Virtualdatespace.com

[Pinky]

Don't be discouraged, Romeo. Lately I've been thinking a lot about another site called Plenty of Fish. Long time baiters will remember about 4 to 5 years ago that POF was THE place to bait the buggers. There were never any honest profiles there. Slowly and persistently, PoF cleaned house. I've got a real life profile there and for over a month now I have had at least one date a week with local guys and have been messaged by hundreds - and only 2 that were scammers. I reported them and they disappeared immediately.

I don't know what PoF has done behind the scenes, but I do know that they post visible warnings to members in several sections, that tell about romance scams. They say, "If someone ask you for money or to cash a check, it is a scam. If someone from Nigeria or Ghana contacts you, it's a scam." Now even though that's not an entirely accurate warning, it still makes members aware that there is a problem.

I seem to recall that after I first joined VDS, that 'Romeo' and I discussed posting warnings and I think I might have volunteered to write some for him. My bad. I didn't follow through. I've been thinking though that after all the precautions an administrator might take that would keep a scammer out, the most detrimental to his business would be members who were educated and warned about scams.

[SlapHappy]

Romeo,

You should look at this site as an asset to your fight against the scammers, as you do indeed care to keep your members safe. As others have said here, keeping scammers out takes hard work and maybe a full time employee or two to put in the time necessary to put in all the filters and procedures in place to not only keep most of them from getting on in the first place, but removing them quickly, once they are discovered.
We fight them trying to do the same thing here every day. It's not an easy task, and must be dealt with on a daily, routine, basis.
I'm also confident when I say that every Admin and Moderator here are the most honest and caring people that I know, and will not say anything that is not true and is backed up with facts. We don't roast dating sites here as review site. We report the truth of what our members find if dating site owners come here to change any post on this website. We are more than willing to share our knowledge of scammers to keep them out of any website. A lot of the tools are right here in the open. We can't do the work for them, though.
As Pinky said, don't lose hope, though. If it's been done before, it can be done again.
We are in this fight together, after all.

[wayne]

I've said this before, but it's worth saying again. As well as running this site, I have admin access on our sister site, datingnmore.com and have run it for several weeks at a time on occasion, so I'm not completely oblivious to how difficult it is to keep a dating site as scam free as possible. There we have IP blocks in place that cover all the ranges and addresses we've encountered over the years. It's a 20 page list of nothing but IPs to block. If a scammer gets past that by using a proxy and joins the forum, then they're listed as unapproved until an admin manually checks several things. The photo to ensure it's of a genuine person and not of a horse, sunset or famous person. The IP address to make sure it's not blacklisted and matches where the person says they are. Doesn't match, account is deleted. We also read the wording of the profile to look for telltale signs of it being a scammer. Only if they pass all this do they get their account approved. Even then, on very rare occasions, a scammer will still manage to sneak in. The moment they're found out (and remember that the site is extremely open about scammers and makes sure everyone knows the signs to look out for) they're banned and their details posted up for others to find. It's a lot of work, but it keeps the genuine people that join as safe as possible. If you genuinely want help, then we're more than willing to point you in the right direction.

[romeo69witu]

Hi Duckhunters,
I have been cleaning house, if you get a few mintues check it out. The gogle images really helped alot. I am looking into a mod with my programmer that when a member signs up its cross references thier ip with the country they put in thier profile, no match profile wont complete, what ya think about this?
thank you
Randy

[Pinky]

I think that's a great idea Randy! You could also urge your members to check IP's and run the pictures through Scamdigger, Google Images and/or Tineye. Help inform and educate new members a little better.

[Ralph Warner]

Hi Randy

I am having a quick look over your site, putting myself behind the keyboard of the average person new to online dating.

My first observation was a lack of warnings or advice about scammers anywhere.

From your site;
Why Try Online Dating?

You are so over the bar scene, you're tired of being the third wheel, or you're ready to settle down. Whatever your reason, we're here to help.

It's a big world out there, and it's getting more difficult to meet someone special by "conventional means". Perhaps your workplace forbids dating coworkers, or you don't attend church, or you haven't clicked with anyone special at small parties. Why not make your love life easier?

What if you could change your romantic life from almost never having a date to a social life filled with new possibilities and possibly a few dates a week? Dates with quality people who share your goals and interests. And what if it was absolutely free?

That place is VirtualDateSpace.com - and this is exactly what we do for millions of singles just like you.


How it Works

Create your Free profile
Fill out some basic information about yourself, upload your photo, and write an attention-grabbing headline and essay. Now other members will be able to e-mail you. This is absolutely free you need to pay nothing.

Search the site
Once inside our site, you can search our database of millions of singles. Search by location, age, interests, and 101 other personal preferences. Show Interest in other members by just clicking a button. All of this is free.

Connect when you are ready
When you decide that you are ready for more personal contact, simply upgrade to a Gold Membership and communicate with other of members via IM, email, or chat. Gold Membership fees range in price but can get as low as 25 cents a day - we think it's a small price to pay for love.


Site Features

24 hours a day you'll find a community of friendly singles hanging out in our Chat Room.

We offer Instant Messaging, with Voice and Video Greetings so you can meet someone in real time.

Or, if you feel more comfortable, send an Email. Write a little about yourself, and take the first step towards finding a new relationship.

Narrow your search with our handy Keyword Search. Love to scuba dive? Enjoy traveling? Or maybe you just like relax at home and read a good book. Just type it in and find out who else shares your passion!


Relationship Advice

Date Info Webzine & Weekly Newsletter

Each week we feature expert advice about dating and relationships, entertainment and health. Post your feedback, take our interactive polls and even ask our experts for advice.

Stay current with our free newsletter offering fresh dating advice and highlighting members who've been successful at finding someone.

1.We'll help you create a great profile.
2.Hundreds of relationship articles by top experts.
3.Interact with our exclusive dating advisors.
4.Learn the psychology of online dating.
5.Find out what our members think about dating.
6.Get advice on how to meet someone online and go from your first email to your first date.



Our Community

You might wonder why someone would choose to pay a fee to communicate with other singles on the net when there are so many chat rooms online where you can talk for free.

It's because of the quality of our members. Singles who subscribe to Virtualdatespace.com are professional, educated, and are serious about finding a healthy, happy relationship. Our site has millions of high quality singles as members which means the more people we have in our database, the more chances you have to find someone special.

And it makes sense that if you are willing to pay for a service, you will be far more serious about using it. Virtualdatespace.com is a fun and safe way to make friends and expand your social life - and it works!



Success Stories

Whether it was love at first sight, an interesting first date, a marriage proposal, a wedding, a first child, or simply something that felt like a premonition of good things to come, we can't keep up with the thousands of success stories our members have sent to us over the past decade.

If you need any proof that our site works, feel free to take a look at our huge collection of happy stories and photos, written with love by excited our site members who thank us for helping them find the special person they'd been searching for. VirtualDateSpace.com success stories serve as inspiration to others all over the world who desire a similar romantic fate.

Read our success stories or start your search to find someone.




Our Goal

At VirtualDateSpace.com, we don't tell you what type of relationship is right for you. Our goal is to broaden your social horizons, Interact with other members and our belief is that by meeting a variety of people, you will find that special someone. And that can happen a lot sooner than you think.

Millions of singles all over the world are drawn to VirtualDateSpace.com. Some seek casual relationships while others search for great friendships that will stand the test of time. Many seek something more serious along with a love that will last a lifetime. Yet, regardless of the end result, we believe that...
Every relationship begins with a love.

I do admit that i was only skimming through and may have missed some things but what I saw indicated that you have millions of professional singles looking for a relationship, this in itself is worrying as most scammers pretend to be professionals.

I also noticed that you put out a weekly newsletter, I would hope that the newsletter would include information and advice about scammers as well.

The problem of scammers is there, you cant sweep it under the carpet and pretend it doesn't exist, be open with your members and they will be safer and appreciate that you actually do care and if they are better able to spot the scammers they in turn will help you to spot them and make your job easier.

As the others have mentioned we ar only to happy to help you but from my quick look there is still a way to go.

Just adding, in your Dating news section i did find a mention about scammers;

Police warn of Nigerian online dating scam
04/09/08

No matter what Dating site you are a member of, do NOT give any money or personal information about yourself, bank account, social security numbers..ect.

That was 3 years ago, perhaps some current news about scammers would help, you could set up a google alert quite easily for keywords such as "dating scam", "romance scam" or "love scam" and you will be sent links to the latest news about scammers that you could include in your "latest news " section

[duckhunter]

Romeo is presently working hard to clean up the site. Hopefully we'll see some warnings up soon too.