Suspicious Profiles
I was recently asked how I know a profile is a hoax. So I thought I would share some observations of mine from the last few suspicious profiles.
Some of these members are starting to put more effort into their profiles. Answering more of eons questions about interests, adding music players, more photos and videos.
The PM's they send out sound slightly more personal, mentioning something from your profile. A little less generic.
Usually they don't bother to join groups, but if they do, hardly ever will you see a message posted to a group.
They usually acquire a lot of "friends" in a short amount of time. These friends are almost always of the opposite sex only.
If they do answer the eons questions, check out the answers very carefully. Do these answers show a cultural or ethnic background that doesn't match the personal photos? Are they age appropriate?
Check out the music they have selected. Are they mainly romantic or love songs? Do they usually stick with one or two artists? Is it age appropriate?
One common denominator I've noticed is that they will come across as romantic, charitable, caring, compassionate, and religious. They usually have a sob story about their life. Horrible marriage, lost their wife and child in tragic car accident, or wife was having sex with best friend. Maybe they have been raising their children on their own for many years.
Something else that I've noticed is that they will say they live here in the US, but they have either international business dealings or a business in the United Kingdom or Africa specifically.
Their photos look like they were hijacked from an online catalog or some other advertisement. They don't look like the guy next door that you are used to meeting.
Then you get to their grammar or the way they phrase their bio or answers. I'm not talking about someone that is a bad typist or speller here. Do they sound foreign? Are they using phrases that you typically hear, or does it sound like a bad translation. Do they only capitalize the first word in a sentence when possibly other words should have been as well?
Of course, they usually want to get you off of the eons PM system and on to regular email or instant messaging right away. Don't do it!
As I said, these are just some of my observations. They may not hold true for everyone and I always hate to generalize about people. The main thought here is to pay attention and if something sounds too good to be true or just sounds fishy, pay attention to your gut feelings. You are probably right.
I'm mainly referring to the men that have been sending us PM's lately. This also holds true for female profiles that are sending message to men.
Some of these members are starting to put more effort into their profiles. Answering more of eons questions about interests, adding music players, more photos and videos.
The PM's they send out sound slightly more personal, mentioning something from your profile. A little less generic.
Usually they don't bother to join groups, but if they do, hardly ever will you see a message posted to a group.
They usually acquire a lot of "friends" in a short amount of time. These friends are almost always of the opposite sex only.
If they do answer the eons questions, check out the answers very carefully. Do these answers show a cultural or ethnic background that doesn't match the personal photos? Are they age appropriate?
Check out the music they have selected. Are they mainly romantic or love songs? Do they usually stick with one or two artists? Is it age appropriate?
One common denominator I've noticed is that they will come across as romantic, charitable, caring, compassionate, and religious. They usually have a sob story about their life. Horrible marriage, lost their wife and child in tragic car accident, or wife was having sex with best friend. Maybe they have been raising their children on their own for many years.
Something else that I've noticed is that they will say they live here in the US, but they have either international business dealings or a business in the United Kingdom or Africa specifically.
Their photos look like they were hijacked from an online catalog or some other advertisement. They don't look like the guy next door that you are used to meeting.
Then you get to their grammar or the way they phrase their bio or answers. I'm not talking about someone that is a bad typist or speller here. Do they sound foreign? Are they using phrases that you typically hear, or does it sound like a bad translation. Do they only capitalize the first word in a sentence when possibly other words should have been as well?
Of course, they usually want to get you off of the eons PM system and on to regular email or instant messaging right away. Don't do it!
As I said, these are just some of my observations. They may not hold true for everyone and I always hate to generalize about people. The main thought here is to pay attention and if something sounds too good to be true or just sounds fishy, pay attention to your gut feelings. You are probably right.
I'm mainly referring to the men that have been sending us PM's lately. This also holds true for female profiles that are sending message to men.
