Dating Scams - Save Yourself
A Heartache ... And Money
Dating scams have made the news several times. Scammers give the dating industry a bad name. But you can avoid them.
These scam operators are people (not necessarily women) who make a living of abusing the feelings of those who try to find a wife through Internet dating. These scammers are not interested in love. They just want money, which makes them one of the major dangers of online dating.
Most notorious are dating scams performed by Russians. Russian scammers have made hundreds - and more likely thousands - of victims already. If you are not prepared, you can be the next one.
Scammers benefit from the fact that email communication is quite anonymous.
Ask yourself: Do you really know who the Russian (or Brazilian, or Asian, or ...) lady is you are writing to? And is all she (?) writes really true?
The answer is: it's just a matter of believing her or not, as long as you haven't met her.
The strategies of dating scams are simple and effective. But you can recognize them.
Usually a dating scammer pretends to fall in love within a few letters or weeks. And then out of the blue, something terrible happens: she writes her victim she can't afford her Internet service anymore, her mum is nearly dying and needs an expensive operation, she has lost their job and so on.
In one word: disaster!
The only remedy is that you send money, by using Western Union or other worldwide money transfer services that do not require a full identity check.
Once payment has arrived, the victim will never hear from his 'lover' again.
Another scenario. "Your" lady tells you about some friend or acquaintance who works at a travel agency and can arrange visa plus a plane ticket for her.
But she has no money. Who's gonna pay, you think? And how?
Well, keep this in mind: it is almost impossible for single Russian women (or any other mail order bride) to get a tourist visa for the US.
There are even (mainly Russian) marriage agencies that are nothing but dating scams.
You think you write one of their Russian ladies, but in fact you write the owner. The woman you like doesn't really exist, or she doesn't know about you. She might even be a photo model who doesn’t know she’s on this website.
Scammers often use false names and/or false postal addresses. If needed, they switch from alias to alias.
The best advice to avoid dating scams is simple:
Never send money to a lady you are corresponding with, until you have met her in person and know that she's reliable.
Remember: although your heart might tell you otherwise, you do NOT have a relationship with a mail order bride you have never met.
One more advice: You should always make sure to have a lady’s full address and, if available, phone number. It’s a clear red flag if she doesn’t want to give her address. In that case: don’t write her anymore.
There’s an excellent way to find out if a woman is who she says she is. Use a flower delivery service to bring her roses. On your request most of these services make a photo of her with her gift. The photo will be mailed to you. If the lady on the picture is the same as the lady on the Internet, she will hardly be a scammer.
The past few years dating scams got a lot of attention in the media. There are also several websites and discussion groups on this subject - although even their reliability is sometimes questioned.
Reading all this, you might get the impression that chances are big you will run into a scammer. Still most mail order brides have serious and honest intentions.
Don’t have nightmares. Prepare yourself instead.
Order The Complete No-Nonsense Anti-Scam Guide
Back To Home Page
