Here is yet another story that illustrates one of the many dangers of online dating. When people discuss the possible dangers of online dating, they usually focus on the dangerous situations women could find themselves in. However, we are seeing more and more that online dating can be just as dangerous for men. There have been numerous stories of criminals using dating profiles to trick men into showing up to specific locations for a “date” so they can rob them. This story is yet another incident of that same thing. In this instance, a fake profile of a woman was used to lure a man to her supposed address, and when he showed up he was robbed by two men.
There are hundreds of dating sites on the internet, and almost none of them conduct any type of background check on the people using them. This opens up the users of these sites to all sorts of potential dangers ranging from fraud to acts of violence. It is imperative that users of these sites do their due diligence to verify the identities of the people they have an interest in. Some simple ways in which this can be done is by trying to crosscheck online profiles against social media profiles, and doing google image searches to make sure that profile pictures are not random images from the internet. In any case, a proper background check is always the best way to go, and usually only requires a person’s name and date of birth to get the ball rolling.