Dangers Of Internet Dating

Internet dating is booming. Many of us find that the pace of life today and the hours that we work, make it difficult to meet that certain someone. Our daily lives do not bring us into contact with enough potential partners.

The answer for a lot of us is to turn to the Internet.

In the same way that we do not have any qualms about Internet shopping, we see no stigma in using dating or social network sites to find romance - and there is no reason that we should.

Perfectly normal people choose to date online, it's not just for lonely hearts, chances are you know at least one happy couple who met in this way.

However before we boot up our p.c. or laptop to find Mr. or Mrs Right, we should be completely aware of the dangers of Internet dating.

There are dangers to be wary of. Most people are genuine and honest, but there are those who are not who they pretend to be.

Dangers of Internet Dating. Be very careful about the information you reveal about yourself to potential romantic partners.

Their intention may not be to find romantic attachment at all, their intention may be criminal.

Of course, this is true also of meeting someone offline, but when we meet someone offline we usually meet them through friends or through a business connection.

This does not necessarily make the people we meet any more trustworthy, but it does make it a bit more difficult for them to pretend to be someone they are not.

There are many dangers of Internet dating:

• The person you meet could be a rapist or violent in some way.

• The person you meet could be a fraudster, scammer or a thief.

• The person you meet could be married or already in a relationship.

• The person you meet could be wanting to get married just to be granted citizenship.

• The person you meet could be an identity thief.

This page focuses on Internet dating and identity theft.

It must be kept in mind that you could face two dangers at the same time. Someone could cheat you out of your money and then go on to steal your identity with information they have gained from you.

Also, taking precautions against I.D. theft will also help prevent you falling victim to other scams.

Nobody goes looking to meet romantic partners online and expects to meet someone living on the same block. We accept that whoever we meet will likely live some distance away, another town, another county, another state.

The wider the area that we are prepared to consider, the more chance of meeting someone who matches up to our expectations of an ideal partner.

We may even be prepared to consider people living in foreign lands – and there is nothing wrong in that. Many a lasting relationship has been formed between two people from different countries, different continents.

There are extra dangers of Internet dating internationally to be aware of however.

Should you be scammed by someone residing in a foreign country, it may mean that it is more difficult to track them down and get them prosecuted. Likewise if you have your identity stolen, it could mean extra difficulties if the country the thieves live in has lax identity theft laws.

If your prospective partner asks you to cash in a cashier's check for any reason, do not do it, treat the request as a red flag, a very big red flag. Usually fake cashier's check scams are pulled by fraudsters living abroad, but not always so.

The reasons the crooks give for asking you to cash the check can seem quite genuine and convincing. In the case of an Internet dating scam they may be offering you the air fare to fly out and see them.

They are so sure that you are the one that they want to spend their life with, only for some complicated reason they are unable to fly out to see you.

They offer to send you a cashiers check so you can buy an air ticket. The check they send will be for far more than the price of the air fair. They tell you to buy your ticket and wire back the difference to them.

The cashier's check is of course a fake, but by the time you find that out you've been scammed for the whole of the amount of the check. The scammer has the money you wired to them and all you have is an air ticket that will take you to meet . . . nobody.

But it might not end there.

With information they have gained from you sending them money and from other personal information they may have obtained from you, the same scammer could commit identity theft against you.

If they fraudulently take money from your bank account, they may only take small amounts at a time hoping to escape your notice. An account could be opened in your name and you may find yourself being pursued for repayment of a loan that you know nothing about.

Never be tempted to comply with a plea for money. The reasons the scammers give can be heartrending, “My grandmother is very sick and desperately needs money for medicines.” Or, the appeal can be framed to suggest that if you don't send them the money they will no longer be able to contact you. “ I need the money to be able to keep my Internet access.”

The amounts requested may start comparatively small, but once they know they can scam cash out of you they will tap you for greater sums, you can be sure of that.

Do not give away any of your personal information. Incredibly some online daters have been tricked into revealing their social security numbers. Do not reveal your date of birth, your mother's maiden name, any banking or other kinds of account numbers. Don't even reveal your address until you feel absolutely comfortable to do so.

Some fraudsters are very skilled at teasing little pieces of personal information from you. The information all goes to helping them commit identity theft and bleed your bank account dry.

What about the dating site itself. Is it trustworthy? Does the site make any background checks before accepting members? Does it try to protect you from the dangers of Internet dating?

Remember, if the site accepts everything that you say about yourself and accepts you as a member without any checking, then it will accept everyone on that basis. This means that they haven't checked out the people they introduce to you!

Does the site offer anonymous messaging?

Does the dating site have a reputation? By searching the Internet you can find feedback the about the site. The feedback about any dating site is not likely to be 100% positive, but if bad feedback far outweighs the good, that could be a red flag.

Is the site genuine? Fake dating sites have been set up just to scam you out of your membership fee, or to steal your identity.

Never trust a dating site that arrives in an unsolicited email (Phishing.)

Be wary, be skeptical. You can't take anything on absolute trust. One of the dangers of Internet dating is that it is too easy for someone to misrepresent themselves.

Accepting what potential romantic partners say about themselves at face value can cause you much grief. It is always wise to take things with a pinch of salt.

That 'perfect match' with the very attractive profile photograph who seems very keen to meet you, may not have romance on their mind at all. Their intent could be to harm you, scam you or steal your identity.

Always remember that being too eager to meet, or to impress a prospective partner can lead you to be careless.

Could being cautious lose you a genuine romantic friendship? Yes, it is a possibility, but it is not very likely.

If someone loses interest in you because you will not disclose personal information, or because you refuse to do what you don't want to do, then they were not the one for you anyway.

There are always more fish in the sea. It sometimes may not seem that way, but there are.

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