When it comes to online fraud, most people have a zero tolerance policy. Common sense tells us that nobody wants to be conned out of their money, let alone their emotional state of being. While they say love is blind, online lonely hearts may also be turning the other cheek to potential fraud for the sake of a little companionship.

According to the article, “Online dating scams harm ‘thousands’ in Lee County,” Stacey Payne of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office community relations department says oftentimes those seeking love online either don’t want to believe it, are embarrassed, or simply don’t mind that the person they are in love with is a scammer. (more…)

One day before Valentine’s Day, Computerworld put out a terrific article focused on the technology used in the online dating industry, an industry growing 10% annually according to Forrester Research. This is timely news as the highest demand for internet dating sites comes just before Valentine’s Day, when most sites double their traffic, if not quadruple it.  In the article, titled “Online Dating: The Technology Behind the Attraction,” editor Robert Mitchell outlines four basic and necessary steps for the online dating business model:

1. Provide visitors with instant feedback (or matches)
2. Convert visitors from “Just Looking” to “Paid Customers”
3. Deliver high quality connections or matches
4. Keep the quality of the prospect pool high, by weeding out scammers, spammers and fraudsters. (more…)