More and more people are turning to the internet to find the love of their life. Online dating sites are florishing. An estimated 500 million dollars was spend on online dating in 2006 in the US alone and that figure will be higher in 2007. With so many people on online dating sites, there are unfortunately some people who fall victim to online dating scams. Most of these victims are women. We'll outline a few of these scams and what you can do to prevent them from happening to you.

Scam #1: I need money to....

A wellknown scam, but still every day people are falling for it. The scammer starts asking for money after they feel they've gained your trust. This can be after a couple of weeks, but also after a year of communication. Your date/scammer will tell you a sad story that will usually go like this:

- I am seriously ill and need money for treatment or surgery (sometimes it's for family or friends)
- I want to meet you, but I don't have the money to pay for bus, train or plane fare)
- Help I'm stranded abroad and don't have the money to pay for my visa, airfare or... you name it!

New variations of those sad stories are being produced as we speak. Remember these people do this for their living and are working on this all day to come up with new stories & new scams. Your date will ask you to send the money through some untraceable source like Western Union. Don't give them any money no matter how sad the story is. And don't think, because you have been chatting & mailing with this person for months that you're on the safe side: Some people have been scammed after "knowing" their online date for months or even a year.

Scam #2: Can you cash a check for me?

You have been chatting with your date for months. He sends you flowers & presents for your birthday, Valentinesday... Then he pops the big question: Can you cash a check for me, because I'm in another country unable to cash checks. You're in love and of course you will do this for him. So you cash the check and wires him the money. Than you're contacted by the bank: The checks were “washed” which means that they were purchased for a small amount of money and then altered. It is impossible to prove that another person made the cash checks. Guess who will be held responsible for owing the bank? Could it be you?

Scam #3: The dating service abused my credit card information

This one is a little tricky. Everyone and their dog can throw up a website and call it an online dating service. A dating service can be sincere and trustworthy or "here today and gone tomorrow" with your personal information and credit card number. You can never be sure, but you can at least do the following:

-Always check the Dating sites privacy policy and find out what how they use your personal information.
-Find out how long this dating site has been around (do a Whois)
-Type the name of the online dating site into a search engine and see what comes up.
-Check online forums (which is by the way a great way to meet people without having to pay for it) and see if the the dating site you're interested in, is mentioned. Ask users on a forum for their experiences with dating services. Don't believe the opinion of just 1 person though.
-Last but not least: trust your instincts. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it!
-If their basic membership is free, they don't need your credit card number, so don't give it to them.

Above mentioned are just a few scams. Again, there are people doing this on a daily basis and they spend a lot of time coming up with new scams. There are a few basic guidelines you should always stick to:

• Be sceptical. People can hide their real identities on the internet and most dating sites don't check their users. Having said that, you yourself should be care ful with the personal information you supply to others.

• Never ever give someone your bank account or credit card number.

• Check the member profile of your new date thoroughly. Scammers tend to have a vague descriptions, perfect photo's (like they're models) and after a couple of chats, it suddenly turns out he's not from Manhattan, but from Nigeria. Other trouble signs: You can't reach your date by phone and the addres he gives you is a PO box. These are all telltale signs that you need to end this right now.

Last but not least: Don't ever send money or cash checks. No matter how sad the story is.