online dating

It seems that online dating has fast become the new way for singles to meet that special someone. A recent study, published in Online Dating Magazine, suggests that more than 120,000 marriages occur each year as a result of online dating. I mean, who doesn’t know someone that met their significant other online? This new online Mecca for singles is not however, foolproof. We are all aware of the risks – article after article is published cautioning online daters not to give out personal information on online dating sites and  to meet their date the first few times in a public place. The fact is these concerns could all but be rendered unnecessary if online dating sites ran consumer background checks on all their members.

In a recent scandal surrounding Match.com, convicted murder Abraham Fortune set up a seemingly normal profile on the popular online dating site. The retired San Antonio, TX salvage yard owner was looking for love, that is, until a local reporter recognized and outted him.  Busy singles aren’t the only ones flocking to online dating sites – criminals and the already married are also acting on the trend. In fact, Dave Evans, editor of Online Dating Post, told the San Antonio Express that “every single dating website out there has child molesters and murders.”And yet, according to Stephaney Alexander whose website womansavers.com allows women to research a potential mate for free, despite the fact that many online dating websites don’t perform background checks, users feel relatively comfortable that they won’t run into criminals on the sites. “I can understand why daters are getting a false sense of security – they are paying a fee to be on their site.”

Many are hoping that this will lead to a revolution in the Online Dating industry. Julie Spira, cyber-dating expert and author of "The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online," told ABC that it would be helpful for sites to at least give users the option to do a background check on other members. But until this happens online daters need to take their safety into their own hands.

When reviewing potential matches on online dating sites take the following precautions before arranging to get to know any of your potential partners any further:

• If you’ve emailed back and forth with a potential partner a couple of times through a dating site there is a fair chance that you know their name, their age, and the city they live in. This is all the information you need to run a full consumer background check on Intelius.com. Intelius background check services have been recognized by Top 10 Reviews as the #1 background check service. These reports will provide you with any aliases that person may have, their marriage and divorce records, their criminal records and more.
• Use your potential partner’s name, city, and screen name to try and find their profile on other social networking sites. This can help you figure out if their online dating profile is consistent with the self they present on other networks.

These tips are designed to help you avoid criminals, married men and women, and sex offenders and  to help you determine if a person’s profile is an accurate representation of themselves. However, the only way you can know for sure if the person you’ve met online is the one for you is to get to know them.  Good luck!