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Gigi is a remarkably perceptive person who shares her love for traveling.  I become so immersed in reading her travel journals that I find myself on an imaginary voyage to places I never seen.  Her stories go beyond describing the niceties of places she visited by conveying interactions and reactions along the way.  I get a good idea what to expect if I were to take the same journey.  Thanks for sharing Gigi.
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Online dating scams

Scammers prey on weaknesses especially emotions to exploit others for money.

Faking an emotional commitment is the most effective and devastating tactic of online dating scams.  Most everyone wants to be loved.  Scammers realize this and prey on it without mercy.  Any online relationship or communication that gradually poses a financial burden by deference to good will or request a financial transaction as a favor, or require paying a sum of money in exchange for something of a greater value should be considered red flags of scammers not to be trusted before proving their validity.  

An increasing number of individuals and groups posting dating profiles are in fact female and male impersonators engaging in false emotional pretense expressing love and commitments to manipulate victims for money.  Men are the biggest target of emotional scammers but women are finding themselves victims when they are shipped gifts that require payments of expenditures before receiving or asked to cash money orders to be wired abroad as a favor.  

The ultimate goal of scammers is to convince victims to turn over money or information that can be exploited with little or no cost to the scammer.  There are many online scams including the popular chain letter scams.  You can become more informed, avoid being a victim or search for potential scams at the following sites:

  1. Scams - report the scam here
  2. match dot com dating scam - Video
  3. Romance Scam Victim - Video
  4. MySpace Fraud - Video
  5. New Type Of Nigerian Scam - Video
  6. Dating Site Scamers (Nigerian Scams 2) - Video
  7. Phishing Scams in Plain English - Video
  8. Online Dating - Avoid Scams - Video
  9. ** BEWARE FACEBOOK MYSPACE CELL SCAM!** - Video
  10. Russian Romance Scammers, explained.... - Video
  11. International Dating Scams Revealed On Love Beyond Borders TV Episode 2 (Pt 1) - Video
  12. International Dating Scams Revealed On Love Beyond Borders TV Episode 2 (Pt 2) - Video
  13. Watch for Internet Dating Site Scams
  14. Think you Know Who You're Talking to Online?  Think Again - Video
  15. Nigerian Internet Scam Disclosure (Part 2) - Video
  16. Email Chain Letters 01
  17. Email Chain Letters 02

Editor's note: This topic is a growing concern of our webmaster and a response to a letter by Rea, a myspace friend, about scammers especially in social networking sites.