Unfortunately as in most industries the online dating services fall prey to the unscrupulous among us. It is a sad and genuine fact that there are people out there who will seek out singles purely to play on their weaknesses. Members of online dating sites are often vulnerable, a fact born from marriage or relationship failure or just simple loneliness.

These undesirable elements know in the industry as fraudsters are all too aware of the vulnerability of people looking for new love or a life time partner and they will do everything in their power to achieve their goals. So what is the goal of the dating scammer? It’s relatively simple, they are after your money.

Often the targets of these frauds are new to the online dating scene or new members to a particular site. They prey on the vulnerabilities of the weakened heart and the fact the member is naive to the processes of online dating. The target will be lured away from the sites chat rooms as soon as possible and onto one of the many instant-messaging services available. This is where the attempted fraud begins. There will be expressions of undying love, often within a short space of time. In concluding there will be requests for assistance for any one of a number of reasons. Almost always these requests will be for financial assistance.

So what do you do if you are the target of one of these frauds? These are the basic steps to take:

• REFRAIN from any further communication with them once they have revealed themselves by requesting money. Don’t ever feel any guilt about this (It may not be in your nature to be impolite but it is essential you make no further contact as difficult as this may be).

• REPORT the individual to the online dating site immediately (They may be doing this to any number of people at the same time so you could be helping someone who is less aware than you are).

• DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY, no matter how plausible the story is, no matter how long you’ve been communicating, no matter how trustworthy you think they are, and no matter how confident you feel that they are telling the truth.

If you are reading this after having sent funds, the chances are you have already been the subject of an international fraud. Unfortunately the chances of getting your money back now are very slim indeed. However, you should go to the Police and let them know and hopefully they will be able to advise you further.

In my opinion the most important thing to do is advise the online dating site immediately and report the member and tell them in detail what has happened. Most sites will investigate the event and delete the offender’s account.