Spoof is perhaps the biggest threat for these matchmaking websites these days. Every day, we hear stories of how people got ripped off through fake matchmaking sites. To understand this fully, you need to know what is meant by spoof and what does spoofing IP really mean to you as an internet user.
Spoofing is the process by which one person impersonates another and tries to take advantage of the situation. Usually, a person or a program could do this trick. The person who wants to spoof first selects the website or the individual he wants to spoof. Then he carefully analyzes the sequence number of the packets sent from the website he wants to spoof. In case of an individual, he can easily guess or find out the sequence number and get the information he wants. Once he has got the information, he blocks the real user and starts using the information to fake him as the user.
Spammers could also attack a website and spoof it. This is called spoofing IP. They attack the IP they want and they recreate the look and feel of a familiar website and start sending out information to its users as if it is coming out from the original website itself. In this case, the users of that website will mails from the address of the website, but actually it will be a spoof done by the spammer.
Especially in case of online matchmaking sites, spoof is a common process. The person on the other end could be a spammer who would be hell bent on receiving personal information from you. In most cases, the person fakes to be a loner who is looking for a partner. If you fall for this sucker punch, then they start slowly manipulating you by coming up with sad stories and they create an image of falling in love with you. Once you believe them, they come up with some idea to milk as much money as possible. To prevent spoof, you need to be aware of a few things.
Never ever believe in people who fall in love with you after a brief period of time. If you start chatting with someone and send a couple mails and you find him/her immediately falling in love with you, beware. It could be a spammer dying to get his hands on your personal information.
Never do any favors monetarily before knowing firsthand that you are dealing with the right person. Most people ask you to send money through wire transfer stating various reasons and this should be strictly avoided.
Never give away your personal information to unsolicited mails, even if they claim to have come from a legitimate source. This is the most common spoof and spammers get the information they want this way.
Make sure the matchmaking site is a genuine and a well-known one. Don’t get into sites that are relatively newer.
Never start sharing personal information with people whom you have known only for a short period of time. Ask lots of personal questions and other information to confirm the other person is genuine, and only after that share your information.