Dating Apps

Has anyone noticed how many scam artists and fake profiles there are on dating sites? Maybe I'm just one of the unlucky ones. It seems that of all the dating sites there are out there, more than half the people on them aren't who they say they are. What I mean, they act all real and legit and everything, but then they start asking for money, or gift cards, or claim they will send you money to buy something for them. If you say no to them, they become persistent.

When I say persistent, I mean they go all in on the whole "I love you", "I'm doing this for you", "You'll get paid back, I swear" or other things like "I only need $50" "It's to put money on my phone so I can keep talking to you". And I'm sure some of you have heard other things like that too. Oh my favorite one was that this one guy wanted me to marry him after only talking about two days. He even sent a picture of a ring that he supposedly bought for me. He was begging. Then he said he got a job in Africa for about 3 months. Then lost his wallet, and all his cash, and said he needed to have cash sent to him.

You can imagine my response to that. I told him flat out "No". Of course he still begged though.

Note for anyone. If anyone asks or does any such thing, don't take them serious. They don't mean it, they are just trying to screw you out of your hard earned money. No man or women is important enough especially if you have never met face to face, seen a real picture, or spoken on the phone and had a video chat. Otherwise, always caution that they are a fake, until you physically meet in real life. Not over an app any only chatroom. I'd say to only ever give out an email that you know you can delete if necessary and it doesn't contain or is not linked to any personal information. No credit cards, home addresses, phone numbers, etc. Anything to keep your personal information safe from cyber stalkers or hackers.

One other thing. If they say they are military, be extremely cautious. A lot of military profiles on dating apps and sites aren't the real person. A lot of times they are something who chose a random picture of a good looking person or someone that is in the military and stolen their identity for a dating app profile in hopes of getting something out of anyone unlucky enough to fall prey to them. I would suggest never responding to military profiles unless there is a way to accurately verify the person using the account is the actual account holder.

There are my tips on Dating apps and online dating profiles. Everyone has probably been told this by others. But take it from someone that has has many encounters with scammers and fake profiles that even the best of people can make a mistake. Just don't ignore someone if they tell you that you are being used for your money.

On that note, what is the appeal? dating apps advertise about how you will find "the one" but that's probably after you shift through all of the people that don't answer you, say hello, then never continue a conversation, or hit like but never try talking to you. If you are lucky you find a guy or girl that actually wants a serious relationship. Most that I had come across only wanted things like sex or money, nothing serious. Just someone to hook up with. Sometimes it feels like you may try all different dating apps and platforms only to say no to over a thousand people before possibly finding one that you would actually go out with.

Then there is the whole distance thing. What if there aren't any viable people in your area within 50 miles that you would go out with. Then it comes back around to not knowing if the person is a real person or something faking to be someone else just to scam you. To some people it may end up feeling like an endless cycle.

On another hand, it's sometimes the only way you think you will meet someone. Is it? Personal opinion, if you stop looking for the right guy or girl, somehow someway they end up finding you instead. Could be just as random as meeting on a game only to realize you live so close together that you decide to meet up for coffee. It's not always a dating site that you might find someone. Might be a game, college classroom, someone you ran into at a dog park, who knows. Dating sites now a days just seem like a place for people to get cyberbullied, hacked, scammed, taken advantage of. There aren't very much riding on a dating site, although if you found your significant other then congratulations, you're one of the lucky ones.

I'm not saying don't use them. But it's very clear these days that you need to be a lot more careful about protecting yourself online.