A lot of men have told me stories about having “met” beautiful, sexy women online … who want the men to pay for them to return from an “emergency” visit to Nigeria or Russia to visit a sick father. I’ve heard it so many times now that I’ve begun to think that half the men in Nigeria and Russia have sick daughters who live here in the US.

Of course, none of these “emergency” stories is true, nor are these women likely beautiful. It’s likely they’re not even women, but rather an office somewhere with a handful of employees putting up profiles on online dating sites (and most likely sending out all that spam that says “My name is Suzie and I saw your profile on a dating site…”) designed to scam men out of their cash, believing that if they wire money to the beauty with whom they’ve been corresponding and instant messaging that the lovely creature will show up on his doorstep. Uh uh; not going to happen. That chick in the photos doesn’t exist. (Well, she may exist, but she’s not typing with you.)

Once a request for money arrives, simply respond with, “I’m not in a position to help you,” and watch: you’ll never hear from her again. That’s because she’s off working on the next one, hoping for a positive outcome this time.

If you find yourself in this position, be sure to report the account to the online dating company; they’ll act to close the account (although the scammer will simply open another account and work on someone else, but at least you’ve done your part to slow them down).

Another scam I hearing hearing about is when a girl with whom you’ve been corresponding says, “You can watch me on my webcam for $2.99 a minute.” Dudes, we all know what to call girls who charge for it, right? Report these to the dating service, too. They’re not on here looking for dates; they’re looking for clients.

I’ve yet to hear of any girls being scammed. It doesn’t mean any haven’t; it only means I haven’t heard of any yet. There’s really no reason for the “I’m stuck in Nigeria/Russia with a dying mother” thing couldn’t work, unless it’s because we’re more leery of online men (I mentioned in an earlier post how we’re inundated with inane and/or disgusting posts anywhere we have an online profile).

So just be careful when you’re typing with SeXXXXXy14U (that’s a dead giveaway right there; we don’t usually go in for those types of profile names, but the scammers do). Be careful in the online dating world, and hold tight to your wallet!