Signs of Online Dating Scams

Don’t let online dating scams stop you from finding love.

The sad reality is that when a man is trying to find love on the internet, he can make himself the target of online dating scams. There is a certain anonymity that comes with being online that can breed a lot of risk. Anyone can sign up for those totally free online dating sites and as such, anyone can be on those sites.

Dating sites for singles, and websites in general, can be a breeding ground for people to just pretend to be someone they are not. All they need is an email address or a phone number and they are good to go, and basically anyone can get an email address without any issue and anyone can buy a prepaid sim card to get a phone number. There are a lot of online dating sites that may not screen their users as thoroughly as others would.

You could be on dating apps and while chances are that most of the women you see on them are real, there are probably going to be a few that are not actually women or they are women who do not have the same intentions as everyone else on dating apps. Even the best free online dating sites can become hotspots for con artists.

But there are a few red flags that you can look out for so you know to stay away, a few telltale signs that the person on the other end of a profile may not be the kind of person worth wasting time on.

1. Picture Perfect

A great way to tell if someone is real or not is the quality of their pictures. On most dating sites and most social media sites in general, most people use their own personal photos. Many of these photos are not staged. Some are staged, either with the help of friends or professional photographers.

However, if the pictures are too good, then that can be a warning sign. If every single photo on their profile looks like it was taken at a studio, then there is a chance that the photos were all taken at a studio and that the person maintaining the profile is not the same person in the photos. Too good to be true can usually mean being actually too good to be true. Anyone can download any image from the internet and then use said image for whatever purposes they want.

2. No Pictures at All

One great way to to sniff out online dating scams is by looking at their profile picture. Specifically, it is looking for the lack of one, a person who does not have a profile picture at all. Having no picture on the profile can be indicative that there is no person at all. So be on the lookout for profiles like these. Pictures in general are a great way to tell if someone is real or not.

3. A Lack of Interest in Meeting

The thing about trying to meet people is that there is generally an unspoken understanding that eventually, you and the person with whom you are in communication with are going to meet at some point in the future.

So anyone who is resistant to the idea of meeting the person that they have been supposedly romancing over the internet is suspicious. Perhaps they are just extreme introverts who do not like being around other people, even the person who is supposed to be their romantic partner.

If the person that you have been communicating with over the internet is reluctant to meet, then the chances that that person is not the person that you are under the impression they are and they may not be women at all. The truth is, sometimes they might even be bots, computer programs that run on algorithms designed to imitate a human being. So if you propose a meeting and she does not want to do it, then maybe you should hold off on a proposal in general.

4. Asking for Money

There is an old scam that a lot of people know about but one for which a lot of people still fall and it is the Nigerian prince scam or the advance-fee scam. In said scam, a person is solicited for money with the promise that said money will be used in order to access funds and then the person who loaned the initial funds will be paid back with a significant amount of interest.

This manifests itself in online dating by the person you’re talking to asking for some money so that she can get out of debt that’s keeping her from being able to meet you. The idea is that you’re so lovestruck that you will send them the funds they need without much issue.

Then they will ask for more funds because there are more complications that they have to get through. Eventually, once they realize that they have gotten all there is to get out of you, they stop talking to you. You can contact them over and over again and there will likely be no response. At this point, they will be unreachable.

That is, unless they are under the impression that there’s more money to be made from you. If that is that case, then you can expect regular communication so long as regular money transfers take place.

5. Just Something Off about Her Profile

When in doubt, it is usually best to trust your gut. Sometimes, there are people out there when you see their profile, you just get this weird feeling in your gut that tells you that this person is not someone with whom you should be associating. Maybe it is a lack of personal information or something similar. Whatever the case, you get a weird feeling of apprehension in your gut.

On these occasions, it is best to trust your gut and move on to someone who does not give you a weird vibe.

When you are trying to find love over the internet, make sure to look out for online dating scams and make sure to look out for disingenuous people when you are trying to find love in general.