I used match.com - and it worked for me - all you do is spend time on your profile and send out polite messages - no lewd stuff immediately - then once you have a connection - you meet up in a public safe area -

like any large dating site, as long as you complete your profile with photos and a good description, then there is no reason why it won't work. Sign up on a site pretending to be a woman and look at the guys photos, they all look sad or hard nuts, not surprising no women message them. then they blame the site .... idiots

yes it works very well for nigerian scammers who seem to find mugs galore but not genuines

I'm new to dating and when I say new I mean I haven't dated since 1996 due to marriage & kids. I also gave myself adequate time to recover from divorce. So yeah I'm green so to speak. I should point out I've never used any other dating sites and never looked up how to write a profile nor did I read ridiculous rants about the site being fake or phony.
What I discovered on Match.com was refreshing. I got a lot of "never read a profile like yours" and many men poured their hearts and souls out to me. I couldn't help but think that if this were back in the day (I'm 47), the messages were like receiving a 2-5 page hand written letter. So I never had any issues with thinking it was a hoax or fake by any means. I was even asked to be on a Match.com commercial due to the amount of traffic I was generating. I believe I was asked due to the time and effort I put into my profile. That being said, I can understand how many naysayers might think it's a scam due to Match leaving old profiles up. Here's the scoop on that: I don't specifically blame Match for this. When I found my first true match and we officially started dating, he thought I put my profile back up! I'm an honest person and asked him to show me. It came down to me not properly unsubscribing to the site. And yes, there's a few extra stupid monotonous steps that an amateur or anyone for that matter can easily miss when taking down a profile. So if one doesn't take the extra steps to completely delete their account, up goes the profile without the actual person being "active." So I get how many people get frustrated with the site.
My opinion? I think Match is worth the money if you take proper time and thought into writing a sincere profile, personalizing it with current interesting photos and don't flake out and write some phoney baloney ass profile. And for the record, we can tell if you don't feel like writing much or its fake. If you skimp on us, we pass on you. Remember that.
I do have some hints and tips for guys but it's simply MY perspective. I'm fairly intelligent but Im also quirky and out there at times.
There are certain catch phrases I automatically say no or pass on.
For starters, remember Match.com is for ALL AGES. That's why we state our ages on the site, right? I joined at age 44. I'll add that I've been an athlete all my life, I teach yoga and eat very well for performance. I Receive a lot of "no way are you over 40" & things of that nature. Unfortunately, I get several messages from guys that are way too young or old for me. After trying to date a couple guys younger than 35 it only reinforced more how much I didn't want to date out of my age bracket! I personally find 5-7 yrs max above or below my age too much for me. My new saying is "If your mom wouldn't approve, I don't either. Lol. And on age, if a guy says he looks/acts 10 yrs younger than he really is I eliminate that person. I'm looking for quality not the fountain of youth. Even worse is an older guy that's been pulled like pork via plastic surgery. I can only assume they're too self centered/conscious about the aging process or follow a poor diet and/or exercise plan, therefore not right for me. So be yourself men! Act your age. Look the best you can for your age and see what happens! From my experience, the men that claim to look younger than they truly are tend to have narcissistic personalities or are lacking elsewhere (and yes, I'm well versed in psychology).
I also won't respond to anyone "seeking a partner in crime." Who came up with that phrase anyway? Our freedom as Americans is incredibly limited as it is no matter how you slice it. That's why the rest of the world hates us. Duh. Claiming you'd like to live the life of a criminal is not sexy or appealing unless potential partner is a criminal herself. Just say no to crime!!!
Now let's cover profile pics. Be f****** original already. Bathroom pic? No thanks. Flexing with shirt off pic? I'll pass. Guess what? Us women are not the visual creatures you men typically are. Leave your shirts on and leave us wanting more. The best pics are those that show what you're like in the most mundane ordinary or extraordinary moments of your life. If you wear a suit every day, post a pic of that along with a silly one, perhaps from childhood. If you're an animal lover post a pic of your iguana. If you're a true clutz, don't hold back. Show us.
I guess the bottom line is whatever you give into the universe you too shall receive. If you don't put your heart and soul into it, use a bit of humor and a touch of humility, don't expect the same or any response back. It's that simple.
In the 3 yrs I've used Match I've fallen in love twice and learned more about those things I personally wish to work on in order to be truly happy. I know it sounds corny but happiness does start within. Don't go into this dating process expecting a miracle. Keep an open mind. Dont be afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone and date a variety of individuals. If anything, you'll learn some rather interesting things about yourself that will further your chances of falling in love or meeting your soul mate (s)
Good luck & remember people tend to rant when things don't go so well. I'm saying otherwise. But this is, indeed, the Internet. Do what you'd like with my positive experience. I'm an optimist at heart.

Whether the profiles are real or not, I think about it this way:

When I joined just recently, with a free account, I started getting notification emails, saying "someone is interested in you", "you sparked someone's interest", etc. pretty much straight away. Cool, sounds great. Then I click on the button in the email to see who they are.

Result? SUBSCRIBE to see who liked me! Seriously? Subscribe to send a message I can understand. But not letting me see WHO it is, so I can actually decide if I want to subscribe is, in my mind, seedy, unethical and scammy right there. Big red flag right there.

I didn't bite, so a bit later, I get an email saying someone has emailed me! Well that sounds good, doesn't it? It shows a pretty photo, so I click the "read now" button. Result is the same - SUBSCRIBE to read the message!

Now think about this, it's very important to know. I need to subscribe just to read a message that someone else had to subscribe to send. That means, if I do subscribe to send a message to someone, THEY CAN'T READ it, unless they ALSO subscribe. That's not just unethical, but downright nasty.

And the kicker is, Match.com does not even show you who is a subscriber and who isn't. That means I have no idea who is able to read a message that I send. It is obvious, just from that, Match.com is designed mainly to screw people out of money.

So personally I don't care if every profile on there is real, I'm not going to participate in a system so unethical that it won't let someone see who likes them, or read a message sent by a paying member, and not even display who is a paying member and who isn't. Nothing about Match.com is fair to the users.

That's my 5c. I just think it's a disgusting way to treat users, end of story. They deserved to be boycotted.

if you do a search some guys in the uS were organising legal action against the company behind match

lots of nigerians on there taking women for large sums of money posing as military people, again do a search on news.

theres an ever growing list of nigerian gents who are now residing behind bars for fraud so it sure works for them.large sums of cash were claimed for some crazy excuse

I think it is absolutely the bomb. If you can find a recent in focus picture or two that does NOT make you look like a zombie extra. Plus you can write a coherent sentence then you have a pretty decent chance to at least get a number of dates with women who are interested in meeting you. The quality and quantity of women I met has been astounding. The only thing I am going to say is please please please be realistic in your expectations, if you are a broke overweight 50 year old guy who rents an apt. and takes transit just leave the the young hotties alone. They find you annoying as heck.

I too am considering match & wonder why it may work when the other sites have brought me just a modicum of success. I am not surprised that in general, not 100 %, men who have experienced it speak negatively of it and advise to avoid registering or register but temper your optimism about it. Women, on the other hand, can tell you it works & you will meet plenty of new people. Some may tell you that they met their lover/ husband on match. This is not a mystery. On dating sites men outnumber women in droves. Men write and hope for replies that more often than not, go unanswered. A lady could whip up a profile in 30 seconds, put up any photo she wants, & just watch the results roll in. This holds true if they are mediocre looking. If they are quite attractive they will need to hire a secretary to manage the multitude of communication that they receive. This gives them a built in excuse about it being too overwhelming to respond to the men that have messaged her.

Now, if you are the alpha male, or can portray this image, you may do quite well. Being tall and appearing that you wield power & status are major attributes on a dating site. You see, 97% of the ladies feel they are entitled to such a male figure and the rest of the guys are fodder to be dismissed.

Good luck and as Larry David would say, " Curb Your Enthusiasm." If however, you are female, with reasonable looks, let the good times roll.

they all use the ''somebody is intersted in you '' bait to hand over your card details ..they you find out all the intrested hot babes just vanish and you are left with an ongoing bill for no dates ..their problem is to get you hooked good and proper to keep bashing your card month after month ,and stop you leaving ..then you have to cancel your card as its the only way to ditch them/.. like dogs dooos on your shoes