Online Dating Site Scams
Perhaps the most insidious scam of all involves online dating and those simply looking to enhance their romantic lot in life. Feeling rather open to new possibilities and perhaps a bit down about their current circumstances, the lonely soul responds to a sudden but overtly amorous message from a ridiculously attractive suitor. He or she doesn’t always analyze the grammatical quality of that message, nor do they back off when asked to reply to a private email address. Through a series of emails stretching days and perhaps weeks, the friendly stranger ultimately gains their trust and then, through one sob story or another that usually utilizes ingredients from the Nigerian Scam above, attempts to bilk them of their cash.
Yet as humiliating as that might be, it pales in comparison to the far more sinister motives of the sexual predator. Stories of this ilk are well documented elsewhere, but let’s just say embarrassment and financial loss are one thing – this is something completely different.
How to avoid:
• For starters, select a reputable dating site. Check the membership numbers – particularly “active” members – and see how many are situated within a reasonable distance. Google your favorite sites for professional reviews and user opinions.
• Don’t rely on emails and photos as reliable precursors to a first date. Instead, get the phone number of your prospective suitor and really talk it up. Who are they? Get as many details as possible, and run in the opposite direction if few or none are offered.
• Watch for vague, poorly-written messages. Not everyone is an English major, but it’s pretty easy to spot the difference between a bad typist or English Second Language student and a foreign conman.
• If your new online sweetie consistently responds to your overtures within an especially short time frame – say, fifteen minutes – or if it seems like he or she might have a dozen or so personalities, there’s a good chance you’re not conversing with just a single person, but a whole team – of fraudsters. Proceed accordingly.
• Do not agree to requests for money, particularly if that request comes from apparent Russian bathing suit models. Russia especially seems to have about a billion of those these days.
• Pick a busy, public location for that first get-together, take a cell phone along with you, and let a few friends know where you’re going – and whom you’re meeting.
