I won't go into the details, but I just wanted to write a quick post about how easily open online personals websites like match.com can be when it comes to "romance scams," a longer and more elaborate type of the infamous 419.
This month I had a potentially harrowing experience of my own with online fraud and when I researched the subject more I was astonished to discover 1 out of 3 profiles on sites like match.com are completely fake.
I have to give credit (not really!) to the person who tried to rope me in...the scammer came up with an intriguing and interesting background for their personal history (complete with very convincing photos that most likely were stolen), but they still tripped and fell. They mistook yearning on my part (to meet someone nice and hopefully sincere) for stupidity.
For more info read here. It's one of the best sources on "romance scams" and amazingly close to what happened to me. I have to say that match.com was great about giving me a refund and helping with the situation, but I can't help but worry about particularly vulnerable people out "there" in cyberspace who may not realize what's happening to them until it's too late...
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