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In today’s technology news on stuff.co.nz, people are warned by the Australian Police that online scammers are targeting Christian websites to look for lonely hearts they break or shatter and rob of money. In general more people fall victim to romance frauds, but the Christian factor expands it with a really low and insidious new religious flavour that appeals to faith based values very similar to what happens in some affinity scams. The news followed the heartbreaking story of a Queensland 73 year old widower who fell for one of these scams and lost AUS$300,000 along the way His story is not an exception. Read the full story in the Brisbane Times >>>. People in New Zeeland have had their fair share of it as well with victims looking thousands of dollars. Examples can be found on the site of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

Many people are or have been trying online dating in search for that special person on their life. Whilst online dating may have its appeal it also has its risks. Dating scams are one of these risks which do not mess just with your finances but also with your feelings. And here you thought that it would be different on Christian dating sites. Well I am sorry to say that is a false belief. You may even find that there is no well-meaning Christian involved in the site you may be looking at and that everything is run by a company that is also involved in well let’s say more secually orientated sites.

HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK?
The major tool for the the romance scammer is pictures. Romance scammers will all have a range of attractive looking pictures that may well be coming from a modeling agency. After that the grooming process starts and that will talk  you into believing that a real sparkle is there. Letter often get longer over time with more flowery language in there. DON’T be fooled here as this is all about winning your trust. The scam artists pretends to have fallen i love with you an starts expressing dreams and desires of meeting you which is usually also the trigger for the first requests for money or a trick to lure you into visiting them after which the same process starts. They would love to come and see you but can’t afford it, or when you are there you are talked into all kinds of “investments” or “charities.” Once they have been milking you up to a certain point, you will find that correspondence becomes less regular until it disappears completely, similar to your money.

SOME TIPS TO KEEP YOU SAFE IN GENERAL

• Does the site provide online safety dating tips and a privacy statement.
• Don’t hook up with people that use sleazy or sexually suggestive names, and when that is what you are after be careful. A ‘normal’ man or woman would not use it if his or her motivations are sincere.
• Take a look at the pictures provided on the profile. Are they suggestive? Are they just too beautiful?
• Read how do users describe themselves before being completely distracted by the photographic material. People out there with less noble intentions will usually use vague descriptions that could fit anyone.
• In combination with a beautiful picture: is the user very selective? Very beautiful and sincere people will usually have a list of requirements for the other person in their profile. They can so they will. The scam artists however will not have that as they are out there to attract as many potential victims as they can.
• Use your common sense and be skeptical: the first contact may be a scam.
• Don’t open suspicious unsolicited email or attachments and don’t reply to spam as it may well be a probe to see if your profile or email is still active.
• DO NOT ACCEPT OR TRANSFER MONEY ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE  it may well be a money laundering scheme or a cheque fraud.
• DO NOT SEND MONEY TO SOMEONE YOU HAVE NOT ACTUALLY MET.
• Whatever you do, DO NOT GIVE OUT YOUR CREDIT CARD DETAILS, BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS! This may sound obvious but I would not mention it here if it wasn’t something that still seems to happen.
• DO NOT GIVE OUT PERSONAL DETAILS LIKE YOUR HOME ADDRESS.

In relation to the Christian part of dating sites, keep an eye out for the following:

• Does the site have a statement of faith? Typically dating sites ran by non-christian parties will have omitted such a statement.
• Can the site owners be contacted easily by email or telephone?
• Verify who owns a website by using one of the many WhoIs websites.

Some of the sites that may appear to be a for “Christians by Christians” website is “Big Church”, the owners/managers also run sites such as “adult friend finder.” (For more go here >>>). The site eHarmony is underderstood to be an example of site that may not be run specifically for Christians but which has good matching criteria and separate sections such as Christian Dating.

Some “for Christians by Christians” dating sites are understood to be:

• Christian Cafe
• Christian Singles Connection
• Christian Soulmates
• Single Christian Network

SOME SITES THAT HAVE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Ministry of Consumer Affairs (NZ) which also has an option to report a scam through an online form.
• The Yahoo Group Romance Scams which has a lot of reference materials.
• 1st Christian Dating Services, which has a short description of the different Christian Dating Sites.
• A less picky overview can be found at the Christian Singles Blog.

Filed under: HEADLINES, SCAMS AND SCHEMES