The goal of an internet date is to eventually take it out into the real world. After all how are you going to do “as lovers do” if you don’t meet face to face?

Many people get caught in the fantasy of their new found romance and expectations sometimes do tend to run unrealistically high. Consider that dating on the internet starts anonymously, and someone can easily pretend to be what they are not, and you have a good recipe for potential disappointment.

Cautious optimism is the best way to go. With that said, is small list of things that could go wrong on an internet date gone real-life:

1. The player: This is someone who’s in a relationship or even married. Men tend to take the cup on this one, but women do it too. A twist here is when that person is in a relationship with someone of the same sex or opposite sex if you’re seeking a same-sex relationship.

2. She/he sprays it while saying it: the person has the tendency to spit while talking.

3. She (it’s a she in most cases) suggests that you take a look at her private photos for just $20. This kind of “date” usually originates from a scam site, or a scammer who posts a personal profile on a (usually adult) dating site.

4. No show: It turns out that your date was actually a teenager (sometimes of the same sex as you) carrying out a prank. This mostly happens on free dating sites and social networking sites.

5. Your date actually shows, but she/he is dramatically older (it rarely if ever happens the other way around) than her/his photo. Or she/he is significantly overweight.

TAGS: Dating, Dating Scams, Dating Sites, dating site, Online Dating, Personals

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Internet dating scams are real. Anonymity in internet dating is a double-edged sword. It is meant to protect you from people of ill intentions. It can also be used by the same people to pull a fast one on you.

The people in internet dating sites are the same are the same people trying to meet you in the real world. There are good people, bad people, as well as some nut jobs out there.

Unfortunately, the bad ones and the nut jobs of the world can and do hide behind that screen, using it as a means of scamming those who just want to find a romantic partner. Flushing them out isn’t easy or fool-proof, but there are several techniques you can use to up your odds against being scammed or worse.

Among the common and mild Internet dating scams is misrepresentation of facts. Some people will misreport their age, gender or other personal information. But an alert reader can often ferret out those falsehoods. The perpetrators often slip-up on simple and obvious things, such as reporting experiences they couldn’t possibly have had if they are who they say they are.

There are also the infamous international mail order rackets. These are often but not always carried out by Russians and – you guessed it – Nigerians.

The Russian dating scam targets mainly older men, using an attractive young woman as bait. Once contact is established, the woman feigns love and an interest to join the man in his country (often the US). She asks for money for visa and travel. Once the money has been sent out, she either disappears or runs into other “problems” and needs more money.

Nigerian dating scams are more complicated. A common one is getting contacted by a single whose photo is model quality. Once contact is established, your “date” claims to be some kind of expert working in Africa. You’ll soon be requested to cash checks or money orders for him/her and wire the money back. Of course, the checks or money orders turn out fraudulent, leaving you to pay your bank.

The first protection against internet dating scams is not revealing too much too soon. Certain personal information should never be revealed to anyone online, unless you’ve met and know them fairly well. Your phone number, address and credit card information top the list.

Also, ask for more than one photograph. Since the photographs used by internet dating scammers are almost always stolen, it is difficult to fake more than one of the same individual.

If someone from another country says that he/she wants to meet you, insist on meeting them in their country first.

Look for inconsistencies and vagueness in their emails. If you send emails with specific details but continue to receive general responses, you are not the sole recipient. Also, if your name only appears on the opening and nowhere else, something is quite not right.

While not a guarantee, joining a reputable dating site offers some protection, as these dating sites do screen their members.

—————–

Find reputable internet dating sites today

TAGS: Dating Scams, Nigerian Romance Scams, Online Dating, rackets, Russian dating scams

The popularity of internet dating has caused an increase in romance scams. Perhaps the most notorious of these is the Nigerian romance scam. Singles looking for love online should be on the look out for this scam.

Side note: Not all Nigerians are scammers. There are many honest and sincere people in that country. Just as not all Germans were guilty of the holocaust, all Nigerians should not be judged collectively for the sins of a few bad ones among them.

Nigerian scams are often not easy to detect. Indeed, the Nigerian scam artist is a whole different breed. For one, he (or she) is usually of a higher education level, often a college or university graduate or higher. Secondly, they do their homework. Thirdly, they can be exceptionally patient. Plus, some of them could rival an Oxford English professor in language prowess, especially written language.

The scammer posts a fake profile on a dating site, and often multiple dating sites. Chat rooms and social networking sites are also often targeted, as well as Christian and other religion-based dating sites.

Scammers seem to prefer using white peoples’ images, apparently cashing in on certain (unfortunate but true) perceptions and stereotypes. The photograph is usually magazine cover quality, and of an exceedingly individual. Where do they get the photographs from?

The photographs are usually stolen from modeling agencies (Focus Hawaii seems to be a favorite one). They also use pictures of foreign models and celebrities not known in the target country. Photographs from other dating profiles have also been known to be used. In a way, the people whose images are used in these scams are victims as well.

Often, scammers prefer to use female photo profiles. Why? Simple: Lots of men will respond to an attractive woman’s personal ad, based on a picture alone. This is not to say that women don’t get scammed. They do get scammed, by men or by other women depending on the person’s sexual orientation (the same goes for men).

In most cases, scammers target older (middle-aged) people seeking long term relationships. Why? Two reasons: 1) at this age the person is likely to be desperate therefore gullible and 2) this age group is likely to be financially stable.

Contact is initiated, often but not always, by the scammer. The stage is set and now begins the grooming phase. The grooming phase is when “relationship” and trust are built. The scammer claims to be a business executive or some type of expert from the US, Canada or the UK (or other country) temporarily working for his company in Nigeria or other African country.

The fraudster knows all the right things to say and will put you on a pedestal. Before long, you are in the greatest romance journey of your life. Or so you think. Soon he/she declares love. He/she might even send you a few romantic gifts, bought with stolen credit cards.

Once a trusting bond has been established, you are ripe for picking. This can take up to twelve months (talk of patience) and often there is promise of marriage. Then the scammer asks for a “big favor”.

The scammer claims that his employer has been paying him in money orders or cashiers checks, which due to differences in banking systems he cannot cash in Nigeria (or other country). The victim is asked to cash the money orders or checks and then wire the money to the scammer via Western Union or Moneygram. He/she might be asked to keep a portion of the money for his/her “troubles”. This serves a dual purpose: it helps build trust and also turns the victim into a beneficiary and participant in the scam.

The money orders or checks will turn out fraudulent. It usually takes most banks anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks to clear a check or money order. The scammer is counting on this, and by the time the con is exposed he/she has disappeared, leaving you to pay the bank and/or even face prosecution for participating in the fraud.

Nigerian romance scam does not always involve money, however. Some scammers are out to use your name and address to ship goods bought with stolen credit cards. The goods are first shipped to you, and then you are asked to reship to the scammer’s chosen destination which is usually – you guessed it – Nigeria.

Though most forms of communication are used, including email, Instant Messaging, and Chat, the scammer will shun live video chat. This is because the photographs used are not real. The excuse often is lack of the technology in Nigeria. The scammer can usually hire a voice of the right gender, and even accent, for a phone conversation.

As a final point, just because it’s called Nigerian romance scam does not necessarily mean it’s done in or out of Nigeria. Due to mistrust of anything involving Nigeria, con artists have started operating from other countries of West Africa such as Ghana and Benin.

———————-

Find reputable and safe dating sites. Check out our Online Dating Service Reviews

TAGS: Dating, Dating Scams, nigerian romance scam, Nigerian Romance Scams, nigerian scam, nigerian scams, Online Dating, Online Dating News, Personals, romance

The growing concern around Russian dating scams begs the question; how can you detect a scam and avoid being a victim? While there are no guarantees, you can make yourself a hard target and scare off scammers. Here are some tips:

1. Dating Site: Use only reputable sites specialized in Russian brides and arranging meetings. Their fees help eliminate people with twisted intentions. Also, by using a credit card, a member leaves a trail that can be traced back to him or her.

2. Language skill: Typically, a Russian girl will not be a proficient English speaker, unless she is a language student/graduate or has been abroad.

3. Call her: Ask to give her a call. If she refuses to give you her number after a reasonable length of communication, makes excuses, or insists that you only call at a particular date and time, be very suspicious.

4. Non personal communication: Look for generic emails and letters. If she only refers to you by name in the greeting and never in the body of the email, that email might be going out to a bunch of guys (other potential victims). Ditto if you write about specific day to day things and only receive general responses.

5. Pictures: Having emerged from behind the iron curtain not long ago, technology in Russia is not yet of first-world standards. If the picture is magazine cover quality, something may not be straight. The same goes for the person in the picture.

6. Ask for pictures from real-life situations or even different phases of her life – in the kitchen, with buddies, from a few years ago, with family, and other day to day situations. These would be hard to fake.

7. Visit her: Insist on visiting her in her own country. Tell her this is the only way to find out if the two of you are truly compatible. If she becomes elusive or cuts communication you know what that means.

8. If you are 50 years old or more and an attractive woman in her twenties or thirties suddenly shows interest in you, don’t flatter yourself (no offense intended). Not impossible but ask yourself, why you?

9. If someone claims to fall in love with you after a few emails, be on guard.

10. Do not send her money for visa or air ticket! Insist on meeting her in her own country first. Don’t be surprised if she disappears at this point, if she is not for real that is.

Remember, there are thousands of Russian girls who are sincere and of honest intentions. So don’t let Russian dating scams deter you from going for what you want. Just approach the market with your mind as well as your heart.

———————-

Find reputable and safe sites for finding Russian Women

TAGS: Dating, Dating Scams, Personals, Relationships, romance, Russian dating scams

Brides from Russia (and Ukraine) are popular worldwide. This has caused a rise in Russian dating scams targeting men (and women) from the west, particularly the US. How do these scams work?

Side note: Not all Russian women are scammers. On the contrary, the vast majority of are of honest and sincere intentions. Most of them are seeking a happy relationship or marriage with compatible partner.

The typical Russian dating scam story starts with the victim receiving a response to his personal ad. Sometimes the victim does initiate contact by responding to that super-model-like photo profile. But most of the time the first contact is made by the scammer: this gives the scammer more control of the situation as well as the target.

In most scam stories, the girl usually will be much younger than the man. The man almost certainly gets excited by the thought of an attractive young woman taking interest in him, and out the window goes his thinking process.

After a few emails the woman claims to be madly in love with the man. She asks to join or visit him in his country. However there is a problem. She does not have money for visa and/or air ticket. He is asked to send her money by some irreversible method such as wire transfer.

What the guileless gentleman does not know is that he might not even be communicating with a woman. It could be a man, usually a member of a scam ring. Needless to say, he ends up losing his money, with a bruised ego to go with it.

Other ways of getting money out of victims include faking a family “tragedy”, for English lessons, for internet connection, the list goes on.

Russian dating scams are not always perpetrated by Russians, however. Back in 2004, an American man named Robert McCoy was in the news. He and his wife were both arrested and tried after defrauding his fellow citizens of thousands of dollars in a Russian bride scam. He would use his Russian wife when he needed a female voice and Russian accent (now, who wouldn’t be fooled by that?).

Russian scam rings work in various ways. One way is to hire language students for a very minimal fee for their profiles and/or their English language skills. Another way is to use pictures of Russian models and posting a fake profile on a dating site. Some Russian and mail order agencies dating sites are bogus.

———————–

Check out reputable and safe sites for finding hot Russian Women today.

TAGS: brides, Dating, Dating Scams, Dating Stories, Lesbian, mail order brides, marriage, Online Dating, Online Dating News, Russian dating scams, russian women, Tips for men