The Dangers of an Online Dating Romance

Today there are thousands of places on the internet to find that "perfect" mate. There are online chat rooms, online dating services and online hook up sites for those who just want to hang out. It is no longer necessary to get dressed, go out to a club or a bar and put on your best face. It is easier but is it better? Some say yes, but law enforcement everywhere says it is smart to be cautious.

While there are a number of reasons for some folks that online romance would be a good thing, there are a great number of dangers that come with the practice as well. For instance, let's take the case of Carl, a 40 something man from Central California. Carl has played the traditional go out and meet someone game and has discovered that, for him, it is overrated. However he has also recently discovered that the concept of online romance isn't what it's chalked up to be either. Carl has met three different women online and developed a relationship with them. Each time he has nursed the relationship until he felt it had grown enough to "take the next step". Carl has then packed up his belongings and joined each of these women in their respective home states only to discover that once he was there they were not what he thought they were.

"The bottom line is that you can lie," Carl says, "and no one is the wiser." Carl discovered what thousands of people trying to find online romance have, the screen in front of you rather than a person allows the person with whom you are talking to misrepresent them selves as you build your online "relationship". Carl didn't know any of these three women and now realizes that he couldn't have because he was not face to face with them. This is not to say that there are not online relationships that do work, there are, however they are proving to be far and few in-between.

Another more serious danger when it comes to online romance is the chance that the person you are speaking with is not only not the person you think he or she is but is also a psychopath. It happens, and these days it is happening more than anyone wants to address. Women tend to be the victim in situations such as this however there have been cases where a man has met a woman online and ended up dead.

The bottom line is that when it comes to romance, good old fashioned meeting them face to face is the best way to go. However if you still feel like you need to cruise inline for a date, be careful and make sure that when you do finally meet that person on the other end of the screen face to face, it is in a public place or not alone. After all, you have no idea who is answering your questions online really and there are many people out there looking for both a date and a victim.