People take in such fraud for multiple reasons. Most of the time it is for some easy money. This may be through tricking people into hiring the services of a prostitute or trying to get personal information such as your bank details. As a result, it is a good idea to know and understand the different types of sex dating fraudsters and scammers out there so you are prepared.
This article will explain the best ways of how to protect yourself from catfishing!
Many adult dating sites will have warnings about scammers and catfishers the moment you login. However, in spite of their own safety checks there are still unscrupulous individuals who manage to set up a profile and lure people into giving them money in a variety of ways. So, if you would like to ensure that your casual dating experience is a safe one then make sure to keep an eye on these points!
Adult Dating Fraud #1: Credit card abuse!
Your credit card can be a holy grail for online dating scammers!
Credit card abuse often pertains to the adult dating site itself, and not one specific individual. The site you go onto seems professional, the registration procedure may be a bit disorganised but is functioning perfectly. You might be surprised about the fact that only credit cards are accepted and that you have never heard about the financial institute that is used for the payment transaction. Very quickly though, you realise…
- The dating profiles you come across mostly turn out to be cheap, obvious fakes.
- You want to complain to the company that runs the sex dating site, but you suddenly realise that they’re registered in a strange place like Kirgizia. On top of that, there is no telephone or even fax. Your emails aren’t being answered and the only other way of contacting them is by snail mail.
- You only signed up for a month-long trial subscription, but your credit card is continually charged the full monthly fee continuously thereafter.
- If you are lucky your credit card at least isn’t used for any big purchase in other countries...
In this case the best thing to do is to cancel your old credit card and get a new one. And next time you are looking for adult dating you should choose a site that accepts bank transfers because you could always annul the payment if necessary.
Adult Dating Fraud #2: Premium-SMS and Women with Expensive Telephone Numbers
Phone and SMS/text sex may seem old-fashioned since getting in touch with women via SMS was first promoted on TV at night-time (“Sex partner in your town. Send SMS with the keyword “shag” to 12345”) nearly 20 years ago. Such services are still frequently advertised on the Internet. There are of course many new ways of advertising -and even tricking- singles into paying for such services. Many adult dating portals will be filled with hundreds of willing “ladies” for just that. And that is not to forget the likes of webcam girls either, who also charge (often by the minute or hour).
In the case of premium SMS services, many of these ladies “are unfortunately not very familiar with computers” (a bit laughable in this day and age) or “can’t check their mail during work”. As such, they’ll ask you to connect to certain numbers that you will be charged at £1.99 per SMS for. It’s a pretty obvious scam, and one that should be easy to avoid!
Adult Dating Fraud #3 for Males: The Prostitute Trick!
Maybe you’ve just joined a new sex dating site and see a number of profiles you like. Your inbox starts filling with messages, so you take a look at their profile pics and see that your options don’t look half bad. Perhaps you even get a few racy pictures and, naturally, send a few yourself. You chat for a bit and then arrange a date… however while out and about, the lady in question suddenly starts mentioning rates. Yes, you’ve done it: you’ve landed yourself a prostitute.
Apparently some people think dating sites are a commercial playground.
This of course tends to be more common with men than with women. Prostitutes and escorts do not, however, always try and trick single men into paying. Some are rather explicit, depending on the terms and conditions of the dating platform they’re using. If someone does appear a bit too good to be true, make sure to scan their profile and look for clues. "Pay to play" and other such phrases are usually a good way of separating the wheat from the chaff and avoiding this kind of adult dating fraud.
Adult Dating Fraud #4 for Females: Don’t Fall for the Nice Adult Dater with His Pity Trick
This issue tends to affect women more than men. It is often when you come across someone you might consider to be appropriate, fun, safe and who looks good. “What a nice guy!” you think to yourself. “He’s so cute…” you gush endlessly. There is, however, only one problem: he seems a bit down in the dumps. As you talk to him, you begin to figure out why. His personal history reveals that he had a child once, but unfortunately that child is now dead thanks to a boating accident.
And of course to add insult to injury, he needs to pay back a massive debt. He has the money (naturally) but he needs a certain amount in order to access it. So he comes to you… And in that case we have some advice:
Stop it there and then. Never, ever, EVER give money to a complete stranger on the Internet.
It doesn’t matter what their pictures look like. Anyone, whether it is an ordinary dating site or a casual dating platform, who asks for money is trying to scam you out of it. In this case, it is best to just walk away.
So what should I look out for in a good sex dating site?
You can often tell apart tacky sex dating sites from the high quality ones quite easily. In most cases, decent adult dating sites have the following features:
- No pornographic pictures.
- No banner ads advertising porn sites.
- Decent search keywords. Does it appear when you type in "casual dating", "erotic adventures" or "adult dating"? Or, do you find it when you type in "hook ups", "shagging contacts" etc.? The less sleazy the search term, the high quality the site is.
- A reasonable proportion of women. Sites that claim to have 70% or more are usually lying or are filled with escorts (which is fine if they’re an escort site… ). There are always tend to be more males that use dating platforms, so around 40% is a good (and more realistic) number for the amount of female profiles on a site.
- Transparent fees and general terms of conditions – this is paramount. If a site looks like it might have hidden costs, it’s probably a good idea to stay away.
- Company headquarters in the UK. This makes it much more trustworthy, however a lot of decent adult dating sites tend to have their headquarters at least in Europe or even the United States. The closer to home their headquarters are, the higher the chance that the provider is legitimate.
- Telephone and email support – if they’re easier to contact, they’re easier to deal with if you have any problems (particularly those of a financial nature).
Henning Wiechers 
has been observing the UK dating market since 2007. He is among the top opinion leaders in the industry.
Any questions...?
Contact him!
Further interesting online dating tips and advices:
4 Tips: How to enjoy casual dating
Sex Dating on the Internet
Who’s more likely to have sex on a first date?
Secure Use of Dating Apps - What should I look out for when I use them?
