For many people, especially those who might have very little time on their hands to go out and meet new people or who are living in a retirement community, online dating is one of the only ways that they can meet people who they could become romantically involved with. And while this might be the ideal when you sign up for an online dating service, one thing that you’re also opening yourself up to when you do this is dating scams. Luckily, there are things that you can do to help avoid these kinds of things.
To help you see how this can be done, here are three tips for spotting online dating scams.
They “Fall” For You Quickly
When online dating, there’s always a chance that you could meet someone that you could end up falling in love with. But in general, this process usually takes some time. So if the opposite happens and someone that you’re speaking to starts professing their love for you very quickly, this could be a sign that they may not be truthful with you and, in fact, could be trying to take advantage of you.
The goal here for scammers is to try to get people to be so flattered by them that they are willing to give them things or information that they ordinarily wouldn’t give to people that they have met so soon. So if you have someone telling you that they’re “falling for you” after a very short period of time, this could be a big red flag.
They Ask You For Money Or Other Financial Favors
Even if you’ve been speaking to someone while online dating for a longer period of time, you’ll want to take care if someone ever asks you for money or other financial favors.
In the event that someone straight-up asks you for money, this should be seen as a big red flag. But if they just start saying how they’re down on their luck or need a small loan for something or the other, even if they aren’t blatantly asking for money, this could also be a bad sign. And if they ask you to send something to someone else or transfer money to an account, this is a big sign that they are looking to scam you.
You Get Suspicious After Doing Reverse-Image Searches
When you look at someone’s online dating profile, they’ll likely have pictures of themselves. But before you trust this, you’ll want to consider doing a reverse-image search of the pictures they’ve posted.
With this kind of search, you can see if the images you’re searching are found elsewhere online. And if you come to find that someone else is using this picture with a different name or the information just doesn’t match, there’s a good chance that this isn’t a real person with a legitimate profile that’s trying to get to know you.
If you’re worried about getting scammed when online dating, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you spot red flags.
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