Safety
Safety on Rifqa
Meeting new people should feel exciting, not risky. Here's what Rifqa does for you from the start, the tools you can switch on, and a few habits for meeting in person.
- Verified section
- Messages checked
- Private by design
- Arabic & English
Built in from the start
Nothing to set up: these work for everyone, all the time.
Verified people meet verified people
Members who pass a live selfie check, in a pose we choose, see and are seen only by each other. Anyone who skips it is labelled "unverified" and kept apart. Anyone who might be under 18 is checked by a person.
Messages are checked first
Every message is checked for scams, threats and anything else that breaks the rules before it's delivered. If something looks wrong, it waits for a moderator, and only the sender sees it meanwhile.
She messages first
When a woman and a man match, she sends the first message. If she doesn't within 24 hours, the match ends.
Your location stays fuzzy
Other people only see a distance, like "within 10 km", never where you are. Your location is rounded to an area about 2 km across and encrypted before it's stored.
No contact details in rooms
Links, emails, social handles and phone numbers are blocked in chat rooms and message requests, so nobody gets pulled away from Rifqa too soon.
No ads, nothing sold
Your information is used to run Rifqa, never for advertising, and it's never sold.
Tools you control
Switch these on in the app whenever you like, and off again.
Block and report
Block anyone, any time. Reports go to our moderators with the evidence, and the person you report is never told who it was.
Safety check-in
Going on a date? Set a time to check in. If you don't confirm you're safe, the contact you chose gets an email.
Bring a chaperone
Invite someone you trust to see your matches, and your messages too if you allow it. They can never write to anyone, and you can remove them at any time.
Hide from people you know
Hide your profile from people whose numbers you know. Only a scrambled code of each number leaves your phone, never the number itself.
Blur your photos
Keep your photos blurred for anyone you haven't matched with, and even after a match until you choose to show them.
App lock and a discreet icon
Lock Rifqa with your phone's face, fingerprint or passcode unlock, and add it to your home screen as "Notes" if you'd rather nobody knew.
Incognito mode
Only the people you've liked can see you.
Meeting in person
A few habits that make first dates safer, wherever you meet people.
- Meet somewhere public and busy, and make your own way there and back.
- Tell a friend where you're going and who you're meeting, or set a safety check-in.
- Keep chatting on Rifqa until you trust someone: there's no rush to share your number.
- A video call before meeting is a good way to check someone is who they say.
- Keep your drink with you, and stay in control of how you get home.
- If something feels off, leave. You never owe anyone your time.
Spot a scam
Scammers are after money or personal details. Be careful if someone:
- asks for money, gifts, crypto or help with an "investment", for any reason;
- wants to move to another app straight away;
- won't show their face on a video call, or keeps finding reasons not to meet;
- sends a link, or asks for codes, passwords or documents;
- tells a sad story that ends with a request.
Report them in the app: it helps us remove them for everyone.
Keep exploring
Ready when you are
Real people, for whatever you're looking for. Joining is free.
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