Many times, men will seek a mail order bride, as they want a woman to marry who has been raised in a society that has instructed her that she is generally subservient to her husband - a trait that many men find very attractive. Russian mail order brides are big business on the internet as are Asian mail order brides.

If you are a man seeking a mail order bride, please know that you are putting yourself into a position to be scammed. You may be scammed by the companies offering the mail order bride service and you may be scammed by the mail order brides themselves.

Here are some tips to prevent you from becoming a victim:

1. The first indication that the mail order bride company may not be on the up and up is if they have a free email address and no street address. Free email addresses are untraceable. Only ISP email addresses can be traced.

2. If the membership fee is very low or even nonexistent, but there are 'fees' for forwarding emails or other services, be very wary of the mail order bride company.

3. If you receive letters from the woman you have selected from a catalogue, and the letters never use your name, but instead use terms, such as "sweetie, honey, darling, or my love," red flags should go up. These are generic form letters. The letter that you may have sent was probably not even read.

4. If after two or three letters have been exchanged, the woman declares her love, it may be flattering, but it should also raise a red flag. She can't be 'in love' with a person she doesn't even know.

5. If she requests money so that she can come to meet you, be very, very careful. Do NOT send money. Instead, if you really feel this woman is sincere, tell her you will make arrangements with a local taxi service to pick her up at her home and deliver her to the airport. Make airline reservations, but do NOT send money for air fare. And finally, make hotel reservations for the bride.

What you must also realize is that although you know exactly what you want from your mail order bride, your potential 'bride' also knows what SHE wants and the two may not be compatible.

If you make the mistake of sending money to the bride to be, you will most likely be met with 'delays,' which will all require that more money be sent. Then, there may be emergencies in the bride's family that will require yet more money be sent. You will most likely end up with an empty bank account and no bride to show for your efforts.

There are, of course, legitimate mail order bride operations, but there are a lot more illegitimate ones. This is one of those situations where 'buyer beware' applies.