The Red Flags Checklist: Score It Honestly
Print this, or read it with the chat open in the other hand. Yellow flags accumulate; red flags conclude. Three yellows = full verification before another day passes. One red = you already have your answer.
🟡 Profile & platform flags
Profile younger than a year with model-quality photos · very few friends/followers or brand-new accounts · widowed with one child, overseas posting (military, rig, mission, contract) · grammar that mismatches the claimed background · pushed to WhatsApp/Telegram within days · profile disappears/reappears or name subtly changes.
🟡 Behavior flags
Love bombing inside two weeks (“soulmate,” “destiny,” marriage talk) · mirror-perfect shared interests and traumas · daily saturation contact that punishes your absences with guilt · discourages telling friends/family about the relationship · every meeting and video call postponed with dramatic excuses · future-faking: elaborate plans (the house, the visit) that never reach a booking.
🔴 Story red flags
Any script costume from the registry: deployed soldier, rig engineer, mission doctor, inheritance windfall, package at customs, detained at the airport · emergencies that always have deadlines · a “secret” account or relationship · an investment platform a loved one “shared.”
🔴 Money red flags (any ONE ends it)
Any request for money, gift cards, or crypto — any size, any story · requests for your banking credentials or to receive/forward funds (the mule trap) · an investment site they’ll “teach you” (pig butchering) · money they “sent” needing a fee returned (the detonating allowance).
What a score means
Three-plus yellows: run the 10-check test and the image search today. Any red: stop transfers, stop sensitive disclosures, search and report to the registry, and read the matching anatomy — the script’s ending is already published here; don’t live it first.
Check before you trust
Search any name, photo, phone number, username, or wallet against the registry before money moves — and if you were targeted, report it so the next person finds what you didn’t. Companion anatomies: the fake soldier · the crypto romance · the red-flags checklist.