DFENZ
Contributing Member
Kind of a long story, but bear with me here:
All online dating sites are notorious for scams, but I decided to dive in anyway about a month ago. I signed up at a popular one for 50+ year-old singles- with some moderate success, thank you ; ) Most of my 'matches' are too far away and it seems that about half of the profiles are fake, many of them seem like they may be generated by the site to keep my interest. Others seem geared toward just general scamming. I think I have figured out the more obvious fakes but this one has me scratching my head:
This particular woman's profile checks all the boxes for me and seems like a stunningly beautiful, very well put together, professional woman in her 50s. She's only got 1 profile photo (which is kind of a red flag) but the photo seems maybe a little too professional, a torso shot like maybe it's a promo photo, with her wearing a business suit. Of course, I had to 'jiggle her chain' but I got no response. This is not so unusual, but I figured she would at least visit my profile. She did not (I would have gotten a notification if she did). After a couple of days of silence, and on a hunch, I ran an image search on her profile photo. It ended up being exactly what I thought- a promo photo from a website- her website. It seems she runs an insurance advisory firm as a sole proprietor. Her business website is very professional and seems totally legit. And all of her contact information, including her phone number is listed on that business website.
This raises all kinds of questions for me.
1) Why would anyone, particularly a savvy businesswoman, post a photo to a somewhat sketchy, but secure/anonymous dating site that could be traced back to her and her business with all of her contact information?
2) Is 'she' a scammer, hoping someone like me will run the photo search, luring them to 'her' website to get my contact information?
3) Is someone pursuing some kind of a vendetta against her by posting her photo on a dating website for whatever reason? Maybe a jilted lover?
Both her dating site profile and her business website make her seem like she's on the up and up. I kind of suspect option #3 which would open her up to all sorts of mischief from all sorts of scammers. I've thought about it for a couple of days thinking that I should alert her on her business website, that her contact information and photo are out there for all to see on a dating site. I just don't know how to do it without 'her' getting my contact information if in fact 'she' is a #2 (pun intended). She does seem like such a kind and honest soul.
Should I just mind my own business and ignore it? What do you think?
All online dating sites are notorious for scams, but I decided to dive in anyway about a month ago. I signed up at a popular one for 50+ year-old singles- with some moderate success, thank you ; ) Most of my 'matches' are too far away and it seems that about half of the profiles are fake, many of them seem like they may be generated by the site to keep my interest. Others seem geared toward just general scamming. I think I have figured out the more obvious fakes but this one has me scratching my head:
This particular woman's profile checks all the boxes for me and seems like a stunningly beautiful, very well put together, professional woman in her 50s. She's only got 1 profile photo (which is kind of a red flag) but the photo seems maybe a little too professional, a torso shot like maybe it's a promo photo, with her wearing a business suit. Of course, I had to 'jiggle her chain' but I got no response. This is not so unusual, but I figured she would at least visit my profile. She did not (I would have gotten a notification if she did). After a couple of days of silence, and on a hunch, I ran an image search on her profile photo. It ended up being exactly what I thought- a promo photo from a website- her website. It seems she runs an insurance advisory firm as a sole proprietor. Her business website is very professional and seems totally legit. And all of her contact information, including her phone number is listed on that business website.
This raises all kinds of questions for me.
1) Why would anyone, particularly a savvy businesswoman, post a photo to a somewhat sketchy, but secure/anonymous dating site that could be traced back to her and her business with all of her contact information?
2) Is 'she' a scammer, hoping someone like me will run the photo search, luring them to 'her' website to get my contact information?
3) Is someone pursuing some kind of a vendetta against her by posting her photo on a dating website for whatever reason? Maybe a jilted lover?
Both her dating site profile and her business website make her seem like she's on the up and up. I kind of suspect option #3 which would open her up to all sorts of mischief from all sorts of scammers. I've thought about it for a couple of days thinking that I should alert her on her business website, that her contact information and photo are out there for all to see on a dating site. I just don't know how to do it without 'her' getting my contact information if in fact 'she' is a #2 (pun intended). She does seem like such a kind and honest soul.
Should I just mind my own business and ignore it? What do you think?