Fighting Russian Scam the Lovers Planet Way
If you are new to Russian dating it is important that you are made aware of the issue of Russian Dating Scams. In the past decade Russian Dating has received a lot of criticism due to numerous cases of scam and fraud, where bogus Russian brides have been posting fake profiles with photos of models and Russian celebrities, and after exchanging messages, sometimes even phone calls, that were followed by requests to send money. The most common reason used in scams to request money is to pay for travel arrangements – travel visa, tickets, hotels, etc. As soon as the victim of such scam sends the money (thousands of dollars), communications stops and in most cases it is impossible to track back the group of people behind the scam.
Some of these groups are very-well organized. Even local police cannot always get hold of them. There were cases when these groups consisted of men sending out thousands of messages and sometimes carrying on with communication for months before requesting money. Many victims did not even go as far as making a phone call. Bogus travel agents were used. For a strange reason these travel agents wouldn’t accept credit cards (!) with no physical presence, or a dedicated website! Come on, Russia is the home of the most expensive city in the world!
How to avoid Russian Dating Scams
While the above may discredit the concept of Russian Dating, in many cases it is easy to avoid scams that often follow a known pattern. The key is to build awareness and use common sense. As one of our readers has pointed out:
“… just be aware- use common sense and trust your instincts. Would you send money to someone you never met?”
Many specialized Russian Dating sites are not as exposed to scam artists as larger, mainstream dating services. With millions of members their environment is largely unregulated. There are very few, if any, screening policies in place and phone verification of each female member is certainly not economically feasible as subscription-based business models tend to put pressure on profit margins.
Use a specialized dating service
Most specialized dating services do actually have at least basic anti-scam measures that may include phone verifications and keeping substantial databases of blacklisted IP addresses. Most of these services are forced to charge their members per message fees or limit the amount of messages that can be sent within a specific subscription period.
Loversplanet.com offer the best quality at the most reasonable price. While the subscription is not capped with an upper limit of messages you may sent, Loversplanet.com has developed one of the most advanced anti-scam systems in the industry. This score-based system has been developed over several years. It assigns weights to various risk factors such as location and previous patterns of scamming activity. All new female members are verified with a phone call by a human representative. In most cases a landline phone number is required, in addition to a cell phone number. This system automatically assigns a score to every new registration and if it is flagged as a high risk the profile is deactivated immediately.
Loversplanet.com dating statistics
To give you some statistics, in November 2006 there were 2,782 female applications from Eastern Europe on Lovers Planet. From these applications only 626 were approved as legitimate. That’s only 22.5% - almost 4 in 5 new applications have been rejected.
No policy can guarantee 100% scam-free environment. Scammers are increasingly sophisticated and smart. However, we do believe that on Loversplanet.com the probability of dating a scammer is low and your odds of developing a relationship with a sincere Russian woman are very good – proof.
Anti-Scam lists and sites dedicated to fight Russian scammers
Be aware of websites that are dedicated to fighting scams without running a Russian dating service. There may be few that are actually independent (in fact, we don’t know any). Most of these sites have been set up by dating services and therefore the information is always biased. Some of these sites are used to discredit competitors by claiming that s particular scammer has been seen on a specific dating site, which may not be true. Other anti-scam sites have even been accused of scamming men and then justifying their actions by placing bogus Russian brides in their own scam list. A third category seem to be independent, but they are paid by various dating sites to promote them (bias) claiming that these sites have the best anti-scam policies. Many other tricks are used, including claims that a specific site has been setup by American or Western European men, or by a couple – an American who has found a Russian bride online.
Effectiveness of Background Checks
At Loversplanet.com we get a lot of inquiries from men all over the world about specific females they have met on large dating services. After months of communication they have been asked for money. In many of these cases it is obvious for us that this is a scam. You can learn more about some common signs of scam. But it is difficult for these men to let it go and confront the fact that all that time and emotional effort is wasted. They proceed with ordering background checks to try and justify that that a specific Russian woman is legitimate. While in some cases background checks can give you some additional insights, they are by no means a proof of legitimacy. You may be able to verify that a specific name is valid, but obtaining proof that this name belongs to the person you have corresponded with is almost impossible.
Most importantly, why would you want to waste all that time and hinder your motivation of finding a good relationship? Our advice is simple: use a specialized service, learn about their screening policies and minimize the risk of dating a scam artist. When you do meet someone online, use common sense and follow your instincts, which may often be difficult as they are influenced by feelings and emotions. Russian dating will work for you if you follow this simple advice - proof. Good luck!
Further reading:
Russia: Internet Dating Schemes - US Department of State article about Internet Dating Schemes
