We Explain How to Spot a Scam

What do you want to spend your time online doing?

We’re guessing you didn’t say, “Dealing with spam.”

If you did, feel free to ignore this guide. If not, let’s take a look at why you have to be careful about which sites you use in order to avoid spam and scams—and why “free” dating sites can be anything but.

When you use a free site, you’re just making the site money in a different way. No company decides to start a free dating site to lose money, or to provide a service without getting paid.

It’s up to you whether you want to use a free site or a paid site. You might think that you’re “paying” for your membership to a free site by using the site that ads are on, but it’s not even that simple.

Companies will send you spam email.

If you’ve ever used a free dating site, you’ve probably gotten mail that looks a little something like this:

“HI IM HORNY LETS GO TO XXXRICHDATEXXX.COM LETS PARTY TONITE WILD BOY”

You don’t really get emails like that on a free dating site. While you may think that it’s harmless, this can lead to you getting viruses, getting your identity stolen, and making you so frustrated with free online dating that you give up the idea of finding a woman online altogether.

Free sites will give you spam and scams.

Scammers, those who use dating sites to find “marks” to scam, love free dating sites. They love being able to sign up for free and take the money from hard-working men who just want to find love.

Don’t make it easy for them. Make sure you’re on a legitimate site by looking at our guide to the best and worst dating sites online—and notice that there isn’t a free site in our “best” list.

Scam sites don’t look as good as real sites.

The people who put up false dating site don’t put as much effort into it as the ones who put up real dating sites do. That’s for many reasons, but primarily two big ones:

1. Scam sites are cluttered with ads.

2. They know they’ll have people signing up just because it’s free, so they don’t feel the need to market.

If you’re ever in doubt, remember that unfortunately, strangers on the Internet who want to make money probably do not have your best interests at the heart of their motivations.

These people are out to sell you a product, nothing more. They’re not out to get you a date. Getting you a date doesn’t profit them at all. They get paid by their advertisers to look the other way at a lot of spam, so don’t expect any help from support if you get some.

Stick to paid sites.

At least with paid sites, you know that most of the women on there are actually interested in getting dates. They wouldn’t have signed up on a paid site if they weren’t serious. Our list of dating site reviews lets you know which ones work the best.