Internet dating is a popular method of finding love, it’s quick without waiting for the letters to arrive in the mail, but dating sites are a popular hunting ground for scammers, those whose intentions are anything but love. and instead of finding the key. In their hearts, these people have only one thing in mind: to make their way into their bank account. There are obvious things to look out for in a scammer and the main ones are;

(1) The person who communicates with you is much younger than you. It appeals to the ego when someone much younger than us is interested in us, but when the other person says in their first letter “age is irrelevant”, then this should immediately act as a red flag. Ask yourself this question “Would I be interested in someone much older than me?”

(2) The other person wants to speed up the relationship and will usually use flattering words from the beginning to make you feel good about yourself. If you are male, photos of beautiful women will be sent to you. These should act like a red flag because if these people are so kind, why can’t they find someone in their own country?

(3) When an African country is mentioned, the alarms should start ringing loud and clear because many internet scams originate there, but not necessarily. The scammer may come up with a story that he or she comes from another country but is working in Africa.

(4) When your so-called pen pal asks you for money because of some unfortunate incident that has happened, such as a car accident, your child is ill, or some other reason, you can be sure that the person is a scammer. People who have been gullible enough to send money to those people have found that there is a never-ending request for cash and these unfortunate incidents keep popping up in this person’s life. They say “love is blind” and it’s true. Common sense tends to go out the window when someone has finally discovered what they believe to be “the love of their life.”

So what precautions can you take when joining a dating site? Here are some;

Set up a new email address specifically for this purpose and don’t include your last name in it. Under no circumstances provide your home phone number, use a cell phone, preferably not the same one you use for daily use. Visit my site for more information on how to make new friends at; www.penpalsnz.weebly.com