While the use of the Internet for online dating is allowing many people to connect and make new friends in places and ways they may not have been able to previously, it also opens up the opportunity for exploitation. There are a lot of people who register with online dating sites with the intention of retrieving money from people who are vulnerable and not aware that this sort of activity happens.
The big mistake many people make is to sympathize with people they do not know very well and feel that sending money will help solve the problems their chat mate claims to be having. Often when people ask a stranger for money over an online dating site they are scammers trying to lure unsuspecting single people into sending them money for personal benefit and profit.
The joy of giving and feeling you have helped somebody can bring a great joy to some people and this is something many scammers exploit. Another way scammers exploit innocent people is to claim that they need money so they can get a visa and plain ticket to come and visit the person who sent them the money. Do some research and you will quickly discover that many people claim to have fallen for this and have lost their money.
Although there are a lot of genuine marriage agencies all over the world, there are also a lot of people who pose as agencies that allegedly handle the dealings for the foreign bride. Many of these fake agencies will disappear and never be seen again once they have your money so be extra careful if you ever decide to use an agency.
Many online dating sites want members to enjoy their experience and encourage you to report any scam mail or suspicious behavior so they can investigate them and remove accounts owned by unethical users.
One way to detect a scammer is to look out for people who reply to your messages but do not include any reference to what you have written and do not answer your questions in their messages. They may be sending pre-written messages. You should also be suspicious about messages saying they viewed your profile and are interested in marriage with you because not many people will introduce them self and ask for your hand in marriage.
Detecting scammers is not something that will come easy to many people to begin with but we want to encourage you to keep going if you get mail from them. Scammers are like an insect infesting the online dating community but you can learn to avoid them and report them. This will come in time and is partly instinct and judgment but after you have run into a few scammers you will soon get to recognize them as they come along and be able to ignore them.
Some dating sites such reduce the amount of scam mail sent by members because they do not allow free members to contact anybody. Sometimes as a paying member you may be trying to initiate contact with a scammer without knowing it which is why you should never send people your personal contact details until you are comfortable you can trust them.
There is a simple rule to follow when dealing with people online who are asking for money. Don’t send it!
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Article by:
http://www.palfactor.com
Geoff is one of the helpful staff at the Pal Factor
online dating site.
http://www.palfactor.com
