The Bad Side to Online Dating and Scams

The Bad Side to Online Dating and Scams

With online dating growing more in success, both for investors and uses, online dating scams are popping up left and right. You need to prepare for the online dating world by always using common sense and by reading up on these online predators from time to time. Protect your time and money by always keeping up to date about online scams. You should also keep your heart safe too.

First people that are pretending to be interesting in your dating profile can scam you online. You should be aware of anyone that wants to meet immediately because it should take a few weeks of online chat and phone calls before meeting another person is even thought about. When you do meet someone, do not leave your personal belongings alone with him or her at any time. This is an easy way for them to steal your credit card or other personal information and you may not notice these things are missing for a few days. Also, be aware of people who send you links. Do not click on a link without first knowing what it is and never download any programs on your computer that others users are sending you or have in their profiles. These are often some type of spyware programs that can steal information from your computer like your passwords and credit card numbers.

The second type of online scam is done not by the online dater, but by the online dating service. The problem here is often the same. An online dating service that is not well known has only recently been established and may steal your credit card number or other personal information for their use. These companies because they are online can disappear easily without a trace and it may be a long time before your money is found and it is at all. Always read the terms and conditions before you sign up to be sure that no clause gives them permission to sell your email address or use your personal information in any way.

Last, you need to be concerned if an online dater should ask you to cash orders, online users have been scammed into cashing these checks and wiring the money to a person who claims to be in another country unable to cash checks. The people will spend a lot of time devoted to gaining another’s trust before they ask them to cash any checks. The checks are usually “washed” which means that they were purchased for a small amount of money and then altered. These people will eventually get caught and it is impossible to prove that another person made the cash checks and you will be responsible for owing the bank.

Online scams can put a real strain on online dating but if you are smart, you should not have any problems. You need to protect yourself by not giving out too much personal information and by staying out of financial matters.