We have all heard the cry, “There are no good single black men out there!” Black women are turning to dating sites more and more to find the right brotha. And more and more scammers are looking for victims there as well.
To all the black women who have a presence on a dating site you need to know how to spot these scammers before they get into your life and do some damage. You can find a lot of information about how to spot a date scam on Hoax-Slayer.com. I also suggest you check out Reader’s Digest’s great article on spotting date scams.
First of all don’t fall in love to fast or too soon. Make that man prove himself first. Scammers look for the weak minded and desperate woman. They make you believe you are loved and wanted. Don’t get caught being desperate!
Keep your business to yourself. Don’t talk about how much money you make or what kind of car you drive. He doesn’t need any of that to get to know you. In this situation you need to be asking the questions. You don’t have to be rude or accusatory but you do need to be alert and inquisitive. For example, where does he live? If he says he lives in Europe or Chicago and you’re in Los Angeles then you might want to get your guards up.
Keep in mind that any emergency he has is his. That means that if he is in the hospital don’t send him any money. If he is a foreign country and needs money for some emergency don’t send it! If he wants the two of you to start a business together and needs some investment money don’t give him a dime. If he lives in Chicago and asks for the money to fly out and see you, tell him buy his own plane ticket. And if he does show up, make him pay his own way; that means his hotel and his rental car.
I’m sorry to say that a lot of black women fall for the exact scams I mentioned above and worse. They have found themselves in some pretty desperate situations as a result of falling for the wrong brotha online. Black women have been blackmailed after they stupidly sent nude pictures of themselves to someone they met online. They have had their bank accounts cleaned out and they have even been physically assaulted.
You need to have pictures of this fine brotha, more than one picture. Then compare them. You need to do a web search on his name and the company he works for. Did you know there is a date scam data base where you can look for that picture or name? Make sure you search the web for a good date scam website so you can do your homework. Stop-Scammers.com is a good one to check out. Another thing you can do is make use of the service known as Tinyeye.com. This website allows you to upload the image you receive and it will tell you where on the Internet the picture has appeared. Many images date scammers use are stolen and used again and again.
No one is going to protect you from a dating scam. There is no software or technology that will spot the scam. You need to protect yourself. Just because you’re a Christian and you’re on a Christian dating site means nothing. You’re not safe. Are you in the military? Black women service members are a hot target for scammers as well. Are you a high earner? Well those dating sites that specialize in introducing high income singles has been hit too.
No one can fault you for wanting some romance in your life and looking for love. But my best advice is to build a great fortress around your life and heart no matter how fine that brotha is make him work to get inside. Please don’t be a fool.