As the World Wide Web becomes a bigger and bigger part of everyday life, and the information age reaches deeper and deeper into our personal lives, protecting ourselves from scams online is getting more and more important. Scams abound on the internet, especially in our most personal transactions on the internet, dating and matchmaking.  Given the nature of these sites, it is particularly horrifying that someone would use the quest for love and companionship for scams and pilfering private information, but unfortunately, that is the world we live in.   There are, however, a few very simple thing that you can do to protect yourself, and all it takes is a little time and education.

Bad people make money on scams because most people don't know what to look for when they are trying to ferret out dishonest deals.   Knowledge is perhaps your most important tool in avoiding internet scams.  Online sellers, whether they are selling products or space for profiles, should have a phone number and a physical address for customer service, not just an email address or online form to fill out.  Of course, many legitimate sites might have email addresses and online forms, but there will also usually be a way to talk in real time to a person about any problems you might be experiencing.

There are other things to look for when you are evaluating a website for a possible scam.Online matchmaking and dating sites, as well as any legitimate site, should have a valid security certificate.  You should also be able to get in touch with the webmaster either through email or a phone number, preferably both.   Beware of any site that is hosted by Lycos or Geocities.  These sites are supposed to be for private use, not for profit.  If you find a site hosted by a company like this it probably has one or more scams on it, so be careful. 

You should also evaluate the site to see if it looks professional. Ask yourself,  is this something that the author put a lot of effort and time into?  As web authoring becomes easier and easier, this method is become slightly less reliable in figuring out if a website is really a scam.  Online presence is becoming easier and cheaper to obtain and new programs can make even cheap sites look more professional.  However, scams are  more likely to be present on unprofessional looking sites.  Sloppy presentation or outrageous claims are the likely earmarks scams. 

Lastly, you can check the reliability report of any given company through the Better Business Bureau Online or through the Chamber of Commerce in the city they are listed in.  If you are still unsure about a particular dating site, don't give them any information.  There are plenty of legitimate dating and matchmaking sites out there and you shouldn't have to use one that you feel even a little uncomfortable with. 

If you do find that you have been scammed, make sure to report it to the BBB and other reporting agencies so that others will be less likely to get scammed. Overall, protecting yourself from scams on dating and matchmaking sites is relatively simple.  Just looking for the few key items listed above will go a long way to protecting you from scams online.