The internet has made finding love ever more so easier and much more convenient. One no longer has to venture out to the club and party scene because at any given time there are at least 50 million personal ads and profiles right at your fingertips posted on tens of thousands of dating sites. When you post an ad or profile it has the potential to be view by 2 billion other regular internet users, though it’s highly unlikely to be by that high a number. But it is still a possibility that’s hard to ignore considering that if you go to a club you’re only likely to be noticed by about 20 people.
With so many prospects online, more and more are foregoing the club scene in favor of the adventure and fun of viewing, posting and responding to online ads and profiles. Perhaps, someday, this will become the primary method o finding love. In many ways, it is the most convenient and safest way to meet since it allows one to be more picky and selective about what kind of mate you want and you can spell out what you’re looking for.
However, a dangerous side to this exciting way of finding love does exist. The creation of the internet has also given con artists and criminals and sex offenders yet another outlet to reaching potential victims and lonely hearts utilizing the numerous dating sites and marriage agencies are especially vulnerable to being conned and victimized or worse. There have been numerous instances of con artists and sex offenders using dating sites as their hunting grounds. One particularly gruesome case that stands out is that of John Robinson, currently sitting on Missouri’s death row for using www.alt.com, the largest and most well-known site for fetish personals, to lure some of his victims to their brutal and shocking deaths.
Others looking for love online have been lucky enough to lose only large sums of money instead of their lives. Many online agencies, particularly those specializing in foreign introductions, have been found to be fake, literally robbing thousands of customers who believed that they were communicating with real people. Those who are using dating agencies for foreign introductions are somewhat left to their own devices since tracking down and prosecuting con artists overseas can be extremely difficult if not completely impossible.
There are many steps one can take to prevent being conned out of your money or worse. These are just some of them:
- Make sure that the dating site you’re using is legit. Do not join unless they have a phone number with live customer support.
- If the agency allows bank draft as form of payment do not provide them with more than your account number and bank routing number. That is all the information they should require to process a payment. Do not provide them with your passwords or access codes to your bank account.
- Never provide dating agencies with your social security number.
- In order to better track and protect your finances, it is better if you do not opt for automatic membership renewal. Most agencies will send you an email informing you that your membership will expire soon and you can choose to renew then.
- If the agency allows free trials but require credit card information be sure to call the agency at least one day before the free trial expires to inform them if you do not wish to remain a member. Generally, unless specifically told otherwise, most agencies will proceed to bill you for monthly membership after the expiration of your free trial period.
- Almost all agencies allow at least 2 photos to be posted on a profile. Do not respond to profiles that do not have at least two photos posted on them.
- Never send money to someone you are corresponding with online until you have met in person and have already established a solid relationship. As cruel as this may sound, if you begin corresponding with someone and the person immediately starts going into details about a bad financial situation, immediately stop corresponding with him/her. There is certainly a con game in the making.
- Never use your home address as your mailing address to receive postal mail from someone you have not met face-to-face yet. Use a mailbox rental agency.
- This one is especially for the ladies: Choose the early afternoon and a busy public place, such as a food court in a shopping mall or entertainment plaza, as the time and place for the first meeting. If at all possible, have a friend accompany you.
