7 Signs An Online Dating Profile Is Fake

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" is solid advice for most every situation, but it rings especially true online. Anyone who has ventured into the untamed Wild West of online dating knows that it comes with certain risks.

Chief among them is the possibility of being ripped off by an unscrupulous Internet scammer. Your rational side knows it's a possibility, but for the most part it's a fear that's relegated to the deeper, darker recesses of your mind. A far as you're concerned, getting scammed is something that happens to other people in the cautionary tales told on the local news. It's not going to happen to you, right?

Odds are in your favor, but it never hurts to be prepared. SeekingArrangement.com recently posted a report called The Face of Fraud to help online daters separate the catches from the catfish. The site reviewed the profiles of 60,000 banned accounts, and discovered that fake profiles tend to have a few things in common. Here are 7 signs you might be looking at the profile of a scam artist:

1. They list their religion as "Catholic." Yes, there are a lot of Catholics in this world and most of them are not frauds. It's far from a foolproof method, but 82% of SeekingArrangement's banned profiles chose "Catholic" as their religion.
2. Their relationship status is "Widowed." Why did 63% of SeekingArrangement's banned profiles say they were "Widowed?" Because the loss of a spouse inspires sympathy in others, making them easier to con.
3. Their gender is "Female." 29% of the 60,000 fraudulent profiles listed their gender as male, while a whopping 71% listed their gender as female.
4. Their education level is high. 54% of scammers claimed to have a Ph.D because it makes them sound more trustworthy.
5. Their location is either "Nigeria" or "Ukraine." By now everyone is familiar with the infamous Nigerian scam, which accounted for 28% of SeekingArrangement's banned profiles, but Ukraine is following close behind with 23%. The Philippines came in third, at 21% of the banned profiles.
6. Their ethnicity is "Native American." Native Americans make up less than 2% of the American population, so how were 36% of the scammer profiles from supposed Native Americans? The answer is hilarious: because foreign con artists misunderstand what "Native American" means. They think it refers to US-born citizens, rather than the indigenous peoples of North America.
7. Their occupation is vague, or not an occupation at all. 26% call themselves generic "Engineers." 25% say they're "Royalty" (where do I apply for that job??). 23% go with the mysterious "Self-Employed."

So if your online date is a widowed Catholic woman residing in Nigeria who has Native American ancestry and a Ph.D in engineering...you might want to move on to the next profile.

For more on this dating site you can read our review for Seeking Arrangement.