With online dating sites becoming a legitimate way of finding a potential partner on the internet, a good number of people are seemingly eager to join the trend each day. Therefore, this means that a lot of new profiles are created on these sites all the time, but the question is: which ones are real?
As there are real, actual people looking for love on these websites, so are there fake profiles individuals and companies use to promote themselves, as well as to bot around to attract more members. With that in mind, here are a few tips on how to tell whether an online dating account is fake or not.
A Real Problem
The unfortunate truth regarding many online trends is that there is always a way for thieves, scammers, and the sex industry to find their place in them, and this also applies to online dating. Making a quick buck is what these people want to do and they won’t hesitate to use online dating sites to achieve their goal.
To put it bluntly, there is a way that you can almost certainly spot a fake profile – if it’s a free one, stay away from it. Of course, this doesn’t apply in 100% of the cases, but remember that 9 out of 10 profiles on even some of the most popular dating sites are actually free ones.
You might be wondering: “What does an account’s free/paid status have to do with its legitimacy?” The answer is very simple – a free membership is a scammer’s fastest route to committing devious things.
Stay Informed, Stay Out Of Harm’s Way
There is another ‘red flag’ that might tell you you’ve stumbled upon a fake account. A lot of online dating sites are home to so-called verified accounts, a status which is gained by having an access to a credit card.
Even some of the more clever scammers can become verified members by using their friend’s credit card, for example. The dating service – whether free or not – is solely responsible if it allows someone like that to become a verified user, so steer clear of these just to be sure.
If you’re still uncertain if a profile you’re looking at is real, pay close attention to details. A lot of fake accounts either don’t bother filling out all the personal information or their grammar is off. Sometimes, they even struggle with basic English, as most of them claim they’re from the US or some other rich country while they actually reside in Nigeria, India, and so on.
It gets worse: there’s no surefire way of actually avoiding coming into contact with a fake account. It’s all about the numbers for them, so they’ll do everything they can to make as many contacts as possible.
There’s no telling if this situation is prone to changing for the better in the future. If that does happen – great! But until then, if someone on an online dating site is giving you short answers to your questions or simply seems like it’s a scam, move on from them.