Are you chatting to a genuine online dater or a Nigerian scammer? Become an online dating investigator and use these 5 Tips to spot a Nigerian dating scammer.
Before you start playing hot and frisky or declaring love to someone from an online dating site do a little research to find out if they are a Nigerian dating scammer.
First of all make sure you understand what the 419 internet dating scam is and how it works.
Remember these scammers are everywhere, not just in major online dating sites but also on forums and in chatrooms about every topic there is.
Even very small niche dating websites can occasionally let one slip through the net depending on how experienced the scammer is.
Now let’s start investigating this too good to be true, dying to get married to you person.
1. Trace the Dating Profile Photo
Is the dating profile photo just too good to be true, does it look like a model? If so it probably is.
The photo I have used on this post is one a Nigerian scammer stole from a model agency website and was using on online dating profiles.
However more sophisticated Nigerian scammers are now using very ordinary holiday snaps they find around the internet.
So either copy the images from their profile if the website hasn’t blocked the copy feature or ask the person to email you their photo’s .. now go to TinEye.com and upload the photo’s.
Tineye is a reverse image search engine and will find the image online even if it has been altered.
This will tell you where the original photo was uploaded, eg a model agency website or someones photo album.
Romancescam also has a photo database of known scammers. Just go to Scam Digger upload the photo(s) and it will compare them to the ones in their database.
2. Check Email Adresses
The Nigerian scammers favourite email and chat provider by far is Yahoo, I would say that over 90% of the scam profiles I reject from my dating site are using yahoo email addresses.
Look out for addresses with 4u, 4luv, 4life, 4love, 4ever at the end .. eg lillian4u@yahoo.com, it’s no guarantee but does ring alarm bells.
3. Track the IP Address
An IP address will give you the location of the web server they are using, if it goes back to Nigeria or Senegal for example then you might want to rethink your budding relationship.
IP addresses can be routed through certain websites so you would see a UK or US ip address but you can track back to the original.
This excellent blog post will take you step by step through tracking the original IP address of an email sender in GMail, Yahoo and Outlook.
Once you find the ip address just go to a free ip locator website and paste it in the search box.
This then lists the country, region and city of the server the sender is using .. clever isn’t it.
4. Search Profile Information
If the person you are chatting to has a well written profile, with a good standard of English grammar then copy and paste a couple of phrases and do a google search.
I’ve just tried it with one of todays scammers profiles on my dating site and the phrases originate on a US blogs about me page.
5. Ask to Chat on Webcam
Be persistent about this. These scammers will send you up to 30 photo’s of ‘themselves’ (they are often all photos of the same model taken from an agency website) but a webcam will show you who you are talking to.
Of course they won’t have a webcam, even if you send them money to buy one they will reel off excuse after excuse as to why it won’t work but that is what you want.
The more they refuse to show themselves the more suspicious you will get and the aim here is to protect you from these people.
June 20th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Just so you all know …. if you check an ip address and it comes up as Sunnydale California, this is where Yahoo and we all know Yahoo is a scammers best friend … so don’t be fooled and trace the original ip address from the email full header.
July 12th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
I think a person who thinks looking for love over the internet must be scammed in order to find love.
If you are looking for love, then look outside your home, in ur school, in a hospital, mortuary or anywhere. Why look on the internet anywayz.
The internet, is a business place, so anyone trying to look for love there, is looking to being a client, therefore must be scammed if not sharp enough.
Chairman says so!!!
July 12th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Hi Chairman
Well it’s an intersting comment but not one I can agree with. I know many people who have met in online dating sites or social networking sites and been happily married for years now.
Scammers are everywhere not just on the internet. The internet gives them the ability to create an alias in 5 minutes but that can be done offline as well.
Also don’t agree the net is a business place, I stay in touch with friends all over the world through the net.
July 12th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
This person makes me so angry, I was so lonely and being disabled find it difficult to get out and mix. I didn’t go on to the dating sites to be scammed and firmly believed I would find the love of my life on there.
I was constantly bombarded with scammers but just as I was about to give up hope in the space of a week I found my now best friend and the love or my life. I met him a lot quicker than I would recommend to anyone because his mate died and as I knew how he felt I up and went to his side to support him. It was as though we had known each other all out lives, no awkward silences.
I am so grateful to this site for helping me to discover the scammers, it has taught me so much. I think anyone who joins a dating site should have this website address given to them.
Thanks Sally for everything.
Rosalyn x
July 12th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Congratulations on finding your Mr Right Rosalyn and thank you for the kind words about this blog. I hope your relationship goes well and it brings you a lot of joy in this life.
See Chairman, internet dating can work, you just need the right tools to avoid the scammers.
July 20th, 2010 at 12:20 am
so don’t be fooled and trace the original ip address from the email full header. this kind of acction can be debastaited.
July 24th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
More ways to spot Nigerian (or African) spammers.
1. home cities are listed alot in NY or LA
2. discrepancies in grammar and capitalization errors. I have noticed these guys capitalize words in the middle of sentences for no reasons. The often use commas to end sentences where we would use periods.
3. Here’s a biggie. They talk about trust, God, love, honesty alot. They’re looking for a type or person to scam and of course people who are religious and have been hurt are the easiest to scam.
NEVER give out personal information when in doubt.
When in doubt, there is no doubt!
July 29th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
I watched something about this on dateline with Chris Hansen. He was showing a lot people in the U.S being used as intermediary shippers of merchandise that wouldn’t ship to the buyers own country, and all of the people doing the shipping were supposedly in some sort of e-relationship with the people they were shipping to. It’s shameful that someone would use others loneliness and pain as a tool for manipulation, when will we learn…
August 7th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
you guys are quite right,its so dissapointing,but some fellas do these things
August 9th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
A few missing tips! I cannot think of a single scam email I have received from Nigeria that has not had 1. Terrible grammar and 2. Reference to god is some way. “May god be with you” “You are blessed from heaven” “May you find happiness in your love of god and all you do” etc etc.
OK so reading the above comments I see that these have been mentioned.
Another thing to remember is that anyone can fall for these people. A professor at a large USA university got scammed for several hundred thousand last year and closer to home, my father in law got scammed for 60k a few years ago and he is a perfectly intelligent fellow.
matthew@uk business franchises´s last blog ..Norbell Limited