Online Dating – How to avoid Scams on International Dating Sites

avoiding scams

Olga - how to avoid scamsOnline Dating Red Flags – How to spot a Scammer

While looking for love and romance on international online dating sites can be very exciting, it’s important not to overlook the fact that some people may take advantage of the industry as it is a very popular platform for single men and women around the world. Most people register with a dating site hoping to find love and a potential life partner. Unfortunately, this kind of mindset makes people very vulnerable and thus easy prey for scammers.

You may have even been in a similar situation yourself while trying to find your perfect match. It’s great if you haven’t fallen for anyone’s lies yet, but if you have, don’t worry, you’ll know the warning signs next time someone tries to take advantage of you. If you are new to online dating or have been lucky enough to only communicate with genuine ladies, here are a couple of red flags to watch out for:

Your chat partner is being inconsistent with her stories

The scammers are usually quite clever, but they are not able to keep up a lie for a long period of time. If you pay attention to what she’s telling you, there shouldn’t be a problem recognizing the inconsistencies in her stories. For example, her favorite dish could be Spaghetti Bolognese one day and a Big Mac a few weeks later. Her sister could be living abroad and then when you ask again, she could be staying with you, etc.

Most of her stories revolve around a relative’s bad health/financial situation

Consider this, when you join a dating website and start exchanging letters with someone, you do it so you two could get to know each other better. You would want to know about their interests and hobbies, goals in life, etc. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t tell a sob story to someone you just met and could be romantically interested in. If someone tells a sad story in their first few introductory letters, this could indicate a potential scam.

She’s asking for help

This is a continuation to the previous point. The sad story will turn into a desperate plea for help. The person trying to scam you (be it a man or a woman) will tell you that you are their only hope, no one else will be able to get them out of a difficult situation. If you’ve heard this desperate cry for help before, know that this was a set-up for a scam.

She’s making excuses for why she can’t use Skype for a face-to-face call

If your online partner is avoiding talking on the phone at all costs, you should be careful as this could indicate a scam. There could be many reasons for this, they may be pretending to be someone else, they may be avoiding sounding nervous while lying, etc. Of course, there could be a simpler explanation to this and your partner may not be ready for that particular step yet, but just be careful when it comes to this.

Staying safe should be your number one priority

The above mentioned tricks are some of the most common ones that scammers use when trying to take advantage of someone. No matter what they say, don’t send money to anyone you don’t know personally. Asking for money from someone you just met is the oldest trick in the book and should always be a warning sign! You should always be focused on avoiding scams.