In general
Anyone who wants to fall in love these days will find an almost endless selection of potential dream girls and Prince Charming’s from all over the world on social networks and internet dating sites.
But be careful! Don’t believe everything that is written in profiles, especially if they’re almost too perfect to be true. Be careful when chatting with a person whose true identity you don’t yet know.
If a person asks you to lend them money (e.g. for a plane ticket to meet you), alarm bells should start ringing. In most cases this person will never show up and never pay back the borrowed money.
Tips
- Never give out any information about your intimate life, don’t transfer money and don’t send sexy photos of yourself until you’ve actually met the other person at least once are sure that they are honest.
- Leave the online discussion immediately, without saying goodbye, as soon as you feel that a person has bad intentions.
- Search engines can help you to check user profiles and the images used.
- Invite your new friend to video chat with you. This is the fastest way to expose fraudsters. They never want to speak “live” or show their true face.
- Let friends or family know when you actually meet someone for the first time and arrange to meet in a public place.