ONLINE DATING DANGERS: Police Name PlentyOfFish, Craigslist, Matchcom & Others
Police have strong suspicions that a female murder victim may have met her killer on the dating site PlentyOfFish.com, reported the Toronto Star, calling the killer the "Date From Hell."
With the revelation that police believe Sonia Varaschin may have met her killer online, her case joins a string of others in which dating websites are said to have played a role.
Describing it as "a new phase" in the nine month murder investigation, Ontario Provincial Police announced Wednesday that they are tracking down men Varaschin met on PlentyOfFish.com to see if they match DNA evidence recovered at the crime scene.
The same site was named in another Ontario attack last summer, when a Brampton man was arrested on charges of robbing and sexually assaulting a woman he met online. And it was named in a Halifax, Nova Scotia, police briefing about a number of gay men who had been attacked by men they met through "the well-known free dating site, Plentyof Fish."
PlentyOfFish advertises itself as "the leader in online dating," with 30 million registered singles. The website offers safety tips, advising its users to meet in public places and never agree to be picked up at home.
At the same time, customers must agree to terms of use that acknowledge "use of the service is at your own risk."
The site's CEO, founder and sole employee, Markus Frind, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
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PlentyOfFish isn't the only dating site making unfavourable headlines recently.
Last summer, the so-called "Craigslist killer," Philip Markoff, committed suicide while awaiting murder charges in the death of a Manhattan masseuse who advertised online.
Earlier this week, a student from the University of Central Florida was charged with raping a woman he met through Match.com. And this coming Monday, a lawsuit brought by another Match.com user who says she was sexually assaulted will go before a California judge.
Plaintiff Carole Markin, who revealed her identity last month, is calling on the site to institute background checks on their users. The man she claims attacked her has six convictions for sexual battery.
Parry Aftab, a leading Internet safety advocate, said dating websites have an obligation to keep their users safe, through better education and improved complaint systems.
"If somebody makes a report that somebody is risky or something is creepy, they should investigate it and terminate (the relationship with) that person," she said.
Some dating websites are safer than others, Aftab said. Free dating sites do little or no background checks at all. She advises people to set up separate email accounts for online dating and use pay-as-you-go cellphones that can't be tracked back to their owners.
As Winnie Lee, co-founder of Wuving.com, which provides relationship advice and recommends the best dating sites says, "We always advise caution with the free sites. A number of men have been ripped of by women claiming that they really wanted to meet them. So the men gave them their credit card numbers. Of course, their credit cards were quickly maxed out and they never heard again from these women.
"Needless to say, these sites are not recommended on Wuving.com. The top International Dating Sites -- Anastasia and Amolatina -- do background checks on their female members.
"The best sites provide complete backgound checks of their female members and provide security for their male members. Of course, men who join these services have to pay for this."
Learn more about Online Dating Safely. See "How to Contact and Meet Your Match Safely Online - Safer Online Dating: When Safety Really Counts Most In Dating" CLICK HERE: ONLINE DATING SAFETY TIPS
FreePRF.com warns daters who are entering the online dating market to watch for the following red flags when considering a potential partner:
1. Someone is interested too quickly. If the online relationship just began and the person is trying to encourage a meet-up immediately, this could indicate a potential problem. Let the relationship take a slow and steady course. Take at least a month for online conversation. Remember that when giving out a phone number it is possible to be giving out an address as well if they choose to do a reverse phone search. When it is time to move the relationship to a phone level, be the first to receive a number, be sure to get the first and last name of the person.
2. Someone wants to meet up alone - If the relationship progresses to the meet up stage, be sure to ask for a full name, and inform them a friend or family member will be joining. If they have an issue with this or get angry it is a sure reason for caution. Use FreePRF.com's public records search to research their first and last name, and any records associated with them.
3. Personal Information is requested - Never give out banking information, the value of a home, or net worth numbers. Scammers are quite good at appearing to be trustworthy people. Do not give money, even in the case of an emergency.
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As a therapist and relationship expert, I have seen a sea change in the way body image is perceived in modern society. Big Beautiful Women (BBW) Supersize Women (SSBBW) and Big Handsome Men (BHM) are increasingly accepted.
Big XL Size men have always attracted a certain percentage of adoring women and continue to do so today. And Curvaceous women are seeking loving men who will accept and cherish them as they are. As the folks at http://www.wuving.com well know.
- Kate
With the revelation that police believe Sonia Varaschin may have met her killer online, her case joins a string of others in which dating websites are said to have played a role.
Describing it as "a new phase" in the nine month murder investigation, Ontario Provincial Police announced Wednesday that they are tracking down men Varaschin met on PlentyOfFish.com to see if they match DNA evidence recovered at the crime scene.
The same site was named in another Ontario attack last summer, when a Brampton man was arrested on charges of robbing and sexually assaulting a woman he met online. And it was named in a Halifax, Nova Scotia, police briefing about a number of gay men who had been attacked by men they met through "the well-known free dating site, Plentyof Fish."
PlentyOfFish advertises itself as "the leader in online dating," with 30 million registered singles. The website offers safety tips, advising its users to meet in public places and never agree to be picked up at home.
At the same time, customers must agree to terms of use that acknowledge "use of the service is at your own risk."
The site's CEO, founder and sole employee, Markus Frind, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
*
PlentyOfFish isn't the only dating site making unfavourable headlines recently.
Last summer, the so-called "Craigslist killer," Philip Markoff, committed suicide while awaiting murder charges in the death of a Manhattan masseuse who advertised online.
Earlier this week, a student from the University of Central Florida was charged with raping a woman he met through Match.com. And this coming Monday, a lawsuit brought by another Match.com user who says she was sexually assaulted will go before a California judge.
Plaintiff Carole Markin, who revealed her identity last month, is calling on the site to institute background checks on their users. The man she claims attacked her has six convictions for sexual battery.
Parry Aftab, a leading Internet safety advocate, said dating websites have an obligation to keep their users safe, through better education and improved complaint systems.
"If somebody makes a report that somebody is risky or something is creepy, they should investigate it and terminate (the relationship with) that person," she said.
Some dating websites are safer than others, Aftab said. Free dating sites do little or no background checks at all. She advises people to set up separate email accounts for online dating and use pay-as-you-go cellphones that can't be tracked back to their owners.
As Winnie Lee, co-founder of Wuving.com, which provides relationship advice and recommends the best dating sites says, "We always advise caution with the free sites. A number of men have been ripped of by women claiming that they really wanted to meet them. So the men gave them their credit card numbers. Of course, their credit cards were quickly maxed out and they never heard again from these women.
"Needless to say, these sites are not recommended on Wuving.com. The top International Dating Sites -- Anastasia and Amolatina -- do background checks on their female members.
"The best sites provide complete backgound checks of their female members and provide security for their male members. Of course, men who join these services have to pay for this."
Learn more about Online Dating Safely. See "How to Contact and Meet Your Match Safely Online - Safer Online Dating: When Safety Really Counts Most In Dating" CLICK HERE: ONLINE DATING SAFETY TIPS
FreePRF.com warns daters who are entering the online dating market to watch for the following red flags when considering a potential partner:
1. Someone is interested too quickly. If the online relationship just began and the person is trying to encourage a meet-up immediately, this could indicate a potential problem. Let the relationship take a slow and steady course. Take at least a month for online conversation. Remember that when giving out a phone number it is possible to be giving out an address as well if they choose to do a reverse phone search. When it is time to move the relationship to a phone level, be the first to receive a number, be sure to get the first and last name of the person.
2. Someone wants to meet up alone - If the relationship progresses to the meet up stage, be sure to ask for a full name, and inform them a friend or family member will be joining. If they have an issue with this or get angry it is a sure reason for caution. Use FreePRF.com's public records search to research their first and last name, and any records associated with them.
3. Personal Information is requested - Never give out banking information, the value of a home, or net worth numbers. Scammers are quite good at appearing to be trustworthy people. Do not give money, even in the case of an emergency.
*
As a therapist and relationship expert, I have seen a sea change in the way body image is perceived in modern society. Big Beautiful Women (BBW) Supersize Women (SSBBW) and Big Handsome Men (BHM) are increasingly accepted.
Big XL Size men have always attracted a certain percentage of adoring women and continue to do so today. And Curvaceous women are seeking loving men who will accept and cherish them as they are. As the folks at http://www.wuving.com well know.
- Kate
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