Love & Relationships

If you’re one of the 40 million North Americans using a dating website, you might have narrowed your search by using an “exclusive” site that caters to a specific personal interest. For example: Today there are dating sites geared exclusively for pet lovers, non-smokers, single parents, certain religions, and one that’s just for tall people! According to MSNBC, a growing number of singles are discovering that even on those exclusive sites, you can’t escape the so-called “date crashers” who post fake or misleading information about themselves.

Consider what happened to Vicki Rimasse, a single mother who joined a site called SingleParentMeet.com. She says she was hoping to connect with men who understood the challenges of raising a family. Instead, she kept meeting men who didn’t even have kids! Then there’s Garvey Rich, a photographer who uses J-Date, a popular online dating service for Jewish singles. On a recent date with a woman he met from the site, he says he was stunned when she admitted she’s not Jewish! Of course, lying in an online dating profile is nothing new. People lie all the time about their age, height and job. Why pretend to be Jewish, or a parent, if you’re not?

Tina Tessina is a psychotherapist who says most date crashers have a genuine interest in falling in love, but they may feel like they’re running out of options. In other words: They’ll sign up for an exclusive dating site after striking out at other sites, because they’re hoping they’ll have more success if they meet a whole new crop of people. They may also have a thing for single moms, older women, or Jewish guys. Tessina says the problem is that going on a site under false pretenses rarely works, because successful relationships depend on the character of two individuals. So, unless you’re honest from day one about who you are, and what you’re looking for, you’ll come across as fake, and have unsuccessful relationships. If you choose to use one of these exclusive sites, you should use as much caution as you would on any other dating site, because as this report confirms, people aren’t always who they say they are online.