Don’t Fall For These Tricks Used By Online Dating Scammers

It would be a shame to fall for an online dating scam. If you keep your wits about you and keep your money in your pocket, you'll be all right.

Wow… I never expected there were so many stories of online dating scams! Yesterday’s post got a bunch of replies from guys. More than I ever expected… both funny and tragic.

I’m amazed at how good these guys have become at ripping people off with romance scams!

So, to keep anyone reading the blog from getting burned…

Here’s what to look out for…

• First of all, it’s a pretty safe bet that just about any woman you meet online who’s from Africa, Russia, or Malaysia is someone trying to steal your money.
• You can be pretty sure there isn’t a single white model in Africa who needs money for school or an emergency trip to the hospital, who got robbed, lost all her credit cards or would love to come see you if you can just wire her money for a plane ticket.
• Be skeptical of women who are TOO good looking. Especially if the picture is professionally taken. A lot of scammers get their pictures from modeling agencies… Although recently they’ve started stealing pictures from sites like FaceBook or other social networking sites where normal people are doing normal things.
• Poor grammar and spelling are tip offs too. If the girl says she’s a student overseas and English is her second language, you can’t expect her grammar to be perfect. But if she says she’s from Canada, the UK, or the States and she can’t spell, beware.
• Anytime a woman asks you to send her money, especially with a wire service, it’s a scam.
• Someone who falls for you too fast or seems too eager to make friends with you is trying to force a connection that’s not really there.
• Some scammers will even send gifts to you… I thought this was especially insidious. Genius really, but if you get some cheap trinket in the mail followed by a request for money… run.
• Scammers usually contact you first. And yeah, it’s a blow to the ego, but if a hot Russian contacts you out of the blue with a generic message… sorry, it’s a scammer.

Something else that I wasn’t aware of is that these “girls” will spend months building a relationship with guys before asking them for money.

Yes, a lot of the guys who wrote me said they knew something was up right away because the girl needed cash. But, a few guys said the scammer took MONTHS before having some kind of crisis and needing emergency money.

Hope this helps anyone out there keep from getting taken. And if you recognize your situation here… well, bail.

Talk later—JT