Top Online Dating Lies Exposed

The Department of Justice announced in November that it has no plans to prosecute individuals who lie about themselves on dating sites. Now BeautifulPeople.com has looked into online lies further, surveying 1,000 single adults living in the US and UK about their propensities for prevarication.

The survey found that, when it comes to online lies, there is a gender gap. Men are most likely to stretch the truth about their job, their height, their weight, their physique, and money. Other top topics for men's fibs were:

• Holding a more senior position at work

• Having a more interesting profession

• Knowing celebrities

• Having a personal assistant

• Working in the film industry

Women most commonly lie about their weight, their age, their figure, their height, and, like men, money. They are also prone to lying about:

• Their bust size

• Having a glamorous profession

• Knowing celebrities

• Having a personal assistant

• Working in entertainment

The BeautifulPeople.com survey then broke things down further, looking into the most lied about professions for men and women. The professions men are most likely to say they work in when they really don't are: healthcare, finance, the film industry, travel, entertainment, music, marketing, the public sector, engineering, and the leisure industry. Women also love to lie about working in entertainment, marketing, finance, the film and leisure industries, and travel, but sales, law, media, and HR are also commonly lied about professions for female singles online.

Though both personal and professional lies run rampant regardless of gender, the gender gap can be seen again when it comes to what kind of lies are most popular with daters. Nearly one in five women surveyed admitted to using old photos on their profiles to make them look younger showing that, for better or worse, appearance is still a big concern for many women. Men, on the other hand, have money matters on the mind. More than 40% admitted to pretending they earn more than they really do, or lying to make their jobs sound more interesting. In comparison, fewer women (33%) admitted to the same thing.

In addition to gender, the survey found that there is a difference between countries. More than 53% of Americans copped to lying about their appearance, contrasted with only 44% of British daters. On both sides of the Atlantic however, older singles are more likely to be truthful about their appearance and income, an indication that mature daters have very different priorities from their younger counterparts and want to be accepted for who they really are

All lies aside, singles still seem optimistic about online dating: although the majority believes that others lie in their profiles, they are still most likely to believe that what they're reading is true.