January 22, 2003
A female friend of a male friend contacted me to see if I know of any websites that list male scumbags who lie and otherwise deceive women who meet them over the internet. A Google search only turned up this site, which lists women who have done the lying and deceiving – but only women from the area around Russia.
It would be great if there could be a website where women can log on and say “Duh. Do I feel dumb! I thought that I was meeting this wonderful, intelligent, compassionate, single guy through an Internet matchmaking service, and he really turned out to be a scumbag. He wasn’t any of those things. Even his photo was a scam. So, if you run across [insert name] through one of those Internet dating services, run fast the other way!”
The potential misuse of such a website is obvious, given the fury of a woman scorned. But the value of such a website to adventurous single women who opt to use such a service is immeasurable. Unfortunately, it’s probably illegal.
While I’ll admit to checking out (for free) the photos of the guys in my region who sign up with match.com, I’ve never been even remotely tempted either to contact them or to put myself out there. I’ve also always thought that checking out blogs is a much safer way to search out interesting people of both genders. You’ve a much better chance of crossing paths with a kindred spirit that way than you do using the services of Internet matchmakers. It might cost more in terms of time to cruise weblogs, but it doesn’t cost any money and it doesn't put you at risk. And, you can learn more truths about a man from how he spins his blog entries than from how he spins his personal profile.
Trackbacks (3)
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Tracking potentials on 23 Jan 2003
Thinking about possible answers to the dilemma of knowing whether people are worthy, based on the feedback they receive, and
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Tracking potentials on 23 Jan 2003
Thinking about possible answers to the dilemma of knowing whether people are worthy, based on the feedback they receive, and
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Why do we write on 24 Jan 2003
Why do you think it is we write? It is obviously neither the money, nor the fame. I don’t know
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Old Comments (4)
glovefox on 23 Jan 2003
Actually, someone started a flip version of that screening concept.
At www.greatboyfriends.com, women recommend men they have vetted to other women and offer to stick around for a while to help with ironing out the wrinkles...
You never know--could work.
Elaine on 23 Jan 2003
Trish Wilson left this comment on my similar post on Blog Sisters. I thought it should be here as well:
When I ran a Google search for online dating scams, the majority of sites were about mail-order foreign bride scams, especially Russian brides. One site lists agencies and women.
I had better luck when I searched for "online stalking." Tell your friend to try Cyberangels.com. That's the same group that founded Guardian Angels. Another possibility is Online Harassment (http://www.onlineharassment.com/). There's a link about cyber dating that looks helpful.
I hope that helps.
Trish Wilson on 26 Jan 2003
Elaine, I posted this to Blog Sisters. Thought I'd include it here, too. I tried to get the other links here a few days ago but the Net was so bogged down I couldn't access the comments section. Might have been that worm at work. :)
Working To Halt Online Abuse (http://www.haltabuse.org/) covers all forms of online abuse and scams. I found this group a few years ago while researching an article about internet writer's scams. Back then, it was called Women Halting Online Abuse. WHOA's president, Jayne Hitchcock, suffered severe harassment and cyberstalking from a scam literary agency, Woodside. Maryland passed a law that deals with cyberstalking and harassment via electronic mail due to her case.
Lorraine on 06 Oct 2003
Yay! I know I'm a day late and a dollar short, but just wanted to butt in here and tell you it's nice to see your page full of words again. ;)