With over 15% of marriages starting online it’s no wonder that the popularity of online dating continues to rise, with more people turning to online websites and apps to find their soul mate.
A week after Valentine’s Day Lincolnshire men and women have a number of online dating websites that offer them the chance to find love.
Ben Campaniello used one of these online dating sites and has since found love.
Ben said: “I only decided to go on it as a bit of a pass time, but I ended finding it so much easier than going out and meeting someone.
“After talking with a girl on the app for about a week we then used other social media sites to talk more until we eventually met up in person then things blossomed from there.
“I am as happy as I could be!”
However, there is always a risk with such methods of finding love.
People using fake profiles to scam others are becoming popular across all dating apps.
Lincolnshire Trading Standards, Lincolnshire Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner are advising people to be wary of those online as more cases of dating fraud become known.
Sally Gray, senior trading standards officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Romance fraud involves a stranger setting up a fake online identity or online profile, in order to enter into a relationship with someone. The intention is then to scam them out of their personal funds, or figure out their personal information.”
Nick, Preventing Financial Fraud & Op REVIVE coordinator at Lincolnshire Police, “Shockingly, last year, more than £50m was lost to romance fraud in the UK.”
Such programmes such as MTV’s Catfish have been made in order to promote romance fraud, however it does not seem to put people off making a profile and trying to find a soul mate.
It is vital to be cautious online and when talking to people online and to not forget that your own safety is of the up-most importance.