What does a sugar daddy do?

Most sugar daddies are older, financially stable men, often retired or divorced, who engage in transactional relationships with younger partners. They provide allowances, pay for needs such as education, and offer companionship, often to ease loneliness.

How can you avoid a sugar baby scam?

To avoid scams, verify identities before engaging. Do not trust strangers online without proof. Use video calls, cross-check their social media accounts for consistency, and cut off contact if details don’t add up. Always be cautious of anyone asking for money or personal information too soon.

What Is a Sugar Baby Scam? How Do You Avoid It?

Q: What is a sugar baby scam?

A sugar baby scam is a deceptive scheme where scammers pose as sugar babies or sugar daddies online to manipulate victims into sending money, gifts, or personal information. It is similar to catfishing and often uses fake profiles and love bombing tactics to gain trust before exploitation.

Q: What does a sugar baby do?

A sugar baby is typically a younger woman who uses her youth, beauty, and charm to attract wealthy older men. Many engage in these relationships to pay for education, medical bills, or living expenses, receiving financial support in return for companionship and intimacy.

Q: How does a sugar baby scam work?

In a sugar baby scam, fraudsters impersonate young women online, using stolen photos of influencers or attractive strangers. They gain trust through love bombing and then ask for money, gifts, or payment in exchange for explicit content that never arrives.

Q: How does a sugar daddy scam work?

In a sugar daddy scam, a fraudster creates a fake profile of a wealthy older man and approaches women online. They promise financial support but eventually pressure victims into sending money or intimate content under the guise of proving loyalty or securing future payments.

A young woman in a fancy bar with a man.

What is a sugar baby, and why are they always with older, rich men?

Picture this: a young woman, probably around her early to mid-twenties, wearing designer clothes; her hair looks like it was freshly treated by a stylist, and clutched in her hand is a Kate Spade Deco Soft Shoulder Bag.

She gets out of the Lexus, and who’s she with? An older man wearing a loosely fitting Lacoste polo shirt and khaki shorts.

That right there is an example of a sugar couple. You’d typically see them in country clubs, high-end bars, or even online.

When the internet peaked in the mid-2010s, online sugar dating had become a popular form of situationship. From Facebook to Skype (no longer online) to X (formerly known as Twitter) to Instagram. These social media platforms are commonly used by younger women seeking rich, older men for a beneficial and transactional relationship in exchange for intimate favors.

That said, let’s delve deeper into the world of sugar relationships.

Sugar Dating: Babies and Daddies

What is a sugar baby, and what is a sugar daddy, you might ask?

A sugar baby is a person, typically a younger and more attractive woman, who engages in a transactional relationship with a rich man, a.k.a. the “sugar daddy,” who’s usually an older man. Their relationship is formed out of transactional benefits such as intimacy and companionship.

Sugar dating, or sugaring, is a pseudoromantic relationship in which one partner financially supports the other. It has been around since the 20th century. Rich folks “fostering” young and beautiful women to live a gorgeous life. Nowadays, sugar dating is still prevalent.

To give you an understanding, sugar dating is not considered prostitution; rather, it is close to being considered friends with benefits.

While the lines between them are blurry, the main distinction between the former and the latter is that sugar dating often has genuine connections between the daddy and the baby.

What are Sugar Daddies, and What do They do?

The majority of sugar daddies are retired tycoons or established men with a secure monthly cash flow. They’re either single, widowed, or divorced; hence, they engage in transactional relationships with sugar babies so they won’t feel alone.

These old, rich men have more than enough money to shell out, since they’re already set for life. Loneliness and a lack of physical intimate activities are the common reasons why sugar daddies seek sugar babies.

Unlike those who pay for the intimate activities, sugar daddies engage in conversations and actually care for their sugar babies. They make sure to provide them with allowances, their needs, and pay for their college education.

What Does a Sugar Baby Do?

On the other hand, a sugar baby is a younger female who utilizes her youth, beauty, and charm to attract rich, older men. This is also known as “pretty privilege.” Normally, these sugar babies are of the lower-middle to upper-middle class; they engage in sugar baby activities to either gain more pocket money, buy what they need, or pay off their medical and educational expenses—most often the latter.

The Rise of Online Sugar Baby Scams

Romance scams have been plaguing social media apps and the online dating scene for years. You’re probably aware of catfishing, phishing, blackmail, and even extortion. These are the most common romance scams you can find on the internet.

Online sugar babies are also on the rise. In fact, the sugar baby scam on TikTok has become dangerously viral, with the tag #sugarbaby exceeding 720 million views on an app with a demographic of mostly young users, according to Glamour UK.

Yes. There’s a thing called a sugar baby scam, and many cybersecurity establishments like Norton and AVG are warning people about engaging in them.

Just like catfishing, they hide their true personality via an alter ego or a fake profile.

How Does a Sugar Baby Scam Work?

This scam is towards sugar daddies when a scammer pretends to be a young woman looking to be their sugar baby.

Scammers will attempt to catfish sugar daddies and other rich men into thinking they’re interacting with a young woman who’s looking for a sugar daddy.

What they will do is steal a photo of an alluring woman, more likely a niche internet celebrity or influencer, and use their photos as bait.

They will then proceed with the usual love bombing so their victims will feel comfortable and familiar with each other. Once the scammers have gained the trust of these sugar daddies, they then ask for gifts and cash in exchange for explicit pictures and videos.

A sugar baby scam is like catfishing.

How Does a Sugar Daddy Scam Work?

A scammer will create a fake profile of an older man—using a real photo of someone else. They go through various dating apps, as well as social media apps, sending message requests to curious younger women or established sugar babies.

Scammers understand that most sugar babies are in need of cash because of their lack of consistent income, financial problems such as medical or educational bills, and their desire for luxury.

Like catfishing, scammers love bomb sugar babies, giving in to their whims. They tell the sugar baby that they will be sending money in exchange for explicit pictures or favors.

According to AVG, a common tactic they will use is asking their victims for money via pretexting manipulation, such as proof of loyalty.

They will tell their victims that they will send a ludicrous amount of money if they prove their loyalty by either sending money or showing explicit pictures. They try to make their victims feel guilty by stating that the previous person they tried to sugar just received their money and never returned their favor.

To give you an understanding, a sugar daddy scam is when a scammer pretends to be a sugar daddy online to prey on their victims’ photos and/or information. They will pose as a rich person seeking online love.

How to Avoid a Sugar Baby Scam

To avoid being a victim of a sugar baby scam, all you have to do is arm yourself with knowledge. It also pays to NOT trust anyone you meet online immediately.

The first thing you want to do when you meet someone online is to ensure they're really who they say they are. You can do so by jumping on a video call with them or meeting them in person.

Cross-referencing their social media details can also weed out potential scammers. For example, if you search for their name on different social media platforms and multiple accounts come up, check them for consistency. If some details don't add up, cut off contact immediately.

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To put it simply, catfishing has been rapidly evolving. Romance scammers will do anything to steal their victims’ money and information.

Safely navigate the online dating world by learning how to identify the ways a scammer and how you can protect yourself if you ever find yourself in that situation.

References

Harbron, Lucy. 2022. “The Dangerous Rise Of Sugar Babies On TikTok.” Glamour UK. https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/sugar-babies-tiktok.

Birchall, Mark. 2025. “How to spot sugar baby, sugar daddy, or sugar momma scams.” Norton. https://us.norton.com/blog/online-scams/sugar-daddy-scam.

Ebert, Molly. 2024. “Sugar Daddy & Sugar Baby Scams: How to Spot a Fake One.” AVG Antivirus. https://www.avg.com/en/signal/how-to-avoid-sugar-daddy-scams.

“Professional 'sugar babies' share what it's really like to get paid to hang out with rich guys.” n.d. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/professional-sugar-babies-share-what-its-like-to-have-a-sugar-daddy-2018-7.