Conclusion
What I’ve found is that Tinder is more than willing to sell us features and penalize us for using those features.
Unlimited likes aren’t unlimited.
We can’t message everyone we’ve matched with at once.
We must be more careful than ever before and avoid making enemies at all costs.
If you’ve been outright banned and are seeing a Tinder Error Code after signing in, learn how to get unbanned from Tinder now.
Despite the new rules, Tinder is still my favorite dating app and will be for the foreseeable future.
I was definitely banned. Not sure if it’s shadow banned. But definitely banned. I used a brand new number by using a TextNow number on the same phone and with the same apple account in order to purchase tinder plus. With same pics and bios. (This was prior to reading this post). And no matter how many swipes or boosts I did, nothing happened.
So I came across this post and many similar like it.
And after reading, I got to thinking, I don’t want to go through the trouble of getting a new number through AT&T which would mean I would have to change MANY accounts both personal and professional.
So what I did was,
I used a VPN app so that my IP can be hidden.
Then I used my sisters phone number to register the account but with the app on MY phone. (And yes, I shamelessly used my sister number. I know. She was cool about it though. Luckily she didn’t give me grief about it).
After I used it, I got in. Then, at the time, I was also STILLBORN logged in with my current Apple ID for Apple Pay. And when I tried purchasing Tinder Plus, it rejected me. It gave me a message saying “ unable to purchase. Apple Pay is registered with another Tinder account “. So I logged out of tinder then I logged back in with the OTHER tinder account I created with TextNow, and I completely deleted the account. What was funny is, when I was selecting to delete, I kept getting prompts asking me if I was sure I wanted to delete and that they would miss me… but I am thinking to myself what the hell are they talking about? They won’t even allow me to get matched with anyone. But yet they’re waiting to take my money on a monthly basis…. (idiotic).
So back to the story. Now that I deleted the other account, I figured that Apple would be a CNN link from that account and would be free for me to use. But I recall reading in this article that I should use a brand new Apple account. So I created a new one and tied it up to my MacBook and to my other devices. It was a major hassle. So I went back and logged in to my new Tinder account using my sisters phone number. And it was successful and I was able to purchase a Tinder plus. I also used NEW pictures and this time I will be extremely careful not to over swipe and have an even balance of swipes. And perhaps I’m even going to allow a couple of weeks to go by between boosts swipes. So that I never fall under their radar.
Ps. Since I don’t want to be using my sisters phone number forever, obviously, what I plan on doing this, I’m going to buy and iPad and download text now and use a VPN app And with the same Apple account that I’m currently using so that I can keep everything separate. And not bother my sister for that and you shall code when registering or logging in and with the same Apple account that I’m currently using so that I can keep everything separate. And not bother my sister for that initial 6 digit code when registering or logging in…
I will keep you posted if it works… ( as I’m writing this, I can’t help but laugh due to all the extremes us guys or gals go through just to circumvent the ban from tinder…) lol
Oh man, your post spoke to me on many levels 🙂 I’m glad you were able to get back on. It truly is ridiculous the lengths we must now go to. Follow the guide, and you should be all good. Being “extremely careful” is the name of the game these days.
I’m sure your post will help a lot of people. Thank you for contributing! The iPad idea is a good one. I have multiple phones (two iPhones and a Huawei at the moment). It makes staying on Tinder a lot easier lol. What they’ve done is create a lot of red flag traps similar to what Paypal does. Once you trip one of their alarms, the bans are automated. They also give you warnings when someone reports you. Before, they would tell you someone reported you, not anymore.
They’re very protective of their “Tinder police” accounts since it makes their job easier. It’s disgusting how some people get off by wasting their time policing Tinder to make other people’s lives difficult. In all likelihood, one of these police “people” probably reported you which contributed to your shadowban. The shadow ban is the worst thing to happen to Tinder ever. I saw a post written by a guy who was shadowbanned, and people were attacking him for being conceited and expecting more matches than other people. It reminded me why I don’t surf internet forums anymore.
Update to my original post:
It was successful.
1. I used a VPN app in order to hide my IP
2. Created new email, apple account, TextNow number, and new pictures.
3. Swipe responsibly. If you do a boost, do NOT do another until another couple of days pass by. Swipe evenly. Don’t be thirsty and swipe right on every female with a heart beat. And make the most of your “super likes” and “boosts”. By that, I mean, swipe with meaning, and don’t give Tinder algorithms the impression that you are probably a Bot.
Those are my words of wisdom.
Hope it helps.
Forgot to mention: I used an apple ipad. And installed a VPN app that was needed to hide my IP.
Oh, also, when you are registering, tinder will prompt you with this question: “tinder would like to use your current location”. Make sure you select your location “ONLY WHEN USING APP”.
The reason I say this is because, if your going to hide your IP, and you accidentally close or your VPN stops, then if Tinder is always using your location, it will record your IP on your network. And that’s what you want to avoid. That is why I say, select to share your location only when using the app.
So whenever you get on your device, you will click on the VPN app and enable it, then go into Tinder and use it to your hearts content. Make sense?
Yes, this very much does make sense, and thank you for sharing the process! My question, is it continuing to work? I think they might have upgraded their system recently to include facial recognition, but I have yet to confirm this.
One thing I plan to do is ask the pros who I always see on Tinder what their method is to stay on Tinder and get so much exposure. I think they use multiple phone numbers, and they do an amazing job of always getting to the front of the stack. Makes me wonder if I need to dig deeper to find an app we can all use to get back to the glory days. I meant to do it a few months ago but procrastinated on it. I’ll update here.
UPDATE:
After using the following:
Ipad, new email, new number (textnow), VPN app, new pictures..
everything was functioning pretty well… the gold circle was showing at the top left..
After 6 days, the gold circle disappeared.. Zero matches,
The app would close down and ask me to re-sign in.. i would have to start from the beginning, re-enter new details and new pictures..
It would randomly ask me to re-verify my email.
But yet, it would allow me to “re-subscribe” to Tinder Plus for 19.99….
What really pist me off was the fact that the “boosts” now cost 6.99. Used to be 3.99…
This is what got me fed up.
So in conclusion, here’s a F…K YOU TINDER.. Im tired of this BS.
I think im going to go back to meeting people the old fashion way…. walking up to them and saying hello.
Unless you guys got a better approach, until then, it is what it is..
once your blacklisted, your F’d all the way.
That’s a bummer. Tinder is really good at tracking VPN and Textnow phone numbers, unfortunately. And yeah, they have no problem taking your money while giving you nothing in return. I think the new way is to have everything 100% fresh and legit, then post photos without showing the face clearly, which won’t boost matches but at least they can’t recognize you.
I think I’ve been shadowbanned. It really sucks. I used to get 5-15 likes in my Tinder Gold thing every day (though of course many were not my taste).
Now, I realize my constant deleting and re-setting screwed me. I move my profile to large city, set the radius to 5 miles, and get “No one around you.” My response rate has plummted. Boosts at good times of day yield 0 likes, let alone matches. At the same time, Bumble, which has a shittier profile still generates a decent number of matches. I NEVER had more success on Bumble vs Tinder.
I made the mistake of contacting help, being angry, saying basically this is bogus: There is no way “no one is around me.” Anyway, we will see what they say. I think that is a legitimate gripe, especially for a paying member. They could always claim the other stuff is just “people not liking you. Get better photos!!” but they cannot claim the radius issue isn’t a bug.
Hey, that sounds like all the symptoms of a shadow ban to me. The plummet in your response rate is one of the key signs to look for. Yeah, it’s better not to contact help since you want to stay off their radar. Your best bet is to start a completely fresh account then hope for the best. I wish you luck.
Also, an interesting report about the “no one around you” issue. The shadow ban is Tinder’s way of milking paying members for as long as possible without giving them an outright ban. You’re not alone either. Tons of people are getting hit by it.
I’m in a similar situation, just like many people described. Main problem for me is google play account on which I have 6 months subscription, which ends in the end of June (already cancelled, but can’t completely remove it). Basically tinder can track your account thanks to google play, so right now I’m swiping on a new profile with fear or pressing anywhere like “rewind” and triggering tinder gold activation (which immediately will tell them that it’s me). But at this point I’m pretty sure they are tracking me even through phone info. Just tried creating new account from vpn with new email, edited photos and new phone number. 0 activity. They most likely got some solid track of my devices or something like that. Even “see likes” doesn’t appears.
Also fun fact – tinder features in app depend on country in which you registered (tracked either via facebook account or phone number). If I use facebook or phone number from Singapore, I simply don’t have feature in user settings “I live in”. When I register with Russian phone number (tested 3 times within last 3 months), I have this feature from the start. This app is so fucking weird.
Yes, you’re very right about Google Play. I recently found out that they can track through Google Play even with a fresh phone number and not signing up for a subscription. It’s mandatory to have a backup phone that you can start 100% fresh everything on. And yes, the countries have to match because that can cause even more conflicts. I hope you can get back on!
UPDATE:
I personally have given up completely. The iPad that I had purchased specifically to try this out initially around a week and a half ago, completely failed after six days. I was the one that suggested everyone use VPN application.
1. New iPad or device
2. New #
3. New VPN app
4. New pictures
5. New profile name
6. New description
7. New email
8. New Apple ID and new payment information.
And all these things failed.
Initially, with the VPN, it worked. And I had the gold circle at the top, but within 6 days, it disappeared and I couldn’t use the app on VPN anymore. VPN has to be shut off in order for the app to work. (This was my 3rd attempt at recreating new things and trying new strategies).
Back in 2018, before Tinder updated their app, it was a bit easier. Not anymore.
To summarize: in the end, I’m still in the app with all the NEW things I listed above, but no gold circle, and zero matches at all time. Nothing but crickets. A few months ago, I used to get matches every day, so many matches that I couldn’t keep up with. I believe I was “shadow banned” because, among the great women I was being matched with, I was also being matched w/ shady women that were escorts, or looking for “older men” so they can be their “sugar daddy”, or they flat out wanted a guy to “cash app” or “Paypal” them or prostitution… etc.. anyway, and within my profile, I politely stated, if you are looking for the following, please do not swipe right on my profile. And I can only assume that one of those type of women got upset and reported me… I know, I know, I I can already sense what you’re thinking, why would I place myself in that situation….but I was getting sick and tired of the constant matches from girls looking for either money, sex, or materialistic things… I’m not perfect, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to be that thirsty to stoop that low and get that type of girl. I got some morals and values and I just wanted to meet a cool down to earth chick that’s got her life together. I don’t think that’s to much to ask for is it??
Anyway, At this point, I gave up. I returned the iPad and got my money back. The app is still up, and my account is still active and I’m able to swipe right/left, but zero matches at all times. Oh well… it’s no big deal. Who says humans were meant to interact only online? We were once interacting face to face in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s 90’s and even mid 2000’s… why can’t we do the same now. Lol
Ps. It’s funny that, Tinder continues to ask me to purchase either Tinder Plus for 29.99 (used to be 19.99) and also Gold Tinder for 10.99 (in addition to Tinder Plus) so in total 39.99, but yet still keeps me black listed aka shadow banned.. makes ZERO SENSE.
Why offer me those packages if it’s not gonna give me matches?? Hilarious.
Here’s a big FU Tinder. I’m not thirsty, nor am I stupid.
Another discovery – when you shadowbanned, your app basically becomes offline. Open app, receive dozens of cards, swipe no matter left or right. Close app, open again, receive basically same girls in random order, repeat until infinity. When I’m trying to like girl from top picks, I’m receiving network error, no matter if it’s mobile data or wi-fi. Same stuff happened with 2 different accounts earlier today. Seems that my phone with a combination of google play account is completely useless for tinder right now.
Ok, new discovery from reddit thread. It seems that they check if phone number is real (not some virtual fake burner number) via their service. I tried last 3 accounts from virtual number service, so no wonder that it was banned from the beginning, because tinder automatically thought that I’m a bot/scammer.
Yup, VPN and virtual numbers don’t work at all anymore. You need a number for whichever country you are in and to start everything 100% fresh.
Very interesting point because the same exact thing happened to me. I need to add the “network error for Top Picks” to the symptoms list. Plus, seeing the same girls is a definite symptom. Thank you for sharing, even though I know what you’re going through is a bummer. Also, I recently started a fresh account with a phone that had my same Google Play account as before thinking it would be okay with a new phone number, IP, and email. The account was instantly shadowbanned, so yeah, Google Play is definitely linked to Tinder.
UPDATE:
I forgot to add:
And I agree on the “Top Picks” category. When I would “like” a profile for that day’s “Top pick”, it would give me “network error”…. constantly.
That was a few weeks ago. And all the girls within my area (no matter how many times I swiped right on) would still repeat in the same order…
also, with the current account I’m using, with everything new, I get a “Top Pick” for the day, and I hit like or swipe right, and it goes through successfully…. but nothing ever happens. Granted, I know you will be questioning and say well perhaps that other person didn’t reciprocate with your profile.? And that would be a valid hypothesis. But given the fact that my current account drops to a total of zero matches, plus all the same girls in the same order all over again, that leads me to believe there is no winning on this tinder algorithm.
I remade my account with a new email, new phone number, and edited pics from the last account. However, I have only received 1 match in an entire week. Almost every time I open the app I have new likes but for some reason tinder is hiding them from my stack (tried the 1 mile radius trick and no luck). Is this basically a shadowban? What should I do? I don’t want to pay for gold because I don’t want to go through the pain of making a new apple ID.
“The pain of making a new Apple ID” a pain a lot of us know all too well haha. I think what’s going on in your case is either the same IP or connection to the Apple app store (We’ve realized that Tinder has a way of connecting to your Apple ID or Google Play ID without the need to pay for a subscription, which invades our privacy in my opinion). A good idea is to get an old iPhone that you make the fresh Apple ID with so you don’t have to mess with your main phone. I know that blows, but it’s how tight Tinder is these days.
Also, it definitely sounds like a shadow ban if you only go one match in a week. The second problem is your new phone number could have just been connected to your banned account and creating a new Apple ID won’t guarantee success without another new phone number. Hope that makes sense.
UODATE: using a “new phone or old phone” won’t work.
I did it with an old iPhone 7. Then I purposely purchased and 11 inch iPad Pro from Best Buy. I set it up with a brand new Apple account, new email, new phone number, using VPN application, new pictures new description and yet It still didn’t work. Within six days of setting up the account it was working and I was getting a few matches and I also had the gold circles at the top left hand of the header. After the sixth day, all of that disappeared and it was completely empty. It still didn’t work. Within six days of setting up the account it was working and I was getting a few matches and I also had the gold circles at the top left hand of the header. After the sixth day, all of that disappeared and it was completely empty.
“Using VPN application” was your problem. They don’t work anymore. Same thing happened to me last year. The reason I recommend using an old phone is that it’s a pain to change the Apple ID or Google Play account email on your main phone.
It has nothing to do with a new phone . Tinder uses facial recognition. I used the same phone with different number, and my friend picture who never used tinder, everything was perfectly fine. I got more than 30 match that day , and I use to get at least 10 matches a day until I deleted the account.
An old phone won’t work or works only a few days. They record the IP address. If it matches the one they have banned, then the zero match algorithm will continue. I tried that already with and without a vpn. When your on a carrier without WiFi, they have that IP. And then you get on WiFi, vise versa. So an old phone won’t work. I did this multiple times.
At this point I gave up and moved on.
Old phone is optional. Same IP has worked for me with a new phone # in a new country.
this doesnt make sense, they would risk banning your family members by accident
I have something to add. After creating some accounts with numbers from 5sim.net I finally figured out that they have shadow banned me and found this article. To test it, I created a woman profile from my second phone (but that phone was already used for another banned account), never activated my plus subscription, set the radius to a minimum and a specific age range to be able to find my “man” profile. I was unsuccesful. Then luckly I stumbled upon my best friend, sent the only super like that they issue at the beginning. When I called my friend, (he has a regular profile) he told me that he could only see that women profile blurred, no superlikes. He also tried to set the age/distance to be able to find that woman profile with no luck. so no matter what you do, those fuckers will prevent you somehow from matching to anyone. you can also tell that you’re shadow banned when you activate the boost. normally the little hearts show pictures of people who see you. when you are shadow banned, you will only see colored hearts, but no pictures.
at this point I believe that:
1- They identify Apple ID’s (use your monthly boost, delete that account, open a new one, ta-daa no new boosts)
2- They identify devices
3- Disposable phone numbers probably are failing
Hey Mike, thank you for your thorough reply and new information. I hope you get back on sooner than later! I recently got back on after a shadowban with the same old backup iPhone I had been using. I agree with #1 and #3 on your list. Using the same Apple ID or Google Play ID when you sign up automatically triggers the shadowban. Another thing I think helps is allowing at least a couple of months to pass (around 3) when you have a continuous shadowban problem. Signing up with an iPhone works better than Android, have no clue why, but it’s worked better for me. Good luck.
Boycott Tinder !
You install Tinder:
Despite the GDPR law, due to their paranoia of renewal/ recreation of your account (nooboost at the first account creation) or others, to be sure that you can only PAY, they keep in their data bases – this, even if you delete your account and uninstall the application! :
(They will say no, don’t believe them, everything has been tested! )
– The ID of your mobile phone and all the information you cannot change such as HW ID of the mobile, Num IMEI of your SIM card…)
– Your photos, the name of them, and the EXIF of them (their identity card)
– They also use AWS recognition to keep and trace your face
– Your mobile number
-Your email and purchase ID
-Your location
-Your credit card datas, linked or not to your ID.
Everything they should erase when you decide to leave this application and delete your account.
Now when you use it, while they have – supposedly – modified their ELO algorithm (it has been slightly modified but the rule is still the same):
To have matches or likes, you have to pay and still pay (Tinder plus or Tinder Gold).
Your account is boosted at the top of the stack for 30 minutes => this glane real profiles (yes the real ones – it’s full of fake and account pointing to escort sites) liking yours, but unfortunately they are often really not attractive (to be polite). And then NOTHING…
you have to buy one or more boots – otherwise nothing happens – to try again to be at the top of the pile. Ok. Are we trying? Again 30mn at the top of it and if nothing suits you (100% of the time), your account is not shown to anybody.
Tinder puts you back at the bottom of the stack to force you to buy back likes and boost that do NOTHING!
Between fakes and others, the % of women fell drastically! The site is in total loss of speed and will soon disappear in front of its competitors. This is why, desperate they are, they have increased the prices of all options.
Goal: to make men pay a max by making them hope.
If it is not attacked before for its illegal practices (GDPR), this site will disappear. New apps are arriving. Tinder is pushing for unbridled consumption, and wants to empty your credit card.
These practices and this dictation on your personal data (American company) is scandalous.
Boycott Tinder! A collective is created and will request an investigation of these practices concerning OUR datas.
Guys, I’m pretty sure I’ve been shadow banned.
Created a new account wit a new Facebook and Google play store account, used the same pictures and used my wifi without a VPN.
Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful, I even bought Tinder gold… Then I restored my own shadow banned account, because I wanted to give it one more try, I get some matches but way lower than it used to be.
I am thinking to create a new account, with a new Facebook, number, e-mail and playstore account on a second phone.
As I don’t make many pictures I would like to use the same I already had, would it work to crop them and remove the exif data?
Thanks in advance!
It’s a bit of a dice roll with the photos. I used the same photos as before on a new account, and it’s working just fine. The most important part is a new phone number, fresh Apple or Google Play ID, and signing up on a different WiFi network. Good luck!
Hey there, i am a young woman who uses tinder for traveling and meeting new people i absolutely loved the app and i usually got a match on almost every right swipe. I accidentally deleted a match who I really liked and I also decided I wanted to try tinder gold to be able to set my next location. So I thought after years it would be nice to reset my account. Never had any problems before and never reset it prior to this. Deleted the account and created a new one with gold membership and I was shadowbanned. I didn’t even know this existed before. I tried making a new account. It doesn’t work. I feel like I tried everything. I really want my account back. I used my friends phone, and phonenumber but used an old photo (cropped) still not one single match. I did sign the new account into my app on my phone since I cannot keep using my friends phone.
I don’t know why they would ban me. I am young, female and was even willing to pay. Any idea what I could do?
Greetings Mar, I feel your pain because I travel too, and Tinder does make traveling a lot more fun. The best way to get back on is to get a fresh SIM card in your next location, use a new Apple ID or Google Play ID, new IP address. I created a new account last month with a couple of the same photos without a problem. Good luck getting back on! Also, don’t restore the purchase, and if you choose to purchase again, buy Plus instead of Gold.
Thanks so much. Definitely will not buy any subscription anymore since I feel like that is what started it all.
So I did create the new account on a new phone with new number and different IP. (I was in a cafe on another island)
I used one of my old photos. Maybe that could have been the issue?
Or do you think it banned me again when I signed into my app on my old phone? Account was created on another phone.
I won’t buy anymore subscriptions but will it recognize my normal tinder app downloaded with my apple and old phone?
I have had my apple id for years I don’t really want to delete all my other phone apps because of that.
Thanks for your help.
It’s difficult to say whether old photos lead to bans and shadowbans. I’ve used the same photos over and over through bans and shadowbans. Most of the time it works.
When you followed these steps “So I did create the new account on a new phone with new number and different IP.” did you use a fresh Apple ID as well? Also, I successfully created an account very recently with a fresh Apple ID on my backup iPhone, allowed time to pass, then signed into the account on my main Android phone without any problems.
If you’re in a place where it’s easy to buy cheap SIM cards, it’s not a bad idea to try a couple more.
Thanks once more. Yes I just bought a new number today. Used a different email adress, made a new apple id which I used to download the tinder app from appstore (my phone still is with old apple id), made new photos (deleted all the exif data) and used a different wifi. My account is banned again. This is so frustrating. I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe the old phone or face recognition or maybe I just don’t do it right. I really don’t know anymore what other options I have.
Yes, that really is strange. You used an alternate phone to set everything up I’m assuming? Unfortunately, you may need to wait a few months for it to work again. That’s happened to me before.
No this time I didn’t have an alternative phone so I signed in my apple store with a new apple id and new Sim card and downloaded Tinder. Signed in to neighbours WIFI which I never used before. New email adress, new phone number, new pictures. And I was immediately banned again. So probably it recognized my phone since the phone still uses same apple ID.
The account before was made by my friend on her phone with her apple id, and never used before phonenumber but since I cannot use her phone I signed the new account into my phone and was banned. So seems like it’s the phone that makes a problem. Or they really do have facial recognition now.
I am even thinking of paying someone to get me back my account haha
I can’t be bothered anymore with new numbers, e-mail adresses and so on as I have limited access to all of this at the moment here in Indo.
Very, very interesting. In my opinion, it was definitely the phone, and your case proves that Tinder can track a phone. Strangely enough, I used the same backup iPhone I’ve had for years to create an account recently, and it worked. I had taken a couple months off to focus on my work though.
Perhaps your best bet is to pick up a second-hand older iPhone or Android phone for cheap or try to use someone else’s to see if the ban still triggers. I feel your pain. It takes a lot of wind out of the sails while traveling and having fun when Tinder suddenly decides to issue a ban.
Yeah probably the phone. Really hope it’s not the photos and facial recognition. Scary what kind of info is being collected and how easily recognized we are though. I surf alot when I travel so I am usually to tired to go out party every day. That’s where you meet most people. So Tinder was awesome for meeting likeminded people without having to spend hours at the bar. Will keep you updated. Wondering if my sister back home could set up an account for me but wondering if it would coz a ban coz of the sudden location change. Who knows what they detect as bots.
Your best bet may be taking some time away from it and trying again in a couple of months. If SIM cards are cheap and a backup phone is in play, it’s possible to get back on. I’ve done it many times. I may create a video as part of a course down the line where I show people exactly how to do it because perhaps there are steps written word can’t capture.
On another note, any good recommendations for surf spots where the living is good?
Update: my last attempt and now I will give up. Maybe they have facial recognition because my friend tried to help me and we set up a new account with new phone (android instead of apple) new Facebook, new email, new phone number, new photos. Nothing that could link me except my name but I didn’t have any other options anymore because I used all my nicknames and didn’t want to give a fake name. So ya probably facial recognition in photos?
As for places to live and surf: Costa Rica and Indonesia are my favorite. I can give you more info if you want.
Why use Facebook? The biggest reason I don’t think facial recognition exists is I always see massage girls and pros on Tinder using the same photos with multiple accounts. I keep forgetting to ask them how they do it, and this just reminded me to ask next time I match with one. Even thought about paying one to show me exactly what they’re doing haha. Whatever they’re doing works because they pop up near the front of the stack using the same single photo account (with different names) time and time again.
I would love to hear about a few surf spots!
But how would they recognize me then? You think because i had my phone with me and it was bingged to the same location as my friends phone? Because there is NOTHING that link us together…
why was my other comment and the guys comment deleted? Did he want it gone?
Maybe email me on my email and I can let you know about surfspots.
It’s hard to say for sure in your case. I approved your other comment. The guy requested his comment be deleted, so I took it down.
Oh and sorry one more message.
Since the new tinder account was created with all my friends data I think that either the old photo or me then using this account on my phone triggered the ban.
whatever it is that Tinder uses as algorythm in order to detect the user, it must be one of the best code changes ive ever seen… cus ive tried EVERYTHING. LOL
1. new ipad
2. VPN app to mask IP
3. Multiple different WIFI network
4. Different pictures
5. Different age, description, location, and race.
6. Different search settings
and BAM…the f…kers still got me. At first, it detects me as a new user and starts matching me right away, but after a few hours, it removes the GOLD badge at the very left top corner, and any match that it showed me at the top center, is immediately removed.. but yet, it still offers me the Tinder package for 19.99 and Super Likes for 3.99, even though, no matter how many times i buy it or use them, no matches ever come in… and they will NEVER tell you to stop buying the Tinder package for 19.99…for all you know, you’ll be spending 20 per month, but never get matched EVER in life. lol
cracks me up. They are good.
You may want to delete everything Tinder and stop trying altogether for at least three months.
Has the 3 months method worked for anyone before?
It just worked for me last month. I took three months off for work purposes after getting an instant shadowban. I plan to update this post with screenshots of my current account to show that my methods still work. Someone had emailed me saying that waiting 3 months works, and it seemed to help but no way to verify.
I have been shadow banned. Had tried different methods but all failed. Is it true that post 3 months of wait period, I can login again using my old account ? I am quite certain face recognition is being used for shadow banning accounts hence i will try using a different photo (possibly of a friend) and see what happens. Also, does it only note your ip address at time of account sign up and post that i can use my regular internet connection for app opens ? How is your account working now ?
How do you know you were shadowbanned?
I had been a tinder gold member for an year now end of December 2019 and had over 300 matches. It was all working very well. However, I recently tried to reset my account twice using different phone numbers. Suddenly I witnessed a decline in likes I used to get and eventually that went to literally none. I also started seeing same profiles over and over again. I matched with 2 girls I had previously matched with. I tried resetting again using another phone this time. a different IP to create an account and different photos (ones that I did not use before ). No noob-boost and no match/like in over a week. This made me believe that I have been definitely shadow-banned. I am certain that tinder uses facial recognition as the photos were the only thing that could have made them recognize me. I had a different phone, internet connection (it was of my friend’s office) and new phone number. Still the same result
That does sound like a shadowban. I’m unsure about the facial recognition because I’ve recreated accounts using the methods in this article and in my book with the same exact photos and been successful. A breadcrumb leading the new accounts back to your old account is the more likely culprit, especially if you used new photos. To me, that says they don’t rely on facial recognition, but who knows. You might want to try to lay off it a few months and be extra careful when it comes time to make a new account.
Ok. Just to clarify, I had used a different email address and google play account as well. Anything else you can think of that might lead to them tracing me back ? Also, did you use the same phone and IP with using the same photos for the recreation ? Any ideas if it notes your ip address at time of account sign up only and post that i can use my regular internet connection for app opens ?
I think once you create the account with a new IP and go back to your old IP, it might still trace it. Regardless, it’s a good idea to create the account with an IP that’s never been linked to your shadowbanned account. Tinder is really good at detecting VPNs, so it’s best to use a friend’s wifi or a coffee shop. Try to go somewhere you’ve never used Tinder.
yes I will do that. I think I will operate the account outside my home location going forward whenever I create my account again. Did you login with a different phone number post the 3 month cool off period or the same number as before ? And you used the same pics as before right ?
Same photos (I might have changed up a couple but kept the main one for sure), new number.
one more thing…is the new account you created after first time you took 3 months off working well now ? Or you had to take sometime off again due to it behaving odd again ?
Yes, the method in this guide and my book still work. Best of luck.
i did. i havent tried Tinder for 4 months now.
ive been using 4 different apps… not the greatest, but gets the job done.
badoo
pof
zoosk
match
eharmony
although, i did get my number changed today…(still on the same iphone)…. im considering trying again… but, i wonder if they will pick it up based on phone IMEI even though i changed my number today. 😛
just thinking out lout
Good thinking to look before you leap. It’s best to use a backup phone or even someone else’s phone who you trust. Create an account with their phone or the backup phone, then wait a few days and sign in with your main phone. This method has worked for me several times.
Same thing happened to me. Not sure if I would call it ‚best‘ because honestly I know so many people who have been banned now, including girls, beautiful and interesting, nice ones. Definitely not the people tinder would really want to ban. One of my friends deleted her account after she suspected her ex to have gotten all her passwords. She just wanted a fresh start. Bam, banned. I purchased Gold because I wanted to be able to set my location (i use Tinder to travel and absolutely love it) but I thought I have had my account for years now I might as well start new with the purchase. So deleted it and made s new one to reset (i didn’t know this would cause a ban, i think they should have warned us. It even gives an option ‘i want a fresh start’)
I got my membership refunded by apple but it still sucks.
if i want to edit or delete a comment, am i able to do that?
Which comment are you referring to?
You mentioned “I used the same backup iPhone I’ve had for years to create an account recently, and it worked. ” …
May i know if you had used that backup iphone to install Tinder before you dug it out? or u just meant it was outdated iphone?
Btw what model was that successful iphone?
Yup, used it many a time with Tinder before. It’s an iPhone 5S. I hit over 1000 matches in about a month yesterday using the same methods in Cheat Codes. I plan to update with screenshots in a couple of weeks when I add content to the site. Cheers.
But how many years this iphone not used for Tinder?
Did u reinstall or just use the old version of Tinder app in it after u dig the phone out? as i know the old version doesn’t need phone number to login….
So what u mean by Cheat Codes? i saw u mentioned it’s for men but i’m not…..so result will not be achieved?
Go for it, why not.
hey m8, thanks for the interesting article. i’m not sure if i’ve been shadow banned but i guess ima ask anyway. so i’m getting a fairly good amount of likes and matches, my gold circle is showing 99+ and 3-6 matches a day is pretty normal for me. i’m in a small town, so it’s quite good i guess.
But out of like 25 matches i got during the past 1,5 weeks, only 3 bothered to reply, which makes me think there might be something weird going on. personally, i think my openers are pretty clever and funny, definitely something that stands out. i’m fairly good looking and i have kind of a FOMO profile with lots of cool stuff going on.
is there a possibility that i’ve got a soft shadowban somehow or am i just really bad with openers? 😀
Hey, glad you enjoyed the article. It’s definitely not an outright shadowban. I think reply rates are getting lower for most guys. You may want to send several messages in hopes of catching your matches at opportune moments.
I have trying and trying and trying and cannot get away from this shadowban. I’ve created multiple new accounts, new Ip, new Apple ID, new number, trimmed the pixels, used filters. Starts off well. Got about 15 likes in 5 hours. Matched with 4. Started chatting and after a few hours none of them reply back. I am also not getting matches coming in anymore. I’m at a loss what I have to do now. Not getting much success on hinge or Coffee meets bagel. Tinder was my most productive one and ever since I reset my account and used boost multiple times back to back a month ago it’s been a nightmare. The only thing I can think of is do this all over again but get brand new photos
You may want to stop using it/creating new accounts altogether for a few months, then try again.
I strongly suspect being shadowbanned after having changed back and forth between my devices with my real location and pc with spoofed location. Any experience about the shadowban being removed? Could this happen in a few day’s time or should I just accept that my account is now dead?
It could very well be because Tinder is great at detecting VPNs or any unusual IP address activity. If you’re outright shadowbanned, there’s a slim chance of ever completely removing it. I also believe there’s a new what I call “soft shadowban” in play that allows Tinder to throttle exposure for accounts. This allows them to give more men enough of a taste to get them to keep paying.
The soft ban sounds spot on. After I stopped changing location I got 1 match and only that 1 so far. From the amount of likes and days I would usually expect 5-10 matches. Also I’m curious if it still only lets some of my messages through. Difficult to tell with Tinder these days!
Sounds like you’re getting limited exposure. Are you using Tinder Plus or Gold? As for messages, if your reply rate is near zero, it could be that the messages aren’t going through. The photo evidence in this article proves that Tinder does block messages and says they’re delivered to the sender.
I have never had a paid account. But I did move around a lot with proxy and use both pc and phone in an obvious pattern – easily detectable I guess.
Reply rate near zero yes, and match rate near zero but not zero.
I’m glad your article opened my eyes to this issue!
Hello guys I want to share what I experienced and how I solved * at least for now * my problem
Before, I tried new phone, new face, new mail, different wifi or network etc, nothing worked
Now, I downloaded BLUESTACKS app on my windows 10, which is a program that allows you to open mobile apps on PC. Its working well for android but not sure about iOSi, i dont think it works for apple.
I created an e-mail before on a different wifi in advance to verify my mail (not important)
1) Bought a TEXTNOW account (USA number) ( i dont know if its free, it was 20 cent so i bought)
2) opened bluestacks app on my pc (as if im using android) signed to play store with different gmail (never used before)
3) downloaded tinder there and registered to tinder with the FAKE USA number I got from textnow.
4) it sent a code to my textnow, I received and entered to tinder on bluestacks..
done..everything is working well as for now.. I bought tinder plus with a credit card THAT I USED before..
please let me know if it works for you.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi, I was strongly suspecting a shadowban so I made a new user with new phone number. I used new or altered pictures, different e-mail but same wifi and almost the same bio. At first it seemed to work fine and it still may, but I noticed that during the first swipes I was getting ads but now they are nowhere. I wonder if the absence of ads would mean you’re shadowbanned? I remember getting a lot of ads when I first started using tinder and back then I got more matches and the use of the app felt more… alive.
I haven’t received a like back in over a month. In other words every time I match it’s after my like. This is very suspicious and so frustrating and I’d just like to get fair treatment. Are you sure it’s not okay to contact tinder about this? If yes, how could I be sure to make it right next time? Use totally new bio and different wifi? Totally new pictures? Use the app only with a device I haven’t yet used it with? I’m literally out of ideas. I might create a test user to see if I can like myself back with it but that would be with another shadowbanned account so does it have any value? Do I just have to wait the three months to get back? And what if I won’t wait enough and I’m still getting shadowbanned? The waiting starts over?
Hi, I was also shadowbanned and I noticed one thing. When I changed in my profile my interest to the other gender (from female to male), matches began to grow immediately. When I changed my interest in both, matches were still growing, but I could tell from the blurry photos, that the matches were only with men. So I guess the shadowban is not on your entire profile, but only on a specific gender. For this reason I think that the shadowban is not based on some reasons with the profile (logging in to the app too many times in short time, banned word in bio, unauthorized email etc.) but the shadowban is based on interaction with the specific gender (too much swipping for example).
That makes sense. Cool experiment, though. It’s the first I’ve heard of someone doing it. Tinder probably has that programmed into its algorithm. Thanks for sharing your findings!
I’m back baby! Let me tell you what worked for me. After reading your marvelous post, I identified the identifiers and what to do about them:
phone >> different device
IP >> VPN
apple ID >> new one
photos >> excessive paranoia, not worried about it
phone number >> new google voice number
email >> new email
IG / Spotify >> don’t use on new acct.
So I dug out my old iphone 5s, got a Google voice number, created a new apple ID, used a fresh email. I fired up my VPN and downloaded Tinder from the app store. Created my account. Everything different except the photos.
I THINK I set the radius down to 5 miles and started swiping. After swiping on 100+ girls, I had 5 ‘likes’ in the gold circle.
Then I screwed up. The second time I launched the app I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE VPN! After that I got no new ‘likes’ I swiped myself out for the day, and the next day, the ‘likes’ went from 5, 4, 3. 0 matches.
As a control, at the same time I re-signed up with Bumble (without any weird tricks, I just started again, same phone number) I got 21 in their version of the gold circle, and 3 or 4 actual matches. In the same 2 days.
So it’s not my big, ugly face! lol
I gave up on that Tinder account, and almost gave up completely, but decided one more try. This time I thought, maybe don’t lock it down to 5 mile radius, leave it at the default 50 miles, let it do smart-photos instead of me picking the winner, give the algo more to work with.
I also rethought the VPN thing – I don’t think that was the issue. Our router has a dynamic IP, not static. Meaning if the power goes out or you reboot the router it gets assigned a new IP. I haven’t used Tinder in months and the power has gone out 3-4 times in that time.
I also thought, “Well you didn’t alter the photos like they suggested, try that”
So this time I tried again from my regular phone – same phone that has had shadowbanned Tinder on it before. Same apple ID. New phone number, new email.
And NEW PICTURES.
The pics aren’t actually new, I just added or changed a filter to each one (from like ‘dramatic’ to ‘vivid’ for example) and I cropped a few pixels off each picture. Just a sliver.
I fired up the VPN, made the new account, left the radius at 50 miles, and left smart photos on. By the end of that night I had 21 in the Gold circle! And 2 actual matches! I swiped it out. The next day I had 30+ in the gold circle.
I don’t think it’s got anything to do with the VPN, but I’m so paranoid now, I’m going to use it EVERY time no matter what.
I think it’s the PICTURES that tied the new acct to the old Shadowbanned one. And obviously IG/Spotify would probably tie it too. But who knows because I’m using the exact same apple ID with no prob! I’m also NOT paying for any of the Tinder upgrades. So no ‘purchases’ with that ID.
It’s awesome to be back, getting matches, talking to girls, setting up dates! I’ve got my confidence back, I know it wasn’t just me now!
But…. SCREW YOU TINDER. For the past 2 years I haven’t been able to use their service. It’s their company, their product, their right to do that. But they didn’t ban me outright. They allowed me to sign up, keep wasting my time, keep swiping, and I hate to admit this – but slowly over time, my confidence eroded. My mind played tricks on me. I thought it was me! I thought I must have gotten old , or be hideous, I started buying all the incel BS that now that girls can easily meet guys online they are only going for the top 5% and that’s not me, and this is the new normal now, so I’m screwed, etc, etc.
None of that was true! But since Tinder let me swipe endlessly and get ZERO matches, and by dumb luck I was having a real life dryspell at the same time, I started believing it was true!
This is SHAMEFUL, borderline fraudulent behavior. It would be fraud if I had paid for any of the premium plans. If you want to ban me, ban me. But don’t let me think I’m just hideously unattractive and that’s why I get no matches. I really empathize with other men going through this. It sucks. I’ve been dealing with some bad depression the past 6 months, and THIS BS was a big part of it. If you have NO love life, life can feel pretty bad. They have a monopoly on the market and a responsibility to be more socially responsible, than this shadowban crap.
For what it’s worth I didn’t DO anything to get the shadowban apart from delete my account when I got sick of online dating and then restart it again. Yeah I did that 4 or 5 times, but so what!
I never harrassed anyone, I never sent inappropriate messages. My “game” is to NOT talk about sex, EVER until you’re having it.
I never told some girl off. All I did was delete my account, and recreate it later on.
Luckily I got some results from talking to girls in real life, and some results on Bumble. And TONS of unattractive matches on OkCupid. That led me to keep digging, keep thinking it’s the app not me, until I found this article. This is a lifesaver man!
Hey, really appreciate your input. I’m interested in hearing back later about how well that VPN holds up. I think it’s also partly how long you leave a shadowbanned account deleted before signing up again. People who try to sign up immediately after getting a shadowban have the toughest test. A lot of what you said jibes with me, glad you’re back, and you realized that 5% claim is hogwash. All men and women have different preferences. A lot of the women I find attractive aren’t the type men typically like, especially as I’ve gotten older.
Also, glad to hear you found my post helpful. Pretty sure this is the OG guide and now trickling down in the results due to people copying it and acting like they made it up, as is the case with a lot of content on this site.
Hey man, well I don’t use the VPN anymore with it. And I still get occasional matches. So at least in my test of n=1, the VPN doesn’t matter.
My matches are down dramatically from when I signed up with a fresh account. I think Tinder gives you like a “newbie boost” in the beginning. But it’s still abysmal, like 200+ likes before I get a match. I’m reasonably selective, I’d say I say yes to 20% 30% of what I’m shown.
On ANY other dating app, I get more matches. I think Tinder has just lost their way, lost their mission of connecting people romantically, and have gotten greedy. I heard recently about how they were the most profitable app on all of the apple app store, like 1.4 BILLION dollars or something crazy.
So do you think THAT company wants you to find someone, and get off the app? Or do they want you to keep endlessly swiping and signing up for premium plans out of frustration? …they’re just a bad company, an evil corporation, like many others.
I can also remember getting error messages trying to delete old accounts on Tinder. They wouldn’t let me DELETE my own damn account. I feel like anyone who EVER signed up at any point in time, still has a profile being shown to people. Even if they left the app months ago.
I’ve had the most success recently meeting girls the old fashioned way, in a bar in real life. Dry spell is broken! I’ve slept with 6 girls in the last 2 months. 1 of them from a different dating app, 5 from real life, ZERO from Tinder.
I agree. Evil, bad, and greedy are accurate descriptors. I think I read Tinder is the people behind the Match group. They played their cards right by baiting people in with an awesome app. Then, they turned it into a money machine once its stellar reputation had cemented. Now, it’s mostly just a pay-for-play app and place for girls to bait more followers on social media. Having said that, with the right techniques, it’s still highly, highly possible to get laid on the reg using it. I’ve had a few random fun nights over the past month with a standard account after a 4-month hiatus. Also, for the VPN, I don’t recommend using it at all. You’ll get no matches, and it makes the app buggy because it needs to know your real location for it to work.
Are you using Tinder Plus? Because 200 likes per match isn’t that abysmal depending on where you live. More than half of those 200 girls probably never see your profile.
Need help! Account banned, no reason out of nowhere..upgraded to a new phone(with same number-iPhone) Downloaded app with new Apple ID, put in friends phone number, changed photos(screenshots of Instagram pics) no links to insta or Spotify, no bio got initial boost, gold circle with 99+ using free app not paying for anything. Was messaging with some matches then boom, no new matches no more responses to my messages..I never added an email tho, should I do that? Am I shadowbanned or possible app is glitching? Was it facial recognition? Was it home WiFi? (When downloading app used different WiFi but since downloaded have since using home WiFi)
firstly what all things remained the same as your old account ? was everything apart from photos of you different ? if yes, there can be a case for facial recognition or it might be that if you are using the phone with the previous number in it, it might still be able to figure that out