An Important Message About Dating Fraud
1. DON'T GIVE OUT PERSONAL EMAIL OR IM HANDLES
By allowing someone access to your personal email address, you are opening yourself up to viruses, physical threats and other abuses, spamming and identity theft. The selling of personal email addresses to junk and bulk mailing consortiums is a huge business, so beware of strangers keen to find yours out.
Moreover, you should be aware that every computer in the world has a unique IP address assigned to it. Some IP addresses are permanently issued to you by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and some are randomly assigned every time you log onto your ISP. Regardless of which type of IP address you have, this information can be traced to your front door— even if you use an anonymous email server such as Hotmail or Yahoo. Therefore, unless you are certain of the person you are communicating with, NEVER give out your personal email address.
N.B. Beware of members who ask you for your personal email address in order to send you a photo, claiming that they can not send one through the members site. This is untrue. It is generally much easier to attach a photo to any message
Sometimes you will be invited to use another online instant messenger system such as Yahoo! Messenger or MSN Instant Messenger. The reasons that you will be given for this will range from photo and file exchange to privacy concerns.
2. WHEN A STRANGER ASKS YOU FOR MONEY
Soliciting for money is forbidden , and i ask you to report anyone who does so by clicking on the “report abuse” link on that person’s profile, or by contacting the Admin of the Dating site .
3. AIRFARE AND FOREIGN TRAVEL AGENCIES: BEWARE
One common scam is for a foreign member to flirt with you online and, after a brief correspondence or chat session, ask you for money for an airline ticket in order to come and visit you. Under no circumstances should you send any money to any such member, nor should you send money to a “travel agency” that he or she claims to know. That said, not all members needing help acquiring airfare are dishonest. Some are genuine. If you want to fly someone in, you should do so by purchasing a non-redeemable ticket for that person yourself.
4. TOURIST AND FIANCÉ VISA FEES: BEWARE
If someone asks for help acquiring a tourist or fiancé visa, be sure to do your homework before sending any money. Call your country’s embassy or consulate in the individual’s home country to find out what the visa requirements are. If possible, send visa fees directly to the embassy.
5. POSTAL MONEY ORDER SCAMS
Another scam involves postal money orders. A person from another country—usually an African country— or someone claiming to be an American temporarily visiting an African country will ask for help cashing a postal money order. This person will claim that he/she will be charged exorbitant interest in the country he/she is in, and will ask to send you the money order so that you may cash it at your bank and send back the money via Western Union. Do NOT fall for this very common trick. The money order is almost certain to be counterfeit, and because the person who sends it to you will be using a false identity, you will be personally liable for defrauding the US Postal Service.
6. WESTERN UNION SCAMS
We can hardly emphasize this enough: you should not, under any circumstances, send money to a stranger via Western Union. Western Union does not require any identification—just a code number supplied by you. Once you have sent the money, you can’t recover it. You may never hear from the recipient again, and he/she will be untraceable.
7. NIGERIA AND GHANA SCAMS
A large number of financial scams originate from the countries of Nigeria and Ghana. The reason for this is that these countries do not have laws against wire or internet fraud, and consequently have become hotbeds for criminal activity online. If someone contacts you from a profile that appears to be in North America or Europe, but then tells you they are temporarily in Nigeria or Ghana, there is a significant chance they are involved in a scam of some sort.
8. REPORT UNDERAGE USERS
All members are advised to be on the alert for minors posing as adults on this or any other website. Underage members will claim that they are 18 years or older when signing up for the site, but will often reveal in their correspondence that they are lying. Communicating with a minor on this or any other dating site is illegal. If you discover any member under 18-years of age, you should report them
