Websites for social interaction are becoming more and more popular. However, some use questionable marketing techniques that you should be aware of.

Many adult-dating websites use clever but unscrupulous marketing techniques. They begin by offering newcomers “basic free memberships” with limited capabilities unless you upgrade’ to a higher level of membership that generally costs between $24.95 and $59.95 per month (less if you purchase multiple months). However, this free, basic membership comes with a catch. Unless you purchase the upgrade, you will usually be unable to communicate with people who show interest in you, send you a flirt’ or an e-mail message.

Enter the upgrade shills

Here’s where it really gets unscrupulous. Shortly after accepting that free, basic membership, you may get several hits’ from members expressing an interest in communicating with you. Unfortunately, you will be unable to reply to their messages until you ante-up an upgrade fee. Once you do, most or all of the people who have shown interest in you will vanish into the sunset never to be heard from again. No matter. The management of the website has your money, so they don’t care.

The upgrade shills may be anywhere hackneyed phrase, but it really applies to many adult dating websites. I wholeheartedly suggest that anyone considering enrolling in an adult site first go online and check for complaints. It is easily done by entering the name of the site plus complaints into your web browser. This will bring you to several sites that hold page after page of complaints about precisely this situation.

If the site you are considering is listed with numerous complaints, keep another hackneyed phrase in mind, that being “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire!” and steer clear. Upgrading will not only fail to bring you a desired connection, it will lighten your credit or debit card balance considerably.

Even on essentially honest sites, beware of scammers

Let’s face it folks, people who you would rate 10 out of 10 because they look like they just stepped out of a magazine centerfold can connect with just about anyone they wish to when walking down the street, in the supermarket or anywhere else. They certainly do not need an online dating website to make it happen. So here’s hackneyed phrases numbers 3 and 4: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is” and “Caveat Emptor-Latin for Let the Buyer Beware’ “. Those beautiful people whose photos look like they are professionally-taken modeling shots are as phony as the day is long, probably have no similarity to the owner of the profile and are sometimes leads for illegitimate activities. The best advice is to scroll on past.

There are many legitimate sites

Not every adult website is out to scam you. But more are than aren’t. Sites whose pages are loaded with X-rated videos and provocative webcam shows that you can purchase are there primarily to sell this kind of material. If that’s what you seek, fine. Otherwise, be forewarned! And keep in mind that most dating/matching websites are classed as adult’ for a good reason. They are absolutely not for people under 18 years of age (21 in a few states).

During my investigations for this article, I discovered several legitimate sites. They, too, will charge you to upgrade, but at least you won’t be besieged by phony upgrade shills and exposed to never-ending X-rated video promotions. That doesn’t mean you can drop your guard completely. The scammers and fakers are still present although the legitimate sites quickly delete their profiles when they are suspected or discovered. Profiles of members labeled “pending review” are generally under suspicion by site management.

A few general tips:

Your early-on, interested respondents may not even be in this country, let alone near to your location. Using an IP trace program on the one or two that actually corresponded via their private e-mail addresses, I was able to trace them from a Yahoo e-mail site in Sunnyvale, California to Reston, Virginia, a well-known jumping off’ point for Internet communication with people offshore and particularly in Nigeria and Ghana. Why, I asked myself, would a person supposedly in Orange County, California be communicated with via Reston, Virginia, where the trace ended? Using some other more advanced trace programs with a few Internet tricks, I was able to trace one to Calcutta, India and another to Nigeria. Busted!

Simply stated, these early respondents’ were no more interested in me than my ex-wife. Their sole purpose was to encourage me to upgrade’ to a paid membership in the system and nothing more! They are “Upgrade Shills” who operate much like the “slot shills” in some casinos that are there strictly to encourage you to ante up your hard-earned money. Unethical? Certainly. Illegal? Perhaps, or at least it should be because this is out-and-out fraud no matter how you look at it.

Always look before you leap

This may be no two sites are exactly alike and there seems little doubt that some of them have the same ownership albeit under the surface. Here are a few good things to keep in mind if you are seriously considering this type of Internet social interaction:

(1)-Avoid sites filled with X-rated videos or provocative webcam offerings

(2)-Avoid sites that give you a FREE basic membership, hit you with a few immediate responses and won’t let you reply until you upgrade. The odds are the responses are from “upgrade shills.”

(3)-There is nothing wrong with a site encouraging you to upgrade in order to obtain the use of additional features. After all, they are in business to make money and have real expenses too. However, if they use phony come-ons from shills, avoid them like the plague. A legit site will give you a limited time period for FREE, or offer you a very-low cost trial period, both designed to give you a reasonable opportunity to determine if the site is for you.

(4)-Always check the Internet for complaints about any site you are considering. If you find a series of complaints, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Look elsewhere.

On the bottom line, if you are considering the use of an adult website for dating or meeting new friends, be aware of scams. And keep in mind that even on the mainly legit sites, scammers can slip through. So be careful and think before you spend your hard-earned money.

Websites for social interaction are becoming more and more popular. However, some use questionable marketing techniques that you should be aware of.

Many adult-dating websites use clever but unscrupulous marketing techniques. They begin by offering newcomers “basic free memberships” with limited capabilities unless you upgrade’ to a higher level of membership that generally costs between $24.95 and $59.95 per month (less if you purchase multiple months). However, this free, basic membership comes with a catch. Unless you purchase the upgrade, you will usually be unable to communicate with people who show interest in you, send you a flirt’ or an e-mail message.

Investigative Report: Dating Scammers-How They Work

And How You Can Avoid Them. Don’t Get Ripped Off by a Phony!

Dating scammers know exactly how to capitalize on human weakness, where to find their “marks” and how to make your fantasies into their paydays. Here’s how:

Regardless of the dating or matching website you choose, you will undoubtedly run into dating scammers. They are present even on the most legitimate websites that make every-possible effort to screen and eliminate them. Their only goal is to find new “marks,” people who are anxious to establish a relationship with a member of the opposite sex (or their own). Once they target you, they will be patient, careful and appear to be looking for precisely what you are. Don’t be fooled. The only thing they are seeking is your money and they have a seemingly-unending repertoire of ways to get it.

How scammers work

Dating scammers primarily target older men between 40 and 65 years of age. Your profile on the website tells them everything they need to know to target you, namely that you are anxious for a relationship, that you prefer younger women, that you are into fantasies and that you are probably financially stable.

In a great many cases, the scammers post a profile that states that they are in the same area you are. They will also post photos of some extremely-attractive woman that isn’t them at all. However, you can’t know that, so they will use photos that appeal to men’s fantasies. More often than not, these photos are copied from the Internet without the owner’s knowledge. On highly-explicit websites, they are often copied from X-rated videos or promotional materials. That’s all it takes for a scammer to set the stage for the upcoming con if you bite.

The next step in the scammer’s master plan is to get you off the dating website and onto an Instant Messenger. More often than not, they will be using a Yahoo IM so you may get talked into downloading that system. Once you’re there, it begins. Expect a continuing series of IM chats during which you will be amazed at just how much you and the scammer have in common. How does she know? Simple! The more detailed your dating website profile was, the more she knows. It doesn’t take a 180 IQ to figure out the rest.

As things progress, you will receive much evidence that suggests how much she cares for you. She will comment about how honest and open she is, extol her belief in God and being a good person, etc. She may even tell you she is in love with you and how desperately she wants to be with you.

Now for the ‘hook’

Once it’s clear that you’ve taken the bait, it’s time for her to set the hook. There may be a sudden medical emergency in her family or perhaps she is overdue on her Internet ISP bill and is upset because she may lose contact with you. She knows that’s the last thing you want and that it’s likely you will offer to help. If you do, she will want the money only by Western Union, not a check or credit card that you can place a stop payment on. And if you send it, she will be eternally grateful. Once you’ve gone this far, you have established yourself as a patsy and are totally hooked. She has your money and you don’t really know who you are actually chatting with or what they look like. I may even be some man.

The next step in your ongoing Internet love affair will be getting her over here to be with you. If you offer to pay her one-way air fare, she will make it quite plain that she’d prefer you to Western Union the cash so she can buy her own ticket. There are numerous excuses you can be given for this. The reality is that she wants to be able to have your cash, which if she is overseas, can be as much as several thousand dollars. If you are foolish enough to go for this scam, I guarantee that you will never see your money again and you will most assuredly never see her!

This may seem like a dramatic portrayal that will never happen to you. Wrong! When I began the research for this article, I purposely set myself up as a typical ‘patsy’ , invested $150 in help for her Internet bill but absolutely refused to send anything but a prepaid, non-refundable ticket for the air fare. As I anticipated, I was accused of mistrust and never heard from the lady again. No surprise there at all!

How to avoid being scammed

The first rule you should follow if you are hell-bent on using a dating/matching website is to limit your interests to people within 50 or 60 miles of your home. In this way, if a real connection is in the offing, it will happen. Make that a MUST statement in your profile under “what you are looking for.”

Second, Never and I mean never, get involved with someone overseas, especially in Ghana, Nigeria or anywhere in Africa. These are almost always scams, particularly if their dating website profile claimed they were close to you and in this country. This is just the first in a series of lies you will be subjected to. Want proof? Merely type “dating scammers /Ghana” into your browser and review the many websites that list scammers and the stories from people they have scammed. That will convince anyone.

Third, while it isn’t a guarantee, you’ll be far better off if you can have a real-time webcam chat with each other. This is hard to fake. And if the person you see doesn’t look like the person’s website profile photo, run like a thief.

Fourth, never send someone money or give them your credit card info, bank account information or any other financial data. Ditto for passwords and user names.

Finally, don’t be a chump. The odds that some outrageously-beautiful young woman is going to develop a relationship interest with a man 20-40 years her senior are about equal to or greater than winning the Mega Millions Lottery. Impossible? No! Unlikely? Absolutely. The odds show that these are either scammers or hookers and you don’t need either one.

And don’t allow yourself to be in love with the idea of being in ‘love’. This requires real people who know each other and takes time to develop. Anything less is most likely just a pipe dream for a guy who wants to recapture his youth.