How to tell if that Match.com account is fake. (From Personal Experience)

Julia on Match.com : https://flic.kr/p/c3Uio

On Average — 1 in 10 is fake!

I joined Match.com (affiliate link) and signup with the three month membership.  I must say it was nothing I was expecting. Me and this lady online started talking on their in under a day we switched to the Google Hangouts and have been chatting for the past week at least on and off.   I’ve been loving the talks, and we have talked about everything from sex to secrets in dating!  I’ve been up front about almost everything that wasn’t to personal and we are finally going to meet in the next few weeks.  Even though Venturebeat talks about one in ten profiles are scams.   I do not like scams or for that matter and I try to avoid them at all costs!

How to defend against Scammers!

There are ways to find out if that profile or that picture is possibly a scammer.    I will say that even these techniques are not a 100% guarantee and you will have to ultimately make your own decision on if that person is actually real or fake.   If you take my advice you’ll be far more likely to find the real account and keep yourself from getting hurt.  Although again, it isn’t going to be 100% perfect, you could still find those scammers who are more diligent in their scams.   

Details are everything!

If you find a match on Match.com (affiliate link), Zoosk, eharmony, or OkCupid.   You will need to do several things before you email them or chat with them.  

• Search for their Pictures  — Download or find the link to their picture on the dating site and do a reverse picture search on sites like Tineye.com, Bing, or Google.  These are the three you should start first and try other sites that have similar abilities.  
• Profile search — Copy the whole text of the profile and search Google and Bing and see if you find other profiles with the same text in either whole parts or over 50% of the same text.   Even though it could happen it is unlikely that the profiles would use the same exact wording and styles.
• Self Employment — if the profile says they are self employed then that is another mark on the profile and you will have to be careful.   It doesnt’ mean that it should be disqualified all together but it should make you keep on the look out for them asking for money.   

Most of the time, these are the red sirens in the mind that should go off if you do come across a profile that is questionable.   If you find two or more of these that are on other sites or same site with different name and profile.   You can bet that it could very well be a dating scammer.   Only way to know for sure is time.

The Chat sessions!

If by chance you found someone who doesn’t have any of these 3 things going on with their profile.   You should start talking to them but you need to do these steps until you finally meet!

• Picture exchanges — if they send you new pictures you have never seen before, you should go back and find the most likely photos that might be used on other and see if those pictures come back with hits to other sites.   It not be as bad as you think but it should be kept a constantly making sure the person is real.
• No money — Tell the person after you get to know them your stance on not giving money to them or anyone else until you have physically met them.   Even then you should be cautious after the first meeting because they could very well be scammers.   Again only time will tell.   If you throw out this to the scammer, they will stop talking to you because they know they are wasting their time on you.   It is a good way to weed out the fakes accounts from the real ones.  The ones that are really will understand not try to get any money from you.
• Be Honest — Be honest with yourself and them about your goals and what you are wanting from the relationship can help determine if they are truly meant for you or some other person.   If you try to hide these things, then you will not succeed in finding that perfect match.

If you follow these simple steps, your less likely to be scammed and thus you are will have a much enjoyable eperience in your dating endeavor.   Nothing is set in stone with these steps but I am sure these will help you in finding your perfect mate for life and help you avoid those scammers!

How NOT to fall for a Online Dating Scam!

It just gets harder!

When I first started this Journey, It didn’t seem like it would be this HARD.  I was wrong, I keep fining these emails and instant messages on a few of these sites that just makes me wonder how many people fall for these Online Dating Scams?

I figure it was high time, someone at least talked about how to avoid these people and to recognize them for who they are.  

Knowledge is Power!

Some of the best ways to figure it out is simple common knowledge.  When you have dealt with these types of people before you get to know just how to know some of the stuff.   Here is a quick run down on what I know and hopefully it will help you to see them coming and avoid them.

Language!

We all have it and we all use it.  Each culture and area of the world is a little bit different, just like if your reading this in China, or Europe it might not be as good unless you have studied and understood the US American culture.  So what does this have to do with dating site?  If you get a message or email from someone and the email isn’t as easy to read because of how it is worded.   Then that should throw up a red flag.   I am not going to say that is the most definitive way to know but it is the most common way I can tell if they live close or not. I will not talk to anyone who has doesn’t live close.   Why put the energy into a relationship just to have it broken.

If it seems to Good to be True!

Then maybe it isn’t,  You get emails from Guys/Girls who for a better word for it is eye candy.   They look very nice and really out of your league.  My one idea is that they don’t have to look extraordinary but they do have to be beautiful.   So I come up wit ha chart that helps me.   It is basically a 1 through 10 number system and if I pick a 10 then I am very leary of the person.  The higher the number the the less likely it is a true person but that doesn’t mean I can’t be wrong it just seems to work for me.

Ask about them!

Here is my other safety tip, if you have went through all of the other two suggestions.   You probably wondering if they are for you.   This is where you will know for certain, ask about them and their family.   If they say stuff about a family member or parents that are dead and them having to move to a far off country that is usually a tale tale sign that they aren’t trying to scam you.   

Don’t open Attachments!

This probably don’t need to be said to much but you never know what a scammer intentions are an they may want you to open an attachment just to infect your system.  So if they send you something then you shouldn’t use it.   They might be trying to get your bank account or something else.   If you open it then you might just get malware, or spyware an then you only have yourself to blame!

The Dark side of Dating sites!

Come to The Dark Side, We have cookies Shirt -- Cafepress (Click image to check it out!)

You Don't know the Power of the Dark Side on Dating sites!

When your looking for that special someone you probably have been on several different sites.  It however is nothing compared to some of the things I've seen.   I'd get emails with the heading:

• Someone sent you a Flirt
• Someone's Trying to Get in Touch With You!
• A Zoosk member would like to chat with you on Zoosk
• A Zoosk member sent you a flirt on Zoosk!
• Someone wants to meet you!

These are a few of the emails I would get from time on these sites.   Some times it is a legit email and other times.   You have to wonder who comes up with the email.   Most of the time you get emails from people with phone numbers and email addresses they usually use "/" to avoid the filters on the said dating sites.   Now here are a few observations from not being scammed on dating sites!

Ways to tell you it's a fake profile!

It doesn't make much since but these people who send you some stuff makes me worry.   For example here are my tips to know if this is a spam and probably just a scam email in the same process.

• Gives out the Email address the first email!
• Gives out the text number to text them on the first email!
• They claim to be living in another country in the first or few emails in!
• The person profile isn't complete!
• The picture on the profile is super hot!

These are just a few observations that tell me a profile is either fake, but it isn't the only indication.   Usually if I am curious I will still use one of my many email address specifically designed for the spam catching emails addresses.  Just to see if this is a real person or not.   You can usually tell by checking out the email headers.  If you ever want to know for sure this is the best possible way to tell if this email is coming from Germany, Africa, or Some other country besides the one you are on.   It just takes a little patients!  Hope this helps you out!

Paul Sylvester

Amazon Affiliate Link

Looking for that Special Someone through Dating Sites!

Dating Sites and You!

I've recently told you about a few dating sites, and I wanted to talk about my experiences.  Some of the sites that I've tried are:

• Christian Mingle -- I've got my own profile and everything.   I personally have tried this site for several weeks.
• Plenty of Fish -- This is a good site for people who are wanting to chat for free.
• Zoosk -- Another site that you can use to find that perfect someone.  I just didn't like the fact that you can look but not chat or even message people without buying a subscription.

These are just a few of the sites that you could visit if you are looking for that special someone.  I've been trying these sites few a months and I'm really am hoping I'd find that special someone.

Elizabeth Gallagher where are you?

I've calling out my readers to see if you can help find this person    I know there are people out there that are hopeless romantics but I saw this girl on Christian Mingle and also Zoosk.  Her Profile on one of the sites is quite interesting.  She's a blogger and I'm a blogger also, this would be one of the many things we have in common.   Maybe even have something to do together, she could talk about sports and I'll talk about the technology behind the sports.  It would be a glorious place for fans of sports to understand it. 

I'm hoping she gets word of this post and comes looking herself.   I know I've tried to contact her through the site and not had any luck with her.   I'm not sure if the spam system is blocking my attempts or what so I thought I'd be bold and do something that is totally outside of my comfort zone.   If you know her or her blog make sure to give her my site and tell her to check it out.   If you want also make sure she gets the blog post in question.   

Paul Sylvester

Amazon Affiliate Link

How not to be scammed by online dating sites!

 

It isn't always Simpler!

I'm not saying that it is impossible to find out for sure but there will always be times when you are going to ask yourself "Is this person for real or are they fake?" I'm here to at least try to show you how you can tell and how you can verify they are who they are.  I will show you some great tips and tricks on how you can do just that!  

How was it received?

Having seen so much trouble with getting scammed, I thought we should at least look at how it is received and try to show you some great techniques to know if they are really who they are saying they are, or if they are just trying to get money from you.  These are what I call the Nigerian Dating Scams but some call them also the Russian Dating scams, which to me are the same!

• Check the Headers -- There is an example but your main questions is how do I do that?  The Mxtoolbox blog has a great tutorial on how to do that!
• Are they from Nigeria? -- Anytime you get an email with an Nigeria then they are most likely a Nigerian Scam but I've seen this in many  ways but recently I've heard from friends who were scammed while they were trying to find romance on dating sites.
• Check the "X-Originating-IP:" or "Recieved: by" fields in headers! -- Finding the IP of the sender can be first step determining if they are legit or fake emails.  You can find out about an IP by going to Whois.net and putting in all the IP's that you find and seeing where that IP is in the world.
• Syntax and Grammar -- Having seen this in emails past, some scammers seem to need translation services and thus the grammar and syntax on emails are off for your location.  This is a great indicator that there is something wrong.  You should always have a red flag go off in your mind when you see those types of emails.
• Good looking females or Males -- Depending on who you are trying to meet on an online dating service, then you will receive hits with these good looking people to try to show you how lucky you were to be found.  This is another way they lure you into sending them money.  (See an Example up at top)

Identify some Keywords!

Just because you got an email, doesn't mean that you can't read between the lines.  Whenever I get emails about some of the stuff like this you have to read the emails carefully.  Some of the most common word to look for are:

• Relocate -- If the email promises talks about relocations, then you should be weary of the person.  
• You've Won -- This is also a great way to know that you may be scammed, because how were you entered in the contest in the first place.
• Someone is hurt -- compassion is something that the scammers, although you never know who they will saying is hurt you can expect them to want you to send money.  You should never send money to anyone to anywhere because you don't know what they will do with the money once they received it!

I could go on and on about all the scams that are being used in emails but if I do that you'd be bored to tears.  So I am just trying to help you recognize how and what to look for when you are dealing with email correspondence with another person.  One thing I always remember is "Never assume the person is real, until you can verify their identity".  

Paul Sylvester