Dear On-Line Dating Scammer.........

I've been toying around the idea of writing a book about my online dating stories.

There would be chapters like: You're Beautiful My Dear, Now that I'm widowed raising my kids alone, Bridge Building in Africa, I'm a God fearing man, etc.

You just never know who is sitting on the other side of the computer screen. Are they really who they say they are and how do you find out?  It's a real problem, if it wasn't, there wouldn't be an entire show called Catfish and Dr. Phil would have tons of episodes where he hires people to head to Nigeria and other parts of the world to do some investigative journalism.

In a world where we rely on social media, people seem to have less ability to communicate face to face and people are desperate to feel loved and accepted, it only stands to reason, that scammers have it easy.

So you may wonder, how to navigate.  Don't come across as too eager.  Make them work for it. Don't give out so much information about you at first.  Make them send you pictures of things like giving you the peace sign or them holding a newspaper with the date on it for that day. I know upload all pictures into Google images to see if it pops up.  If they are stealing photos, it will most likely be from Facebook or Instagram, you can then contact the person and ask if they have been communicating with you.  If they tell you they are from the US, especially after you have told them your location, then RUN and BLOCK.  This morning, I had a guy say he was from The US Maryland Baltimore.  HUH?? Anytime they address you as dear or pretty, RUN.  If you tell them you like something and they quickly say they like it too and that happens on everything you disclose, RUN.

Check out some of these sites:

https://romancescamsnow.com/scammer-albums-lists/
https://www.stop-scammers.com/
http://www.insiderinternetdating.com/blog/internet-dating-tips/busted-the-worst-online-dating-site-scams/
http://datescammer.blogspot.com/



We all want to be loved and people who are dishonest learn to say the right words.  Don't rush things. Flirt, get to know the person, make sure to meet up quickly, we don't want pen pals, we want a dating partner.

Remember if it sounds too good to be true, then it most likely is.  Respect yourself enough to be cautious and discerning.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a Dr. Phil episode or a story on Dateline.