Soula

Safety Centre

Meeting someone new, sensibly

Most dates are fine. This page is for the ones that are not, and for the small habits that keep the odds in your favour. It takes four minutes to read.

If you are in immediate danger

Contact your local emergency services first — 999 in the UK, 911 in the US and Canada, 112 across the EU. Your safety comes before reporting anything to us.

Once you are safe, email safety@soulalove.com and we will act on the account, preserve what we hold, and cooperate with law enforcement where there is a credible risk to life.

Before you meet

Six habits worth keeping

Keep it in the app first

Being pushed to WhatsApp or Telegram in the first few messages is the most common opening move in a romance scam. There is no rush, and staying in Soula keeps the report trail intact.

Video or voice call before the date

Two minutes on a call tells you more than fifty messages. If someone always has a reason not to, treat that as the answer.

Somewhere public, your own transport

Pick the place yourself, get there and home under your own steam, and keep your drink with you. A first date does not need to be more than ninety minutes.

Tell someone where you are going

Name, where, when you expect to be back. On Premium, use the check-in feature so the app nudges you and you can share your status quickly.

Never send money

Not to someone you have not met, not for a flight, not for a customs fee, not into an investment or a crypto wallet, no matter how well the story holds together.

Trust the feeling that something is off

You can leave a date, stop replying, or block without explaining yourself. Nobody on Soula is owed your time.

Red flags

Patterns worth taking seriously

None of these on their own proves anything. Two or three together is usually enough to stop replying and report the account.

  • Moves to another app immediately, or asks for your number in the first few messages
  • Refuses a video call, or the call quality is always mysteriously broken
  • Photos look like a professional shoot, or the same face appears on other apps under other names
  • A story that escalates fast: a crisis, a stuck payment, a business opportunity
  • Declares strong feelings in days, then tests whether you will send money
  • Pressures you for intimate photos, or sends them unasked
  • Vague about their job, city or age, and irritated when you ask

Verification

How the blue badge works

What happens

  1. You take a live selfie in a pose the app prompts on screen.
  2. The pose changes every time, so a saved photo cannot pass the check.
  3. Automated facial matching compares the selfie to your profile photos.
  4. If it is unsure, a person reviews it, normally within 24 hours. You get up to three attempts before it goes to that queue.
  5. Change your main photo and the badge is removed until you verify again.

What it does and does not mean

Means: the person in these photos is the person using this account.

It does not mean we have checked their identity documents, their criminal record or anything they have written about themselves. Soula does not run background checks.

Verification selfies are used for the check only. They are deleted once it completes or once a review finishes — see the Privacy Policy.

You can set your discovery feed to show verified profiles only, from Filters in Discover.

Reporting and blocking

What happens when you report someone

Reporting

  • Report from a profile, a message, a prompt answer, a Moment or an Out & About post — the menu is on the item itself.
  • Pick the closest reason and add detail if you have it. Specifics help a lot.
  • Most reports are reviewed within 24 hours. Anything involving risk to a person, a suspected minor or non-consensual imagery is prioritised.
  • The person you report is never told who reported them.
  • We may not be able to tell you what action we took, because we owe privacy to everyone involved. We will confirm your report was reviewed.

Blocking

  • Immediate, mutual and silent. They are not told.
  • Neither of you appears to the other in Daily 5, Nearby, Moments or Out & About again.
  • You do not need to report someone to block them. Block first if you want to.
  • You can also pause your whole profile for a day, a week or indefinitely without losing anything.

Off the app and worried about your data? Delete your accountat any time, or ask us for a copy of everything we hold.

Community Guidelines

The short version

  • Be a real person. Your name, your recent photos, your age.
  • Take no for an answer, the first time. Declined, blocked or unanswered is an answer.
  • No unsolicited sexual content, and none at all in profile photos, videos or prompts.
  • No money, ever. No asking, no investment pitches, no gift cards, no crypto.
  • No spam or recruiting to other apps, platforms, jobs or schemes.
  • Zero tolerance: minors or content sexualising them, non-consensual intimate imagery, threats or sexual violence, trafficking, paid sexual services, extremist content, scams, doxxing, hate speech. Immediate permanent removal, reported to authorities where the law requires it.

Read the full Community Guidelines

If you are struggling with your mental health, we would rather point you to support than remove you. In the US you can call or text 988; in the UK, Samaritans are on 116 123. If someone appears to be in immediate danger, contact emergency services first, then tell us atsafety@soulalove.com.