DateScamCheck.com

A free, no-sign-up web tool that reverse-image-searches a dating profile photo and returns a simple verdict: ✅ Likely Real / ⚠️ Suspicious / 🚨 Likely Fake.

Static HTML/CSS/JS + one Netlify serverless function that proxies the SerpApi Google Reverse Image API. The SerpApi key lives only in a Netlify environment variable — it is never shipped to the browser.

Files

index.html               Home — tool + site description + FAQ
how-it-works.html         Explainer
about.html                Romance / pig-butchering scam background + contact
privacy.html              Privacy Policy (required for AdSense)
terms.html                Terms of Service (required for AdSense)
css/style.css             All styling (mobile-first)
js/app.js                 Front-end logic, calls the function
js/consent.js             Cookie consent banner + gated AdSense loading
netlify/functions/
  reverse-image.js        SerpApi proxy + verdict heuristic
netlify.toml              Netlify build + headers config
robots.txt, sitemap.xml   SEO

Deploy to Netlify

1. Push this folder to a GitHub repo (or drag-and-drop it in the Netlify UI).
2. In Netlify, Add new site → Import the repo. No build command is needed; publish directory is . and functions are auto-detected from netlify/functions (already set in netlify.toml).
3. Get a free SerpApi key at https://serpapi.com/ (free tier: 100 searches/month).
4. In Netlify: Site settings → Environment variables → Add a variable
   • Key: SERPAPI_KEY
   • Value: your SerpApi key
5. Redeploy the site so the function picks up the variable.
6. Point the datescamcheck.com domain at the site under Domain management.

Without SERPAPI_KEY the site still works — the checker simply falls back to a manual Google Lens link instead of an automated verdict.

Google AdSense

Replace the placeholder IDs with your real ones:

• ca-pub-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX → your AdSense publisher ID. It appears in js/consent.js (the ADSENSE_CLIENT constant) and in the data-ad-client attribute of every <ins> tag in the .html files.
• data-ad-slot="0000000000" … 5555555555 → real ad-unit slot IDs.

Ads only render once your AdSense account and the datescamcheck.com domain are approved by Google.

How ad loading + cookie consent work

The AdSense script is not hard-coded in the pages. js/consent.js shows a cookie banner on the first visit and loads AdSense only after the visitor chooses:

• Accept → AdSense loads with personalised ads.
• Reject → AdSense loads in non-personalised mode (requestNonPersonalizedAds), so advertising-profile cookies are not used.

The choice is stored in localStorage and can be changed via the "Cookie Preferences" link in the footer.

EEA / UK note: Google requires a Google-certified Consent Management Platform (CMP) for traffic from the EEA, UK, and Switzerland. The built-in banner is a solid baseline and is fine for many regions, but if you expect significant European traffic, enable a certified CMP (Google offers one free inside the AdSense dashboard under Privacy & messaging) and remove the custom banner to avoid showing two.

AdSense approval checklist

This build is set up to satisfy Google's common approval requirements:

• ✅ Privacy Policy page (privacy.html) — linked in every footer.
• ✅ Terms of Service page (terms.html) — linked in every footer.
• ✅ About page with a contact email.
• ✅ Cookie consent banner that gates ad cookies.
• ✅ Substantial original text on every page (description, FAQ, explainers).
• ✅ Clear site description of what the service does (Home + About).
• ✅ Professional, consistent design; no misleading claims; no adult content.

Before submitting for review: set up the hello@ and privacy@ mailboxes for datescamcheck.com (or change the addresses in the footers and policy pages), and make sure the site is live on the real domain.

Local development

npm install -g netlify-cli
netlify dev          # serves the site + functions at http://localhost:8888

Set SERPAPI_KEY locally with a .env file (do not commit it):

SERPAPI_KEY=your_key_here

How the verdict is decided

netlify/functions/reverse-image.js scores SerpApi results:

• Photo found on a stock-photo site or 2+ modelling/acting pages → 🚨
• 0 matches → ✅ (typical for a private person; not a guarantee)
• 10+ matches → 🚨 (widely circulated = likely stolen)
• 4–9 matches → ⚠️
• 1–3 matches → ⚠️ (check whether they're the same person)

Verdicts are guidance, not proof. The UI says so, and so should you.

Notes

• No backend server, no database. The one Netlify function is stateless and stores nothing.
• Uploaded files can't be auto-searched (SerpApi needs a public image URL), so uploads fall back to a Google Lens manual search.