More and more people are using online dating as a means of finding love or meeting new people that are hard to reach in the offline world. As a result, the number of romance scams as well as victims are on the rise. Majority of the dating scams are from West African countries - Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, etc. This is sometimes collectively called Nigerian Romance Scams - one of the various forms of Nigerian scams.

A Romance Scam normally involves these steps:

Step 1: The scammer posts an attractive photo (such as attractive professional models) and fake profile on a dating website.

Step 2: Mass message members with pre-written copy of message.

Step 3: In the message, the scammer normally shows interests in the victim's profile and asks if the victim wants to know more about the scammer. Most of the time an email address (Yahoo mail or Hotmail) of the scammer is included in the message.

Step 4: If the scammer gets replies, he/she would make up stories and would normally claim how bad his/her current situation is and needs help to overcome it in some way. The scammer's story could be very emotional and easily gain sympathy and affection from the victim.

Step 5: The scammer gradually lures the victim away from the messaging channels provided by the dating website towards external means such as personal emails, instant messaging, telephone calls, or even webcam (this is the scary part. They will find excuses not to show their real faces but they could take photos of the victim via webcam. Sometimes they ask the victim to get naked. The scammer would later demand for money by threatening with exposure of the victim's naked photos on internet).

Step 6: No matter what the story is, after a period of establishing trust, romance, and desire, the scammer will ask for money to be sent in forms such as cash money orders, send merchandise, or currency exchange via a telegraphic money transfer service, usually Western Union or Moneygram, etc.

Step 7: The scammer keeps asking for money until the victim can't afford or the fraud is perceived.

Note that the scammers steal attractive photos from other websites, so these photos have nothing to do with these scammers. The real people of these photos are also victims of romance scam.

How to identify red flags in a profile or message

Here is online dating scammers list on NextWink http://www.nextwink.com.au/useful/scammers.php

Scam profiles or messages share characteristics that can be generalized. Here is a list that I summarized from the scam profiles and messages on my site.

• Scammers Profiles are made up of these attributes:

• 20 to 35 years of ages

• Single with no kids

• Looking for long-term relationship or romance

• Profession is normally student, nurse, model (or will become a model)

• Profiles are usually perfect in English but messages are broken.

• Relocation: the scammer claims she/he is travelling, working, or stuck in a foreign country and would like to come back to the country (US, Australia, etc) soon.

• The scammers tell you that they are having trouble to get back home or cash their paychecks.

• Email address is included in the message (normally Yahoo or Hotmail email address) and is very keen to talk from there rather than use the dating site's internal messaging channels.

• Promise to send more photos via emails if get replies.

What to do if you suspect that someone is trying to scam you?

• Some members on my site ask scammer questions about Australia (where she/he is living, what towns are around, Football or cricket questions, etc) and many times the scammer wouldn't have a clue.

• One member asked where the scammer lived in Australia and what towns were around her. The scammer said she lived in Sydney. Her reply was "I do not go outside much, so I do not know what towns are around me". She was clearly scamming. She could not even spell Australia right.

• Report your suspicion to the dating site webmaster.

• Join romance scams Yahoo Groups to get support and search their database for fake profile info. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancescams/

I hope, after reading this article, you are put on alert about romance scammers in general. Educate yourself about online dating scams and help yourself to know how to prevent it from happening to you. Next time when you use an online dating service, I hope you would be able to judge by yourself the credibility of profiles and messages.