Do You Really Know Your Online Partner? Are You Sure?

As days go by, more and more people engage in online dating all over the world. In the U.S. a third of the total internet population has begun a love relationship on the net in the past couple of years, and experts say social media and dating sites now play a leading role in helping people finding the perfect match. Whatever happened to meeting someone in the real world?

People fall in love over the internet without actually meeting their sweetheart because most of the operation arises in the psyche of users. When you look for love online and start to talk to possible candidates, you project your hopes and wishes over that person and the same way around. Then people feel like they match because they wish for the same things. Internet lonely hearts also feel they are better heard by their virtual friends and “lovers” than in real life and it is easier for them to connect since they do not see their partner’s reactions, so they think they are being accepted and understood, so empathy makes them believe they have found their other half.

Internet users have more control of what they share online about themselves, photographs in which they look better, specific experiences and if something is not so good, well, you can always change some facts in order to make it sound perfect. Many stretch the truth beyond imagination.

According to results obtained through dating background checks, there are five fake or partly false profiles out of seven on Facebook and other major sites such as Match.com. Users tend to create fake profiles for two main reasons, to avoid being scammed or to protect their privacy, and others create false information or false profile to attract others, and some are criminals.

In most cases, the person you think you are talking to is not really who he/she claims to be. The truth is romance scammers are professional criminals who have studied their victims for the past eighteen years and know exactly their needs and the words they want to hear, that’s why they are so successful. Scammers in many cases are young people working for a seasoned group of fraudsters whether in Nigeria, Ghana, China, Philippines, Ukraine, Russia, or the Philippines, and even Colombia. These are the highest risk countries but experts caution fraud can come from any website, and from any country. Scammers now operate from the U.S and U.K. and more.

Some women in the Philippines openly conduct romance scams in front of their husbands, as the entire family wants your money, and they have no ethical issues in stealing it. The same is true in Malaysia and other developing countries where life is difficult, and many turn to drugs and crime.

Basic rules of online dating are, not to disclose all your personal information at once. Try to know the person on the other side of the screen. Never give them money or help them with getting money or goods from them. If you think someone is worth the try, better to invest some money and conduct an in depth international background check to know the truth. It is better to know from the beginning than to find out the painful and costly way down the road.

All the best,

S. Birch
© 2012 S. Birch