Online Dating: How to Troll for Victims

Our staff at Sunset Blvd. Investigations, Inc. (SBI) would like to pass along some tips that we hope will keep you from becoming an online dating victim.

Dating can be a frightening experience, and the world has made a turn in the way couples meet and are married. Millions of Americans visit online dating websites every year hoping to find a companion or even a soul mate.

There are many dangerous situations that can occur and have occurred in the past due to online dating. Predators have shown up with different identities or intentions than what was stated on their profile. It’s very easy to provide false information via the internet. A person can be almost whomever they want to be by means of an online site.

Criminals and predators now actively join social networking and online dating sites or “hook up” sites, like Tinder for example, and set up fake profiles that are often stolen from the internet. According to an article in Scientific American, research studies have shown that more than 90% of people lie on their online dating profiles. While some of these lies may seem harmless, others can lead one to believe the person is safe and desirable when they are actually dangerous.

Your online “date” may only be interested in your money if he or she:

• Presses you to leave the dating website you met through and to communicate using personal e-mail or instant messaging;
• Professes instant feelings of love;
• Sends you a photograph of himself or herself that looks like something from a glamour magazine;
• Claims to be from the U.S. and is traveling or working overseas;
• Makes plans to visit you, but is then unable to do so because of a tragic event; or
• Asks for money for a variety of reasons (travel, medical emergencies, hotel bills, hospitals bills, for child or other relative, visas or other official documents, losses from a financial setback or crime victimization.)

Meeting a potential love interest online is a very sensitive situation but concern for safety is completely justified and in fact, admirable. Your concern is our concern. At SBI we possess the tools and means to give you confidence in the individual you are seeking to meet.

To the seasoned investigators at SBI the bottom line is simple: Don’t let your emotions get the better of your common sense when it comes to matters of the heart. For your investigation concerns, turn to Sunset Blvd. Investigations, Inc. for over 80 years of experience. SBI is always there for you! We’re just one click, text, email or phone call away!