With the free on line dating sites proliferating and the paid sites reaching a billion dollar business each year, it is hardly surprising the on line dating scams are also becoming more prevalent. Anything that results in money changing hands for the benefit of your date is a scam. Don't let yourself be taken in by requests for hospitalization for a relative or some other desperate emergency that they have invented in the hopes of grabbing some of your funds. You are the one who will be hurt both financially and emotionally if you are the victim of a scam, so don't let yourself be a victim.



Trust your instincts

If you have questions about a person who has contacted you through a free on line dating site, you should listen to your instincts and assume that there is a problem. There may be variations in the sound of the emails you receive. You may receive a profession of undying love far too soon in the relationship to be valid. You may receive an email address that takes your correspondence out of the dating site where they can get in trouble for emailing others. They will be the one to initiate contact with you.

Never send money

A free on line dating site contact that is followed slowly or quickly by a request to send money to them for some emergency or another is not the way to begin your dating experience online. If you follow the protection mechanisms set up by working within the dating site, you will be less likely to fall prey to one of these scam artists. Contact through the web site, avoid giving out personal information too soon, and ignore any requests to send money to the person. If they cannot extract money from you they will likely move on to another victim fairly quickly.

Protect your privacy

Never give out sensitive or confidential information without knowing who you are giving it to and how it will be used. This is true of a free on line dating site as well as in real life. Your social security number, bank account number, credit card numbers, even your automobile registration number can be used to lead a scammer to additional information that can be disastrous to your credit picture and to your bank account. This is not to say that people should live life in fear or being taken advantage of--just that being sensible about your privacy makes good sense.

Get some references

If you check out the qualifications on the free on line dating site, as well as the information you have available on the individual, you may pick up on some problems that are not glaringly obvious to begin with. The web site should have a privacy statement that you can access. The web site should have clearly stated rules of conduct that you are obligated to follow. The web site should also have information on what to do if you believe you may be dealing with a scammer.