Online Dating Sites Refuse to Protect You From Scammers or Predators

It’s right there in the name. It’s not ‘Great Cupid’ or even ‘Good Cupid’. It’s OK Cupid.

Helen Hong, Comedienne

Let’s get real; online dating sites are in it for the money, whether they’re paid or free sites. And, they can be monetized in a multitude of ways including:

• Paid Memberships

• Premium Content or Add-On Features

• Advertising

• Affiliate Networks

• Live Events

The bottom line is that they’re all looking to make as much money as possible. And in order to make as much money as possible they have to show value. How do they show value? By the number of registered members of course! Remember, social media is just a numbers game and the one who has the most, wins. Online dating sites need to boast as many registered members as possible to attract new members, advertising dollars and the like. So even if they know that members are scammers or predators, it’s not in their best interests to delete their profiles from the site because that reduces their numbers which makes them less attractive to new members and advertising dollars.

The easiest way to identify scammers and online predators is to drag and drop their photos into Google Image Search. In fact I do that with anyone that contacts me on an online dating site, whether or not my alarm bells have gone off. And I have identified SEVERAL scammers and online predators who were either impersonating someone or using someone else’s photo. On every occasion that I identified one of these creeps, I reported them to the online dating sites and provided iron clad evidence - the URL to the person they were impersonating or to the location of where they absconded with the photo. NOT ONCE were any of these scammers or predators booted off the sites. Online dating sites don’t care about you or your safety; they only care about the money you can generate for them.

The moral of the story is that you have to look out for yourself. Be diligent and always do a Google Image Search. It’s free, easy to do and can save you a lot of grief.

Today, if you own a smartphone, you’re carrying a 24-7 singles bar in your pocket.

Aziz Ansari, Actor

Make someone smile today.

Geri