Plenty of Fish blocked: a member, or POF?
On Plenty of Fish, a block is one member shutting another out, and a ban is POF removing the profile and closing the account. They look different, and only one has an appeal. In 2025 POF reported 219,263 terminations, 89.6% for scams and fraud.
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It depends who did the blocking. On Plenty of Fish a block is a member-to-member safety feature that stops one profile messaging another. A ban is POF removing your profile and closing your account. POF’s pages give you no way to see which one you have from the receiving end, so the screen you see decides. AppealMyBan handles the ban case: we write the appeal you send and file what a third party may file in your name. The tiers are on the pricing page.
AppealMyBan is an independent service. Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Plenty of Fish or Match Group.
If the account itself is gone, the longer guide is Plenty of Fish account deleted. This page separates the five things “blocked” can mean. We read every POF page below on 3 and 4 October 2026.
Which one is yours?
We work out which routes are actually open to you, write the appeal where the app gives you a box for one, and file the routes outside the app in your name, the first inside 48 hours. We never ask for your password. Intake first, payment after.
Get my case built - $149What you see, and what it usually means
| What you see | What it usually means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A member you cannot message, or a chat that is gone | A member blocked you, or you blocked them | Blocking guide, 28 July 2026 |
| A profile that no longer shows in search | A hidden profile | Blocking guide, 28 July 2026 |
| Your own profile removed and the account closed | A ban | Your account was banned, 28 July 2026 |
| A request for a face photo or video selfie | An age check or Face Check | Age detection and face photo checks, 5 June 2026 |
When a member blocked you
POF’s Blocking guide, updated 28 July 2026, says: “Blocking another member means they won’t be able to message you anymore and you won’t be seeing them in any of your matches (ie in MeetMe). If you block someone you’ve already messaged, blocking them will delete your chat history.” Its article How to block someone on the app or web, updated 2 October 2025, calls it “a safety feature” that “will prevent that member from messaging you”.
POF’s pages describe what the blocker gets. They do not say whether the blocked member is told, and they give no way to confirm a block from your side. A chat that vanishes or a profile you can no longer reach has other possible causes: the other person may have hidden their profile or closed their account. There is no appeal for a member block, because POF has done nothing to your account. If a member is harassing you, POF’s reporting guide covers reporting them.
If you blocked someone and changed your mind, POF says you can unblock from Edit Profile and Settings, and adds: “You can only unblock from the Plenty of Fish website right now, so you’ll have to log on to a desktop computer”.
When POF banned the account
POF’s help article Your account was banned, updated 28 July 2026, says: “On occasion, members who continuously break our Community Guidelines will be banned. A banned account means your profile is removed and your account is closed. Banned members are not allowed to create new accounts with Plenty of Fish.” It adds that “All banned accounts are carefully reviewed before the decision is made. Once that decision is made, it’s final.”
The same help centre offers an appeal. Its page Ban and Content Appeals, updated 20 February 2026, says you can submit an appeal “directly through the form linked below” if you “do not believe you have violated our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines”. It also says: “We only review appeals that provide all of the required information and are submitted directly through this designated form.” The appeal “must be submitted within 6 months of the date of the action”, and “multiple appeal submissions won’t be considered and may alter your position in the queue.”
So POF’s ban page says final and its appeals page offers a form. Both are POF’s words, and the form is the route. We do not advise a new account: the same page says banned members may not create one.
When a check holds the account
Two checks can stop an account without being a block or a ban. POF’s article How Our Age Detection and Face Photo Checks Work, updated 5 June 2026, says users “may be asked to upload at least one profile photo that clearly shows their face”, and that “If the tool detects that you are most likely underage, we may restrict access and refer the photo to a trained moderator for manual review, which may lead to us asking for additional verification (like an ID check)”. It adds that if an account is banned for being underage and you believe it was a mistake, “you can appeal the decision”.
POF’s Face Check FAQ, updated 15 July 2026, says POF is “rolling out Face Check on a phased basis” and that “you may be required to complete Face Check if you change the location on your profile to a region where Face Check is required”. If either check is what you see, the way out is the check itself.
The case check is free and takes two minutes. It tells you which routes are open on your ban, including the cases where it tells you not to pay anyone.
What POF reports for 2025
Plenty of Fish’s EU transparency workbook for 1 January to 31 December 2025 was re-issued on 11 June 2026. The file’s own note says it “has been updated to correct Plenty of Fish enforcement data, which were understated due to a technical error in data extraction”. The first version counted 69,066 account terminations. The corrected one counts 219,263. We read the corrected file, on Match Group’s safety resources page, on 4 October 2026.
| Ground, in the report’s own words | Account terminations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Scams and fraud | 196,360 | 89.6% |
| Other violation of terms | 19,904 | 9.1% |
| Protection of minors | 2,700 | 1.2% |
| Cyber violence | 288 | 0.1% |
A further 11 terminations are under illegal or harmful speech. Inside scams and fraud, 196,329 are labelled inauthentic accounts, and 179,931 of the 214,012 measures under that ground (84.1%) were taken by solely automated means. The workbook counts measures as well as terminations, and gives no automation split for terminations alone.
Appeals are the same in both versions: the note says “All other data remains unchanged”. POF received 299 complaints about account decisions in 2025, upheld 157 and reversed 119, which is 39.8%, at a median of 5 hours. That is a small sample beside Tinder’s 56,991 or Hinge’s 86,650, and the apps count in their own ways. One dispute went to an out-of-court body, and it is marked reversed. None of this tells you your odds, and nobody can promise a result.
What we file for a POF ban
- We tell the kind with you. We read what POF showed you and say plainly when it is a member block or a check, which need no appeal.
- We write the appeal text. POF’s form needs your own words and your own details, so we draft the text and the list of what to attach, and you press send.
- We file what a third party may file, in your name, under a signed authority, copying you the moment it goes: the access request, the Match Group escalation desk, and an EU dispute body if you live in the EU.
- We answer what comes back. The Case is $149: every route found, drafted and filed, and every reply answered for 60 days. The Advocate is $349 and covers up to four apps from the same company.
A POF ban is POF’s to reverse; nothing we file changes it. We are not a law firm and do not give legal advice. We never ask for a password. The free check takes about two minutes.
Questions people actually ask
Does Plenty of Fish tell you when someone blocks you?
POF’s pages do not say. They describe blocking as a safety feature for the person who blocks: it stops the blocked profile messaging them and removes it from their matches. They give no way to confirm a block from your side.
What does blocked mean on Plenty of Fish?
Usually that a member blocked you, or you blocked them. POF says blocking means the other person “won’t be able to message you anymore”. A ban is different: POF removes the profile and closes the account.
How do I know if someone blocked me on Plenty of Fish?
POF publishes no way to tell. A missing chat or profile can also mean the other member hid their profile or closed their account, so it is not proof of a block.
Can I unblock someone on Plenty of Fish?
Yes, from the website only. POF says you can unblock from Edit Profile and Settings, and that “You can only unblock from the Plenty of Fish website right now”, so you need a desktop computer.
Why was my Plenty of Fish account banned?
POF says members who “continuously break our Community Guidelines” are banned. Its 2025 EU report puts 89.6% of terminations under scams and fraud, and it does not say which ground applies to you.
Can I appeal a Plenty of Fish ban?
Yes, on POF’s appeal form, within 6 months of the action. POF says it reviews only complete appeals sent through that form, and that multiple submissions “won’t be considered”.
Does a Plenty of Fish ban last forever?
POF publishes no end date. Its page says banned members “are not allowed to create new accounts” and that the decision, once made, “is final”, while its appeals page offers a form. Nobody can promise a result.
How often does Plenty of Fish reverse a ban?
In 2025 it reversed 119 of 299 account appeals, 39.8%, at a median of 5 hours, on its own EU figures. It is a small sample, and the apps count in different ways.
Written by the case team at AppealMyBan - the same team that drafts the appeals. Banned for years, built this out of the frustration.