Suzanne Noble identifies five red flags in online dating: suspiciously attractive profiles with uniformed professions, poor spelling, foreign locations, inconsistent life stories, and any request for money. Block immediately if someone asks for cash, no matter how convincing they seem.
Chapters
Internet dating for oldies, part 3, and it's all about the scammers because a few people have asked me to comment about that. Of course, there's always scammers online wherever you go, but we mustn't use that as an excuse not to put ourselves out there and try and find somebody for whatever it is that we're actually looking for. But there are some very key ways to spot a scammer. One is that they're usually very good-looking and probably more good-looking than they should be. And another thing is that typically they may be in uniform, they may be a doctor, they may be doing something like being a fireman or a policeman or something like that. And, um, or sometimes they're doing all of those things. How is that even possible? Their spelling not— might not be very good, and they might be in a country that is not your own. Now, Usually I would avoid just generally speaking to somebody who's in another country because who needs to travel for whatever it is you're looking for? I certainly don't want to get on a plane just to have to meet somebody. So unless that person seems like unbelievably perfect for you, I would avoid getting into a conversation with anybody who's not in your own country. So, and the other thing is that, um, their work history or their life history may just not make a lot of sense. And then finally, and this for me is the big, big giveaway, at some point they're going to ask you for money, whether that is for a plane ticket to come and visit you, whether it's because their mother has suddenly fallen ill and they can't afford the hospital bills, or something that just requires you digging into your wallet. If any point you are asked to dig into your wallet, that is when you are going to block that person. I don't care how amazing you may think they are, at that point you are going to stop speaking to them, you are going to block them, and you are going to just get them out of your life.
