A bit about scammers

Of course, in any venture that you may take, there will be the unsavory element, the undesirable, and the downright illegal. The same is true and expected in online dating. The advent of the computer and the increasing popularity of the internet generates a wide open opportunity for white collar crime. There are those in every avenue of life who will use all tools at their disposal in order to steal from others. Online dating is not immune, in fact, it is the perhaps lonely heart of those seeking companionship that are vulnerable to this form of crime.

There are, however, several clear indicators that point directly as a warning that someone may be out to scam you online. I have learned to identify many of these indicators over several years of chatting on online dating sites. I am about to explain several of those signs here, but before I go into those, let me offer you a few rules which will also protect you from being scammed.

These are just a few examples, and I will be adding to this section from time to time. The first and most obvious rule is: Never send money to anyone online. If you do not send it, you cannot fall for the scam. Secondly; Do not fall for "Age verification" schemes, The website is usually a scam in itself. Third; Do not trust any person met at a webcam site intended for sexual content. They are paid to get you to pay for their nude show and to draw you in. Fourth; Do not trust anyone who swears their love for you within your first or even second chat. You know that cannot be real.

Now, there are some things you can look out for which will help you to spot a potential scam before you get hit with it. One classic tactic that scammers use on online dating sites is that they will find a really attractive picture. They will place this picture to several different profiles using different names and locations in the descriptions, but very little descriptive information about the person depicted in the profile. A bot program is used to build up a huge number of hits on the user profile, so that the profile appears to belong to a very popular person. These are pretty obvious. Another pretty easy method used by scammers, is as I mentioned before. If a person starts claiming to love you nearly immediately after you begin chatting, then almost immediately after that asks for money, then you can expect that you are about to be scammed. Now, sure, there are real and honest people out there who honestly need money and want their potential lover to help them out, but how many of us can read minds and know who the honest ones are? Also, beware of anyone who promises to be your lover and come to live with you, and he/she refers you to a travel agency who will arrange their VISA, Passport and airfare as soon as you send the money to the travel agency to pay for it all. Nine times out of ten, the travel agency does not exist and is just there to take your money. If you want to pay for the passport and VISA for a potential spouse, contact the Embassy office or the USCIS in the USA. They have all of the forms and information that you need to bring your partner here. Ask your online date to let you see him/her on webcam (live). No I'm not talking about a strip show, but, seeing your partner live on cam will allow you to see who it is that you are talking to. In fact if you ask about video chat after the person sends you pictures, you can match the pictures to the person on the video to make sure they are the same. Many scammers will make excuses why they cannot go on cam for you, but remember, almost all internet cafes in foreign countries have cams for their customers to use.

Ask questions, many of them. The more information you learn about your potential mate, the lower the chance that you could be scammed. If you ask a plethora of questions, a scammer will eventually slip up, but you will learn a great deal about a real date. Online dating sites do not verify the information placed on the profiles by their members. It is impossible to insure that the information is true or false. Use common sense in your dealings with anyone you meet online. Approach anyone online with a certain level of skepticism at first. As you learn about the person you meet there, then you will know how much you can relax your posture.

I hope that this short list of information will assist you in spotting potential scammers in your search for a good online experience. Happy hunting, and I wish you a very happy online dating experience.

Introduction:

There is a growing trend toward online dating websites. These sites range from casual online networking sites such as Facebook.com and Myspace.com, to more focussed sites like Tagged.com and Zoosk.com. Then there are those even dedicated to more sexual encounters like Sexsearch.com and the like. Here, I will bbe looking more toward the focussed dating sites such as Match.com and Eharmony.com. Among the myriad of dating sites that have appeared online over the last decade, are many dating sites dedicated specifically to Philippine women. In this Blog, I will present my personal studies of the Philippine dating sites, review a few sites, give you pointers about Philippine dating, throw in a bit of tagalog (the native standard language) and talk about the rich Philippine culture and history. If you have some interest in dating a Filipina, return here often to see if I have had the time and energy to add more information to this repository.