Should Cupid’s arrow be fraught with so much danger…
These days the path of true love is fraught with so much danger, particularly if you decide to go in search of your soul mate via online dating agencies.
Dating agencies is are not a new concept, in fact they have been around a considerable number of years. Back in the day they were known as matrimonial agencies and applicants would have to undergo thorough interviews and would only then be matched with compatible partners sanctioned only by the matrimonial agency and all based on a well reasoned questionnaire.
There are still old fashioned matrimonial agencies in existence, however there services come at a high price that’s why online dating is becoming ever more attractive with the would be relationship seekers. However, being exclusively online means that the service is open to the opportunistic scammers or as they are now labelled “Catfish”.
As someone who is no stranger to dating sites, I have had my personal gripes with companies such as Zoopla,Zoosk, POF, Eharmony etc and have had a few conversations with would be catfish, thankfully I was quick to notice something didn’t quite fit in with the profile and the person I was communicating with and ended it quickly. Unfortunately there are two many cases of vulnerable people looking for a bit of companionship who fall victim to these callous vermin and have been forced to part with large sums of money.
So how does it work…
The catfish sets up multiple profiles on dating sites, because the dating sites are only concerned with profit and turnover, they are quite happy to host these profiles without scrutiny. Anybody who has been on a dating site will know that you cannot tell much from a photograph or indeed from the profile it headlines, so you have no option but to strike up a conversation with the potential suitor, that’s when the catfish starts to reel you in to his or her trap.
More often then not the catfish will masquerade as someone who is either a serviceman or someone who is in a foreign country and sells you a carefully elaborate sob story which is so convincing that you taken in by it. Sadly the true reality is that this story is being spun by a fraudster generally operating in West Africa usually Nigeria or Ghana.
Online dating sites are also culpable to a number of unnecessary hidden charges. Believe it or not most sites will force you to buy credits to have a conversation and develop a possible relationship. One of the biggest failings of dating sites is the misinterpreted advertising campaigns. Eharmony for instance advertises its services with posters and television campaigns using very attractive models as there possible suitors, when in truth most people looking for a relationship are more interested in a potential suitor who matches their compatibility irrespective of their looks. Zoopla’s latest television advertising campaign features a what we assume a young couple engaging in sex without interruption, obviously the older fraternity abstain from sex. Zoopla’s message seems to put across that sex is what dating is all about and sets about to promote promiscuous relationships.
Unfortunately since the inception of such dating sites such as Tinder, sex is being sold in a wrong manner and has led to a new breed of person the seducer. Seducers where highlighted in a recent panorama as a group of men who charge large sums of money via youtube advertising to teach you how to force young women to have sex with you and then they can upload tapes to their youtube channels and brag about it,what a vile act.
So if you are actively looking for love, there are genuine people who are out there who would be more than happy to converse with you and not extort money from you, we would also be happy to forge a proper relationship with you.
Love truly does exist, and it doesn’t take underhand and callous acts to undermine it.
