Some Red Flags to Keep in Mind When Dating Online

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Some Red Flags to Keep in Mind When Dating Online

Are you a fan of Filipinas dating websites? Literally thousands of men around the world are looking for a romantic partner in the Philippines every day. Many have been lucky to find the love of their life online, but many as well have been victim to fraud and scams, extortion and other crime.

In fact, online dating scams are such a significant problem that between October 2013 and February 2016 there were more than 17,600 reported victims, suffering $2.3 billion in losses. Not to mention a great part of the victims never reports it to authorities. The risk is serious.

Philippines private investigators have worked very hard for the past few years to help people avoid being a victim to romance scams. Sadly, many of the people who seek help have already lost significant amounts or have been already victim to extortion, identity theft and other crimes. This is why it is extremely important to continue educating people about recognizing the red flags and hiring professional help at the right time. Think you can investigate yourself? Think again.

None of the red flags mentioned here are a guarantee of fraud. However, it is important to mention some of the most common things found by our investigators in Manila and Cebu when analyzing romance fraud cases. Anyone can be a victim, no matter how cautious.

Pace of the relationship

Usually, Filipina dating scammers will try to establish a close relationship since the very first interactions. It might take months or even years for this person to request any financial assistance, but they need to be sure from the beginning that their prey is hooked up strong enough so that when the money requests come, there will be no denial. Most people will take their time to see if they really like the person they have been communicating with and to determine if they want or not to move forward. However, fraudsters move fast. Pay attention to early declarations of love.

Money requests

Regardless of what the money is for, or if they promise they will pay back. Any money request is definitely a red flag and once this has shown up in your online relationship, it is time to seek for professional help. Many of the victims agree to sending money one first time because the amount is not significant for them, or because they want to see what happens and this might be a one-time thing. The problem is that once you have agreed once, this will continue happening, and before you even know you will be sending money on a regular basis. Before sending money, hire a background check in the Philippines to make sure this person is at least who they claim to be.

Assistance for travel and visa

The Filipina romance scammers have particularity that many of the scammers from other countries do not have. A great part of the women dedicated to deceiving foreigners are real. In many cases they have even met their victims in person. The problem is that their intentions and living situation are not what they claim. They are not intending to move with their victims to their home countries and start a new life. They just want to make them believe it so the victims can provide the economic means for their moving out of the Philippines. This cases require much deeper investigations. Surveillance and a local investigation in Manila or the city where the subject resides can help clear out if they are truly planning to travel and have started a visa process, if they are single or not, their living conditions, etc.

Being able to spot red flags is a big part of avoiding being scammed. Take a look into your online relationship, and contact us if you feel like something is just not adding up.