1. NEVER send money to a person you have not met.
2. On this site, check the bottom of the personal ad to see where this site guesses that they are really from. (Caution is useful; paranoia is not.)
3. Claims to be 'god fearing' are usually best considered to be a red flag (hint).
4. If the person claims to be 'Native American' check if that is likely from the the ad (hint, hint).
5. see 1.
AVIODING SCAMS
NEVER send money to a person you have not met. This includes never cashing money orders or checks on someone's behalf (they may be fraudulent and you will be out of pocket if you pay upfront - a check can bounce even after your bank has confirmed that it has cleared! Many people don't know this and get ripped off because of it.). Its the banks job to process such things - let the bank do the bank's job.
There are increasing numbers of scammers using dating sites on the web. Some are no doubt active on meetyourgreens. Scamming has got so common that there are even sites dedicated to those who make a hobby out of scammer baiting by getting them to do ridiculous things (like sending them to their local Western Union office lots of times - 23 times is the record). Note this page is mostly about dating scams. For the Nigerian Scam or Advanced Fee Fraud go here).
It is maybe tempting to swop email addresses and communicate directly (even though you ain't supposed to do that on this site). However, one of the first things a scammer will try and do is get you off-site so you can't be warned about them or notice that they have been banned from the site. This site is free and you can't say anything in an email that you can say in a message. There is not much reason to go off-site.
A common scam is to ask for money for 'tickets' or a 'visa' to come and meet you, then they pocket the money and never appear....
If you really want to pay someone's flight (assuming you have actually met them - otherwise this is a big mistake) so they can come and see you try and book the flight online yourself, or pay for the flights directly in some way that means you never send cash. But, keep in mind, that a decent person will make a real effort to find out about you and the place you live before even thinking of coming to see you. A normal person will not offer to visit you without checking out you and your location well in advance.
Scams vary in sophistication and methods, but you can avoid 99.9% of them if you follow this simple rule: NEVER send money to a person you have not met. I will say this again. NEVER send money to a person you have not met.
As dating sites get better at detecting the real location of those submitting profiles and warning their members, the scammers get better at offering a cover story: 'I live in the US, but I am in Africa just now...' (usually with much poorer grammer than that). It is very interesting how many Nigerians who 'live in America' are 'temporarily' in Africa. Yeah right...
If you find yourself 'loaning' money to someone who approached you for a relationship - ALARM BELLS SHOULD BE GOING OFF!
They may try the old favorites, like 'sick mother' needs operation. Or, family members hurt in car crash...etc..
They may claim to be 'in love' with you. Usually fairly quickly, before really getting to know you.
They may send risque pictures of themselves to try to get you to think with the wrong part of your anatomy.
The may claim to have some money already, but just need the rest from you (for visa, travel, emergency of some kind). This is to fool you into thinking it is not a scam.
The may claim to have a visa already, or that they can get one. This is usually always a lie as it is very hard for people from these countries to get visas to Western countries. It is much easier for them to get a visa if they have met you and are specifically coming to visit you after that. (BTW, offering forged copies of visas as 'proof' is not unknown.)
They may put things like wanting an 'honest' or 'God fearing' person in their profile - but still scam you for everything they can get.
They may tell you the things you have always wanted to hear - very tempting when from a beautiful woman/ handsome man.
They may express strong feelings against drugs, alcohol or promuscuity to convince you that they are good and therefore genuine. Could be just a smokescreen.
Some will soften you up with a cover story of the 'good' work they do with orphans or whatever (and maybe point you to a badly put together website) before trying to get money from you. How do you know they are not for real? Well, they contacted you via a dating site so what are their real motives....
THEY WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR. They are practising and refining their skills all the time. You are not the first and won't be the last target.
Don't encourage scammers: NEVER send money to a person you have not met.
Warning Flags:
These are some of the warning flags that mean you might be dealing with a scammer. But, remember some scammers are wise to these and avoid them. After all they can read this page (and other ones like it) too!
They come right out and ask for money. It is very likely that they are a scammer if they do that.
They want to swop email addresses immediately even though it is a free site (maybe they don't want you to notice when they get banned).
They claim to be from an English speaking country or claim to be well educated, but don't know even basic English grammar.
They suddenly have a drama or crises which requires money and they tell you all about it - when they hardly even know you. Would you tell someone you hardly know something like that?
They send you numbered pictures 27.jpg, 28.jpg, instead of 'me_on_holiday.jpg'
They never, or hardly ever, responds direclty to anything specific in the emails you send.
They ask questions which are never (or hardly ever) specific to you or anything you have said and they don't acknowledge or respond to your answers.
They give 'hints' about their money situation too much, or complain about it a lot.
They mention wanting to come and visit you, within a few emails.
They discourage you from visiting them (saying it is 'too dangerous' or whatever) and claim they should visit you instead. It is actually much easier for them to get a visa if they have met you (and almost impossible if they have not), so they ought to be encouraging you to visit.
They want desperately want to visit you but know little about you and where you live (Do they even know what town you live in? Have they asked you questions about it?).
Big Gotcha
Even after meeting someone sending them money can create problems. If you send money regularly to even a decent and honest person in developing countries, Eastern Europe etc., you can make him/her and those around them dependent on you. He/she depends on her network of family and friends to get through her life. You feed money into that situation and they all become dependent on you. The result is their dependents may end up not wanting him/her to leave!... Or, at least they might want to delay the departure as long as possible.
Another Gotcha is that in some countries (such a Thailand) the connection to the family is really important. Marrying, say a Thai woman, may well mean that you are expected to support her family back home. It may not cost you much money (relatively speaking) to do so, but it will cost you a lot emotionally if you refuse. It is important to understand the basics of the other person's culture. You could deeply offend the woman's feelings by not understanding how she feels about her family and how much she wants to share the benefits of her finding you with them. Wanting money from you for her family means she cares about them as any decent and repectable Thai lady would.
If in doubt about a person who asks you for money (and you ought to have BIG doubts if they do). Just tell them that you never send money to people you have not met. A decent person will respect this a scammer will simply lose interest in you (or try and guilt trip you).
If you are already sending money to a someone abroad who you have not met, then my advice is to stop. Tell him/her it does not seem right to you, or that you are saving your money so you can visit them. But, do tell him/her you won't be sending any more money. If he/she stops contact you know they were a scammer.
Some people check out the other person they have got a serious interest in by emailing from as an Alternate ID, using another email address and pretending to be someone else to see how they respond. This can be useful but use it very carefully. If they have not offered (and you have not asked) for an exclusive relationship then you have no right to expect one. They may send the same first email and same photo to the disguised version of you. Don't be dissapointed if this happens - it is normal. Be very careful if you try an Alternate ID to check someone out. It only really works well when either there is a clear commitment from them (ie he/she claims you are the love of their life) or he/she is a very likely scammer and you are willing to send a number of messages as your Alternate ID to really check her out (not a happy experience I have to say..). I tried this with one lady and she did not respond at all to my Alternate ID until she got a message from my real one saying, 'sorry, I never send money to someone I have not met'. Also, some of them only run their scam on a few people at a time as their costs may be relatively high (Internet access may costs them a lot relative to their income in that country)
ANTI-SCAM SITES
Here is a list of sites about dating scams. These sites often have lists of known scammers, so you can use them to check if someone you are on contact with is a suspected scammer.
Avoiding Scams Tell-a-Friend!