Protecting yourself from online dating scams

In modern society, online dating provides people with an avenue to connect and find true love. It also comes with risks, i.e., online dating scams.

To help you navigate online dating safely and successfully, here is comprehensive guidance on protecting you from internet dating scams. This is to enhance your safety and ensure a more secure dating experience. So, what are the most common scammer tactics these days?

Types of online dating scams:

In general, there are three main scam categories on dating websites.

Catfishing

Basically, catfishing means the scammer creates a fake persona online to target a victim who might be compromised in some way. Here are some obvious signs attributed to this behaviour:

1. A dating profile photo looks too good to be true. Please note that on SimplyDating.com, all ladies are from Eastern Europe. These women are much more fashion-conscious and slim, they look like models in real life as well. Truthfully, if you visit an Eastern European country, you will notice that women who look like models are everywhere.

2. The person you are chatting with online starts proclaiming love too quickly, e.g., after only several days of contact. It takes some time to build a connection with someone. So if an individual falls madly in love with you too soon online, that’s not normal. You haven’t even met each other in real life yet!

3. Someone refuses to have an audio or video chat. We offer video and audio chat features to help you better understand the person you are chatting with. If someone refuses to have a video or audio chat with you, that’s definitely a red flag. 

Financial Scams

If your love interest online asks you for financial support and you’ve never met that person, be careful! Scammers might ask you to send them money for things such as personal or family emergencies, medical expenses, and travel expenses. Oftentimes, the scammer has a sob story to justify their request. Nearly all scammers would ask for very specific payment methods. They tell you what’s in your name, but the name is actually irrelevant. Most banks don’t check the bank account name. Banks only need to know the account number while processing an online transfer. Typical signs of this behaviour include:

1. Someone asks you for money, but you haven’t met them. Remember that you should never send money to anyone on an online dating website. (Note that it’s normal to send gifts to the lady you’ve been chatting with. That’s something that you want to do rather than something that you’ve been told to do.) 

2. A person tells you a sob story. This is a way to switch off your analytical brain and switch on your emotional brain. Some scammers are amazing storytellers but you can’t trust them at all. Period.

Blackmail

A scammer might create an emotional connection with you, and then ask you to record an intimate video. After that, the scammer can demand payment in return for not publishing your intimate video online. Signs of this scam:   

1. Someone asks you to make an intimate video and you’ve never met that individual. (Don’t forget that SimplyDating.com has a video chat feature, but we only allow normal chats in videos.)

2. Someone threatens to harm you if you don’t do something they want. That may include the scenario in which a woman says she will break up with you if you don’t do something she wants.

This reminds me of a friend whose ex-wife was saying “Let’s get divorced!” each time they had an argument. A few years later, they actually got divorced and his ex-wife was shocked. When his ex-wife said “Let’s get divorced”, their connection became weaker. That request made this guy start to think about getting divorced in his subconscious mind – the seed was planted and reinforced. One day he gave it up and signed the divorce document, but his ex-wife was in pain. Further examination reveals that each time his ex-wife said “Let’s get divorced”, she was actually saying, “I need more love and more attention from you.” Although this story has nothing to do with Internet dating scams, it tells you that every type of threat is harmful – threats ruin relationships fundamentally. And if threats happen on an online dating site, that means it’s a scam. Full stop. 

Some online dating statistics

The FBI claims that reports of online dating scams have increased by almost 25% since 2019. According to UK Finance, almost 40% of online daters have been asked for money. Statistics show that 2 in 5 people who dated somebody they met on the Internet have been asked for money. In other words, many people have met scammers in person, and when they think they’ve started a relationship with someone new, their new love interest (the scammer) asks them for money. This is sad but true.

Other major red flags in online dating that you should be aware of

Although I’ve mentioned some warning signs already, I’d like to point out some other big red flags that you must pay attention to because some signs are not directly relevant to those three above-mentioned categories. Indeed, certain signs are so subtle that you have to be much more vigilant: 

Pay attention to their profile

First of all, if an online dater clearly explains the importance of trusting your gut instinct in their dating profile, that’s probably a fake profile. In truth, trust has to be gained through authentic communication rather than the initial feeling. The first impression isn’t necessarily the last impression.

I understand that sometimes the first impression is also the last impression. For example, let’s take superficial relationships. If you have bought shoes from the same shoe store for 20 years and you’ve been served by the same salesperson that you like, chances are you liked this salesperson at the beginning and you still like this salesperson now. You don’t really know what this person

Never reveal personal information

If your love interest online sends you a link that requires you to enter your personal information, you must be very careful. SimplyDating.com uses the most advanced technology to protect your personal information online, so please don’t enter your personal details on an external website.

Specific methods of protecting your identity and ensuring safe online dating interactions: 

As I see it, secure password practices are paramount. I would advise you to create unique and strong passwords when you create an online dating profile on SimplyDating.com. Actually, no matter which website you use, you would be well-advised to utilize a password manager (some anti-virus software like Norton offers a password manager).

What’s more, you are encouraged to set up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) which gives you more security. After entering your password on a website, you’ll need to enter a secret code which is sent to your phone or your email. Enabling 2FA provides you with added security.

Safe online interactions are of vital importance as well. When you are chatting with a woman online, you should keep conversations within our platform initially as this is an effective way to protect you. Moving to external communication too soon is quite risky. What if that person becomes a stalker on your social media pages? Thus, if you only chat with people on SimplyDating.com, we are able to protect your information. We take your security and safety very seriously. We use recognized security measures, including encrypted payment services.  

Of course, after chatting with someone online, you’ll need to meet that person in real life in order to start a serious, long-term relationship officially.

Meeting in person safely

Obviously, you have to meet her in a public place such as a cafe or a restaurant. It’s better to tell a friend or a family member that you are going to meet someone that you’ve been chatting with online in real life. So if something goes wrong, you can call or text a family member or a friend who can help you. And if your friend or family member hasn’t heard from you for more than 2 hours after the date starts, they should call you immediately to make sure that you are okay. 

In my view, you need to have a lot of video calls before meeting a woman in person because you have to have a pretty good understanding of who she is and what she is like before meeting her offline. Yes, effective communication is vital.

At Simply Dating, we actually ask you to visit your lady with our help, i.e., we help you to organize your trip so that you can meet your lady in person. That is to say, you tell our team that you are happy to visit your lady and we organize the international trip for you. You will meet your lady while we are aware of your first date because we also need to make sure that these ladies who have joined our database are safe as well. 

How Simply Dating ensures a safe online dating environment

At SimplyDating.com, we pride ourselves on an extensive internal system which ensures that every member is honest and genuine when they sign up.

To be more specific, we personally verify every woman who registers with us on our dating site. This includes keeping copies of her photo ID, statement of marital status as well as personal interviews. Simply Dating makes sure that she is serious in her search for a meaningful relationship. We only have ladies above 23 years of age in our database because research shows that women who are 23 and older tend to know what they are looking for when it comes to dating and relationships.

We don’t want to give you more risks by signing up ladies who are under 23 years old. In addition, each member on SimplyDating.com has been verified before being accepted by our database. After email address verification and photo, video & profile summary approval, the member’s profile becomes active.   

We highly encourage members to report scammers as this helps us offer you a more genuine service. As a result, if you need to report a scammer, please don’t hesitate to contact us as soon as possible. When you send an email to us regarding a scammer, please be sure to provide relevant evidence like chat history, links, and so on, so we can investigate and inform you of a decision. If your claim is approved, you’ll be refunded all credits from your communication with that member. We’ll remove the scammer from the website immediately.

You can also directly report any suspicious activity to our team by using the Abuse Reporting button on every woman’s dating profile. This process is streamlined, straightforward and simple.

Frequently Asked Questions: 

How do I know whether I’m being scammed while trying online dating?

If you’ve noticed false information in an online dating profile, like 1) Obscene/indecent images in a member’s dating profile photos, 2) Obscene language/behaviour during online chats, or 3) Requests for gifts and/or money as well as any other abuse, then you are probably being scammed.

Make sure that you report the scammer as quickly as possible. 

How do online dating scams work?

An online romance scam usually has three steps: 1) A scammer creates a fake dating profile to chat with people on the Internet; 2) The romantic relationship moves really quickly and trust is gained fast; 3) The scammer asks the target for money, receives it and then vanishes immediately.

Who gets targeted in online dating fraud?

Scammers prey on emotionally vulnerable individuals to gain their trust, thereby exploiting them financially. In reality, when you want something very much, you are more vulnerable.

For instance, the most common scams happen on dating websites and job search websites: When people are looking for love or jobs, they are relatively vulnerable. By contrast, if you don’t want anything from anyone, scammers can’t really target you. Having said that, once you know what scammers are doing and how to protect yourself in general, as well as how to ensure your safety online, you will be fine. So please do not become hypervigilant.

Psychologists argue that hypervigilance is a trauma response because people who are traumatized are too anxious. They are looking for potential dangers everywhere all the time, which is absolutely exhausting. As a consequence, they can’t relax. I’m pretty sure that dating is supposed to be a relaxing activity when it’s done right. But when dating is done wrong, it becomes draining and unhelpful.

Where should I report Internet dating scams?

Please contact us at [email protected] (Simply Dating and Ukraine Brides Agency are run by the same company.)  

Is online dating safe?

Just like every type of dating, risks are certainly involved. It’s all about taking a calculated risk in terms of dating & relationships. In truth, online dating is safe if you know how to protect yourself well.

Choosing the right online dating website is very important – SimplyDating.com protects your privacy really well by using the most advanced technology. A recent study suggests that almost all singles in today’s day and age have tried Internet dating because nowadays online dating is mainstream. 20 years ago, online dating was obviously a taboo topic that nobody wanted to discuss. We live in a digital era where so many things are happening on the Internet, including dating.

Offline dating has risks as well & the internet is merely a method of meeting more people so that you can have more options in your love life. When you have an abundance mindset instead of a scarcity mindset, you are more confident and more relaxed. Yet when you have no option in your dating life, you are more likely to be anxious and stressed. I highly encourage you to try both online dating and offline dating so you will have even more options in the dating department, and you have more confidence in life. 

The disparity in online dating

Researchers point out that men definitely have fewer risks than women when it comes to online dating and relationships. As a matter of fact, women have more risks than men in most areas of life due to a lot of disadvantages that women have objectively. No wonder women are much more likely to have anxiety and depression in almost every country. Mental health is so important. I don’t want you to be hypervigilant; I only expect you to be careful and knowledgeable in this regard. Honestly, a lack of awareness is even more dangerous than a lack of knowledge. Being aware of something is already quite powerful and helpful. I sincerely hope this blog article gives you both awareness and knowledge to empower and support you in this very rewarding journey you are exploring with us! 

Conclusion

SimplyDating.com has a strong and solid commitment to user safety as well as positive online dating experiences. Although dating scams on the Internet are not uncommon, you shouldn’t let this phenomenon dissuade you from the happiness that you truly deserve. Just be vigilant and calm. I’m sure true love will come to you in record time. So, I’d like to encourage you to join SimplyDating.com and start to look for real love in this safe online dating environment that has been built for genuine people like you. Remember: Simply Dating is all about helping genuine people to find sustainable, healthy and happy relationships that will last for a lifetime. We believe in love. We hope you believe in love, too!

Before starting a new relationship, you should totally learn how to protect yourself on the Internet so that you will have a safe dating experience online. Apart from that, you also need to remain positive at all times and focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want, as focusing on what you don’t want will only attract things that you don’t want, whereas focusing on what you want will help you to manifest a good relationship that you desire. What kind of married lifestyle are you looking forward to? Be very specific and visualize your ideal married lifestyle: When you finish work and arrive home in the afternoon, you’ll wear extremely comfortable loungewear (not pajamas) while mindfully cooking dinner with your wife. Then you will have a romantic dinner with beautiful candlelight and fresh flowers on the table. Isn’t this compelling?

Learn more about the world of international dating with the help of Simply Dating. Our blogs on dating advice will definitely help your relationship with Slavic women blossom and last. Register now to learn more!