Plenty of phishing ...?

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So, whoever you are, you may need a dating site one day. Most people used to meet through work and university but now it’s increasingly online and the older you are the more likely you are to be scammed - and to meet anyone - on these sites and so here is my guide to the most popular free dating sites online. What I class as free is you can actually interact with people with free messaging etc. Like nightclubs, most free stuff is for the women to get the paying men into the clubs... Ok Cupid 5/10 It was the king of this but in the last few years its pay side of the website had increased and the free side somewhat limited. You fill out a 50 question personality test and then begin your search, which reveals mostly the unattractive members, the freaks and the losers on the site. Essentially you have to a monthly charge to see the good looking people. Doesn’t matter what search criteria you put in you seem to have bisexual, transgender and gay women in your search. You get replies and it’s not big on scammers because of the low number of search options that come up but that’s about it. You have to pay for the attractive profiles here. Plentyoffish 7/10 This is much better for localized searches with lots of people in your area listed. It’s accepted as the best free model out there. They have a pay-wall that gives you better tools to see who has checked you out etc but not really needed here. You get lots of replies but as its busy, more likely to get messages you don’t want from scammers etc. The draw back here is if you like older people that are 12 years older or more your search criteria won’t show them. They also keen to ban members for various infringements and so block your IP number for a new account, as do OK Cupid. It has an app that is ok but limited on ease of use of the search engine. Mingle 2 3/10 The king of the scammers sites and they seem proud of it. As a male user once you start replying you are bombarded with profiles of stunning young woman with great bodies at increased states of undress and clearly fake profiles. They want you to add them on Hangouts where they sell you ‘webcam services’ or God knows what. Other scammers are the usual ones from West Africa and India pretending to be soldiers or what not and using stolen pictures to entice you in. They soon ask you for gifts or cash to buy airline tickets and tend to catch older lonely people out and the ones with no brain cells. It works so they keep doing it. Mingle seems to allow those fake profiles for its business model and reliant on the traffic to draw those all important adverts that fund the site. They delete the fake ones quickly as they are often generated by sophisticated ‘bots’ but who is to say the site don’t generate them to daw people in? You can buy extra services but that’s not going to help you have an enjoyable dating experience on here. It also has an app but even worse for adverts there. One or two pluses is you can’t send a photo to someone you responded to until hey send you one so no unwelcome ‘tackle’ pictures from guys, and you can’t spam people as after a fifth straight message to them without reply you have to wait until they reply to keep correspondence going. Tinder 6/10 The online app is the world’s most popular but if you don’t photograph well you will get few replies. It’s pretty brutal. Some people swipe everyone ‘Right, however ugly, in the hope of getting replies. Swipe left means reject the profile. It does feel like most profiles are real but there are the usual scammer’s in-bedded. There is an increasing pay service with things like the ‘Super likes’ but it doesn’t feel like you are being denied members profiles because you are too ugly or they are too gorgeous. Again, if you are not cute don’t expect many replies. That thing about older women not into looks, tight bums is complete nonsense. I guess it’s the most honest dating site as you are rejected like a wonky fruit in the supermarket on your looks. Badoo and Hotornot 4/10 I put them together as they are especially the same website with the same members with the same tools and rules. For some reason they are not merged. There are fewer members here and a ‘Like’ or ‘Not Like’ box tick system. It’s rare to get replies and the women very working-class. This is not for professionals or the middle class, the more tattoos the better your chances. The pay side allows you t find out who checked you out etc. A plus here is they run a verification service to stop scammers and if you don’t have the green tick then you trust members less you are talking to. It’s the sort of website where they pay people to pretend to be dates to string people along to buy message packs or monthly subscriptions. Bumble 7/10 This one is tricky as most of the ladies I searched are good looking and so it doesn’t feel right somehow. You get the odd reply if you don’t look like Tom Cruise and the women are more middle-class here, a positive. A lot of them know how to Photoshop so selling themselves like they would at a job interview, looking like the sort of pouting people who go on The Apprentice. You can’t send a conversation with someone you like and have responded to until they say hi so safer for women. It’s the best one for those who use pay services but don’t want to this time.