If you are looking for love online on one of the hundreds of online dating websites, don't feel lonely, since there are probably millions of lonely guys and gals around the world looking for true love they couldn't find in their offline lives. The only thing, however, that should raise your eyebrows about online dating sites is the gigantic number of fake profiles created to dupe the people like you. YES! Online foreign dating scams are on the rise and the number of people getting tricked is also increasing at menacing speed.

Financial and emotional loss of the victim in such a scenario is inexplicable. However, you should not get carried away with what people are saying about online dating scams. The truth is, and always remain, that if you are cautious enough, ninety nine times out of hundred, you'll avoid falling into the trap. And that can be achieved only if you have sufficient knowledge about the tricks these scamsters are up to and their modus operandi. If you are one of the lonely hearts looking to find genuine love online without getting scammed, read on.

The first thing that you need to look for in a suitable partner on an online dating site is his or her profile. The user profile is the first impression of the person you're about to choose. And as they say, "First impression is often the last impression!" The same holds true in case of people uploading their profile on the online dating websites. First comes the username. The red lines are 'sex-filled' username of a girl and 'handsome-wealthy' username of a man. If any of these attributes are visible in the usernames of the girl or man, simply look for another suitable option!

Then come the photographs accompanying the profile. If the girl is posing and looking like a drop-dead-gorgeous model or movie star, or the boy has the picture of a tall-dark-handsome man seeming like a model or movie star, chances are that the profile is a fake or of non-serious user who is either after sex or your money. However, this does not mean that such profiles can never be genuine. If all other aspects seem fine to you, then may be you have chanced upon your dream girl or man!

If your date is asking for money in any form for whatever reasons, simply run away for this is the most common trap laid out by the scamsters.

While you are chatting with a user to assess your mutual compatibility, watch out for the delay time of the response from other end. If you are getting replies after a gap of over 90 seconds, chances are that the person on the other end is having multiple chats with other users and simply out there fishing for novice users.

Another common trick that you need to watch out for is the expression of love at an early stage. If the person at the other end is bombarding you with love messages after just a few email exchanges, you know what to do, don't you? Yeah! Simply stop sending the replies for the person is a fake.