Dating For Seniors Looks Like Another Scam

1. Dating For Seniors Looks Like Another Scam Site
2. Dating For Seniors Looks Like Another Scam Alert
3. Dating For Seniors Looks Like Another Scams

Analytical data abounds on the realities of online dating — and not all of it is good news. For example, 10% of dating profiles are fake, and over $50 million is lost every year from cons, according to the FBI, which receives thousands of romance scam complaints annually.

• Although many dating sites are aimed at younger generations, there are plenty of sites that are geared toward those of us who remember what dating was like before smartphones, apps, and the internet changed the face of romance. Our reviews are here to help you find the right online dating site for you.
• Best Senior Dating Sites of 2021. Below are the best senior dating sites and apps around, according to reviews by our top relationship experts. Whether you're over 50, 60, or older, these websites will help you connect with other single seniors near you. Find romance and companionship online 100% free.
• Instead, it was just like any other mature dating app. As a consequence of the lack of innovative and attractive components, the website had fewer users than expected, and even now Tinder for seniors’ reviews are few and hard to find. All of this is probably why the dating site for seniors closed down, but not completely.
• Analytical data abounds on the realities of online dating — and not all of it is good news. For example, 10% of dating profiles are fake, and over $50 million is lost every year from cons, according to the FBI, which receives thousands of romance scam complaints annually.

While these are some overwhelming statistics, there are steps you can take to ensure you or someone you know won’t be taken advantage of. We’ll show you how to tell if a dating profile is fake, whether you’re looking at the person’s photos, About Me section, or messages.

1. Are They From Another Country, Particularly Nigeria?

Seeking Arrangement and TC LogiQ, a background-screening company, reviewed 60,000 banned profiles to see what they have in common and found 28% were based in Nigeria, 23% in the Ukraine, and 21% in the Philippines.

Common Scams That Target Seniors. To protect your loved ones — or yourself — from fraud, it helps to know what to look out for. Here are 12 of the most common financial scams that target seniors. Social Security Scams. In December 2018, the Social Security Administration (SSA) warned of an upsurge in calls from con artists posing as SSA.

Studies have found a majority of online dating scammers are from countries outside of the United States, so take extra precaution when necessary. Photo source: KatieOrr.me.

We’re not saying every online dater from Nigeria, the Ukraine, the Philippines, or any other foreign country is a scammer, but you should keep an eye out, especially if international dating isn’t what you’re looking for.

2. Are There Empty Sections on Their Profile?

People who really want to meet someone special will put in the time and effort it takes to make their profile perfect. They won’t leave sections empty or skip a lot of questions.

Someone who wants to find their perfect match will make sure their online dating profile is filled out and an A+ — a scammer won’t. Photo source: OnlineDating.org.

If you come across a profile that’s mostly empty (except for their name, age, and location), it’s a sign that the person rushed to get it up and might want to get to the messaging part quickly so he or she can con someone.

3. Is the Text Filled With Grammar & Spelling Mistakes?

We’re not all professional writers and editors, so a couple of grammar errors and spelling mistakes is nothing to freak out over. However, if it happens a lot and you can tell that English isn’t the writer’s first language, it’s not nothing.

Typos are bound to happen, but if the person’s profile is filled with them, it’s a sign that they could be fake. Photo source: HubSpot.com.

A study by Grammarly shows that just two mistakes means men are 14% less likely to get a response. That’s a crazy statistic, and you’d think that someone who genuinely cares about online dating would run their profile through a grammar tool, ask a friend to look at it, or at least look out for the red squiggle.

4. Did They Only Post One Photo?

Photos on a dating profile are like eyes on a person — they’re the windows to the soul. When someone uploads just one photo or a couple that are basically all the same (e.g., headshots), you’re not learning anything about them.

Keep an eye on profiles that have one photo or a few photos that are all pretty much the same and look like they’re from a stock site. Photo source: HowDoIDate.com.

Real people with real dating profiles will upload a variety of photos to showcase their personality and hobbies — but fake people with fake profiles don’t want to take the chance of getting caught by uploading too many stolen photos. It could raise a lot of questions.

5. Does That Photo Look Like a Stock Photo?

Sticking with the photo theme, alarms should be going off in your head if a profile has photos that look too perfect. Professionally done photos are great, but you can tell the difference between professionally done photos and stock photos.

Headshots, white backgrounds, a familiar face — yea, it could be a stock photo.

Stock photos normally have plain backgrounds (e.g., white) and people who seem just a little bit familiar (because you’ve seen them in other stock photos). It’s not hard to take photos from a stock photo site (or any other site, for that matter), so take advantage of resources like TinEye and Google’s reverse image search.

6. Are Their Messages Generic?

Time is the common denominator here — most scammers don’t want to put in hours on their profile or messages. So what you’ll end up getting is something that’s copied and pasted and that replaces your name with the last person they communicated with.

If you get a message that sounds like it could be meant for anyone, you might be dealing with someone who has bad intentions.

Did they mention anything from your profile or photos? An interest, your job, anything? If your answer is no, that’s cause for an eyebrow raise. What happens when you ask them questions about their life? Do they always come back with general things like movies and spending time with friends? We all like doing that, so be on the lookout if they keep putting off details that make them unique.

7. Are There Discrepancies in Their Story?

Lying to someone online is easy because you’re not having to look them in the eye, but if you do it for long enough and to a lot of people, it’s going to catch up with you. If an online match is saying slightly different things about his or her life than what you remember, don’t make light of it. Suddenly they have a cat instead of a dog, their favorite food is pasta instead of tacos, or they’re the middle child instead of the older one.

When they get details in their story wrong and things aren’t adding up, that should be cause for concern. Photo source: YourWeatherBlog.com.

Don’t ignore that funny feeling inside your gut. Go back to earlier messages to see what was originally said, and then ask them to clarify. If they start talking in circles, it’s no bueno.

8. Did They Ask for Money?

Online dating scammers pretty much work around the clock, so they get really good at coming up with these sob stories that are hard to turn a blind eye to. You’ve got to fight the urge to help, even if you’re a big softy.

If an online match asks you for money, they’re probably trying to con you — no matter how sad their story seems to be. Photo source: ClydeFitchReport.com.

Whether it’s that they’re stuck in an abusive household or have extreme debt from hospital bills and just need some money for a flight to get to you, don’t give in to them. Offer up other resources that don’t involve your wallet, credit card, or bank account.

9. Do They Seem Too Perfect?

Not to be a Debbie Downer here, but if you think this person is too good to be true, they just might be. They’re tall, blonde, and blue-eyed (or whatever your preference is), they say all the right things, they have all the same interests, and their religious and political views perfectly align with yours.

Do they have a perfect appearance and lifestyle like Barbie and Ken? More than likely, they’re too good to be true.

Yes, it can happen, but that doesn’t mean you should let your guard down. They might’ve studied your profile enough to know exactly what to say and do to get you to fall for them. This would be a good time to ask someone you trust for their opinion on the situation. An outsider’s perspective can help.

With These Tips, You’ll Learn to Be Your Own Detective & Never Fall for a Fake Dating Profile!

It’s a shame that we have to write this article and that there are people out there who want to take advantage of those who are looking for love, but that’s the world we live in right now. Dating websites do their best to keep their members safe (through verification systems, blocking and reporting features, etc.), but there’s a lot that you can do as well. If we all work together, eventually we can lower the number of fake profiles and the amount of money people lose to romance scams!

Cover image source: HuffingtonPost.com

Online dating scams are unfortunately still prevalent and impact thousands of people. In 2018, the FBI received 351,937 romance scam complaints. It’s no secret that there are deceptive people online who want to take advantage of vulnerable and lonely individuals — and they see singles on dating sites as easy targets.

Our goal is to arm you against those cybercriminals, so you don’t become one of those 5,800 complaints. We’ve put together some important tips about spotting and avoiding online dating scams and choosing dating sites you can rely on to keep you safe. Feel free to use the links below if you want to jump ahead in the article.

Spotting Online Dating Scams Scam-Free Dating Sites

Ways to Spot Common Online Dating Scams

Staying safe online is all about knowing what to look for. Here are some of the most common online dating scams we’ve found in our research and how to avoid them. Once you’re in the know, the power is in your hands.

1. They Ask for Money

Someone with genuine intentions will never ask a stranger online for money — that’s what friends, family, and banks are for. If a match is asking you to pay for something — whether for their travel arrangements to come see you, their online dating membership because it’s expiring soon, or anything else — block and report that person to the site right away. No exceptions. Under no circumstances is it O.K. to give money to someone you don’t know.

2. They Use Poor Grammar and Make a Lot of Spelling Mistakes

We all miss commas and make typos here and there, but if a dating profile or message is made up of 90% mistakes, that’s cause for an eyebrow raise. A significant number of scammers are from other countries (usually Russia, Nigeria, Ghana, Ukraine, South Africa, Jamaica, or Brazil), so keep an eye out for a lot of broken English and weird word choices.

If a match’s profile and messages are missing a lot of words, commas, and periods, that’s a red flag.

It’s also worth copying and pasting a few of their sentences into Google to see if they stole that language from someone else or another site.

3. They Have Few Pictures or Only One

When you’re online dating, photos are equally as important as text, so if you’re talking with someone who only has one blurry or stock photo, your Spidey sense should be tingling. Sometimes the profile’s photo looks too good to be true. Sure, maybe there are model-quality single gals out there, but a lot of times a scammer will post a photo of a beautiful young woman to target single men, especially older men.

You could try to prove they are who they say they are by making a game of it. Send a selfie (keep it PG) and ask for one of them in return. You can also plug the photo into TinEye’s reverse image search to see if it appears somewhere else (aka a stock photo depository).

4. They Express Strong Feelings for You Very Soon

Love at first sight can definitely happen, and there have been plenty of stories about people who fell in love within weeks of meeting and who are still together today. However, online daters should guard their feelings during those early stages when they’re getting to know someone because it’s so easy to lie, embellish, and misjudge people online.

Remember that you don’t know this person or his/her intentions, and take things slow until you’ve built trust online and in person.

When someone is rushing through the getting-to-know-you phase online, you’ll want to be cautious.

If an online match seems to be rushing the getting-to-know-each-other phase and jumping right into declarations of “I’ve been waiting for someone like you for my whole life” or “I can’t believe we found each other,” that should raise some alarms. Especially if you haven’t even met the person yet.

With such ardent love declarations, they could be trying to appeal to your emotional side, so you’ll throw caution to the wind and let someone untrustworthy into your life. Maybe they’re sincere. Or maybe they are more attracted to your bank account than your personal qualities. Only time will tell, so give yourself plenty of space and time to figure out the truth.

5. They Keep Putting Off Meeting in Person

The end goal of online dating is to find someone you like and get offline ASAP. When the person you’re talking to constantly has an excuse for why they can’t meet up, you should be wary. They’re either not that into you and are breadcrumbing you, or they aren’t who they say they are and are trying to scam you.

A majority of scams involve someone who says they’re in a different country, so it makes sense that it would take a while to go on a real-life date, right? However, this is their reasoning for why you should send them money. Something else to consider is why would they be looking for someone outside of their own country, and why would they do so if they can’t afford to get there in the first place?

Scam-Free Dating Sites

The media often covers online dating scams because they make for lurid and flashy headlines. However, it’s not all con artists and catfishers out there. We’ve heard plenty of online dating success stories to counter the bad seeds. In fact, about 17% of newlyweds meet each other online, and some of our own writers have found love on a dating app.

Don’t let fear of the unknown stop you from finding something great. There are plenty of dating websites you can trust to have your back, and we’ve compiled a list of the best below. These sites have all have been around for years, use strict screening processes and advanced technology to protect members, and receive positive reviews regularly.

1. Match

Match.com was founded in 1995, making it the first dating site ever. No one has more history and is more respected in the online dating industry than Match. The site has three out of five stars on Google Play, was called one of the top 100 sites by PC Magazine, and is responsible for the most romantic connections of any of its competitors.

Our expert ratings are based on factors such as popularity, usability, value, and success rate of each site.

Relationships:Friends, Dates, and Relationships

Match System:Browse by zip, age, appearance, more

Our Experts Say:“Match has facilitated the most dates and relationships of any dating site, and its large audience and high success rate make it our top review...” Full Review»

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In terms of safety, Match offers customer service via chat Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST as well as 24/7 support via email. You can also check out their How to Date Safely page, which will tell you how to report suspicious behavior and keep your personal and financial information private.

2. Zoosk

Zoosk came onto the online dating market in 2007 when mobile apps were just starting to take off. Zoosk was, at one point, the number one grossing dating app and a top 25 grossing app in the App Store. We’d credit a majority of this popularity to the Behavioral Matchmaking™ system, which remembers your on-site behavior (who you search for, like, message, etc.) and uses that information to deliver highly compatible matches.

Our expert ratings are based on factors such as popularity, usability, value, and success rate of each site.

Dating For Seniors Looks Like Another Scam Site

Relationships:Fun Dates, Serious Relationships

Match System:Search and get match recommendations

Our Experts Say:“Zoosk is integrated with social media sites, like Facebook and Google+, so it's very popular with singles on the go...” Full Review»

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If you experience any problems on the site or app, the Zoosk team can be reached at (888) 939-6675 and support@zoosk.com. Zoosk also provides numerous do’s and don’ts for identifying scammers and getting their profiles removed.

3. EliteSingles

Not only is EliteSingles one of the most unique dating websites out there, with a focus on education, but the site also has some of the most reliable security features. These include the Trust and Safety page, which answers frequently asked questions such has “How secure are my personal details?” and SSL-encryption technology (you’ll notice the lock symbol on the left side of the URL).

Our expert ratings are based on factors such as popularity, usability, value, and success rate of each site.

Relationships:Serious Relationships

Match System:Search, Receive Partner Suggestions

Our Experts Say:“EliteSingles is a leading dating site just for busy, single professionals. More than 80% of members have earned a college degree, and most are looking for a serious commitment...” Full Review»

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The site also has personnel dedicated to monitoring for fraudsters, reviewing every profile and photo before it’s uploaded, and writing blog posts to keep members informed.

4. eharmony

As a relationship-driven site, eharmony is another pioneer in this space, having been co-created in 2000 by Dr. Neil Clark Warren, a clinical psychologist, marriage counselor, relationship author, Christian theologian, and seminary professor. The site is for serious-minded daters and uses an in-depth questionnaire to identify true compatibility.

Our expert ratings are based on factors such as popularity, usability, value, and success rate of each site.

Relationships:Casual Dates, Deep Relationships

Match System:Personality test suggests matches

Our Experts Say:“Accounting for 2% of U.S. marriages, eharmony's compatibility-based system and commitment-minded user base are ideal for those seeking a serious relationship...” Full Review»

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The main thing people seem to like about eharmony is the site does all the searching and matching, which means potential scammers are less likely to be on the prowl since they have less control.

5. OurTime

Safety is usually a top concern for online daters, especially mature singles, and that’s where OurTime comes in. This site is exclusively for men and women aged 50 and older, so it knows how to cater to this audience and their needs.

Our expert ratings are based on factors such as popularity, usability, value, and success rate of each site.

Relationships:Dates and Relationships

Match System:Search by profiles by zip and more

Our Experts Say:“OurTime is well-known in the over-50 dating crowd, particularly because it has a ton of helpful search features and an easy layout...” Full Review»

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In addition to having a user-friendly layout, search functionality, and matching process, OurTime has an extensive tips section similar to Match’s.

6. Christian Mingle

Launched in 1998, Christian Mingle is somewhat of an oldie in terms of dating websites, but it’s still definitely a goodie. And the safety components just keep coming. The team inspects all of the site’s profiles and photos and addresses dozens of concerns on the FAQs page, including how to choose a fun but secure username and not to worry about asking a match a lot of questions.

Our expert ratings are based on factors such as popularity, usability, value, and success rate of each site.

Relationships:Dates and Serious Relationships

Match System:Search by gender, age, education, more

Our Experts Say:“ChristianMingle is among the largest dating sites in the industry that only caters to single Christian men and women, and the site has some of the best search filters and safety features...” Full Review»

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As long as you’re communicating on Christian Mingle, you’re protected by their features, so we’d recommend messaging and chatting with your matches on the site until you’ve gone on a few dates and are comfortable with them.

7. BlackPeopleMeet

BlackPeopleMeet is part of the People Media family, just like Match and OurTime, so the site has pretty much all of the same security tools. On the Dating Tips page, you’ll find advice from the team as well as links to other expert resources such as the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Hotline and the National Violence Hotline.

Our expert ratings are based on factors such as popularity, usability, value, and success rate of each site.

Relationships:Deep Relationships or Just Casual Dates

Match System:Search by location, age, more

Our Experts Say:“BlackPeopleMeet.com is the one of the largest and most popular dating sites for black and biracial singles, and the site is used by more than 5 million people a month...” Full Review»

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BlackPeopleMeet also sends a verification email to every new user, so if a scammer is using a fake account, they’re more likely to get caught.

8. SilverSingles

Another well-known senior dating site, SilverSingles puts users first and understands the individual desires of mature daters. Take a look at the comprehensive Help section, which will walk you through things like hiding your profile if you want to and blocking someone who’s being abusive to you or other members.

Our expert ratings are based on factors such as popularity, usability, value, and success rate of each site.

Relationships:Friendship, Casual Dates, Serious Relationships

Match System:Search by age, location, height, education, ethnicity, and religion

Our Experts Say:“SilverSingles caters to relationship-minded singles over 50 with simple, safe, and effective online dating tools...” Full Review»

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The customer care team can be reached Monday through Friday (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST), or you can fill out a contact form. Using the latter method, you should expect to get a response within 48 hours.

9. BeNaughty

Sometimes people think hookup sites can’t be safe, but that’s not always the case. BeNaughty wants frisky singles to have a fun and equally safe experience, so the site utilizes SSL encryption technology, just like EliteSingles, and requires members to confirm their identity via a text or a phone call.

Our expert ratings are based on factors such as popularity, usability, value, and success rate of each site.

Relationships:Hookups, Chats

Match System:Search by encounter, location, and more

Our Experts Say:“BeNaughty is a premier hookup app where you can feel comfortable expressing your desires. Plus, it's free to join, browse, and flirt...” Full Review»

Dating For Seniors Looks Like Another Scam Alert

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“Our security system can recognize fraud and scam at the registration step. That, combined with our security policy, which states a member can choose what data to store, makes BeNaughty a safe and secure place to date,” Vera Bulgakova, Сhief Marketing Officer of Together Networks (BeNaughty’s parent company), told us in an interview.

Take Your Safety Into Your Own Hands!

Dating For Seniors Looks Like Another Scams

Just because there are people in the world with bad intentions, that doesn’t mean we should live in fear. Online dating is still a great way to meet people, and if you utilize the tips above, you can protect yourself from con artists and not fall victim to one of the 5,800 annual romance scams. Stay safe!

Photo sources: yahoo.com, jstrawberry.wordpress.com, wallpapersite.com

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