Fake Profiles are the scourge of the online dating world. These are the “filler” people that dating sites often include on their site to skew the membership numbers and attract more people. If you’ve ever seen a dating site launch that somehow has thousands of members, you begin to understand where the problem begins. Some may consider this to be a harmless practice—one of the necessary requirements to building an online dating community. Yet it becomes very easy to see how companies could turn a benign act of membership padding into an aggressive and mischievous money grab from would-be members.

You need not look far for evidence that fake profiles exist. You can run Google searches for companies selling dating software and you'll see that some come complete with members already installed. Employees of certain dating sites admitted to me that they had thousands of fake profiles when they started. Once you get your head around how the game is played, you can be a smarter, savvier dating consumer.

"The last thing anyone wants to do is drop money on a fake profile."

It would be nice to say that fake profiles are easy to spot – but they’re not. They can come complete with an articulately worded essay, a whole list of hobbies and accomplishments, a flirtatious tag line and even a quality picture in their profile. If you don’t have a picture up or haven’t really said anything in your profile of interest and you’re getting emails asking you to pay to communicate with someone, I’d be very leery. Mind you, I believe that men and women are very different. A woman is more likely to be approached by a man even without a photo than a man is by a woman. It’s just the way our world works. If this is the case, I’d say that worry about fake profiles is secondary to the danger of going out with a man who is grasping at profiles without pictures on dating sites. There just aren’t many decent people around who are willing to take such a shot in the dark. If you have a picture up or have really written something witty, then maybe it will be a bit more difficult to tell the real profiles from the fake ones. But if you are a guy and all you have is text in your profile and no picture, watch out because you might soon see what fake profiles are all about.

The last thing anyone wants to do is drop money on a fake profile. This isn’t always easy to avoid. There are generally two different kinds of payment systems that are used on dating sites today: paid monthly membership and credit-based systems. The most popular by far is a set monthly fee where you can contact unlimited members during the duration. This system has its pros and cons. If a fake profile contacts you and wants you to pay to contact them, it’s a one-shot deal. The down side is that you pay the piper a large set fee and they play your song for a month. The up side is that you can then go crazy and contact anyone you want during that time, real and fake profiles included. With a credit-based system, it can be harder to hold on to your money. Fake profiles from aggressive companies could continually bombard you with requests to chat, and if you’re willing, you could spend an endless amount of money talking with hired help as opposed to possible connections. One way to get around this is to be selective. If someone hits you up to chat, never, ever pay, no matter how cute they are. You’re worth the $2 or whatever it costs to chat so let them pay to talk to you. Avoiding fake profiles in their entirety might be next to impossible, but the good news is that there’re sites out there that really can connect you with living, breathing people in your area.

Online dating is fun, exciting and allows you can connect with people in your area that you'd never meet otherwise. You shouldn’t be frightened away by the possibility of fake profiles—just be aware. Start by joining some of the more reputable sites or by asking friends which ones they’ve had success on. Although fame and fortune aren’t always the best ways to make decisions when it comes to dating, certain sites are doing it right. Read the reviews here on Cupids Reviews for some of our top picks and best of luck keeping those fake profiles at bay!