Killer Stalks on Plentyoffish

The Killer May Have Been the Date from Hell!

Sonia Varaschin was killed because she was lonely.

This recent tragedy in the Orangeville Ontario Canada area is the worst possible outcome of online dating sites. In this case, the victim's computer was researched for leads, but the real tragedy is the victim's choice of sites.

In choosing a free dating site like plentyoffish.com, the victim unwittingly maximized her risks. Let me qualify this statement.
I am not singling our plentyoffish.com, because other free online dating sites like OKcupid.com fall in the same camp.  These are not the only sites, but are two of the largest sites in this camp. Many of these sites are not even cognizant of the increased risk that they expose their customers to.

The problem here is that any site that allows two people to communicate in any way for free is dangerous. Here is why.

There are a lot of freaks and perverts out there. These range from simple nerds to sociopaths. There is a very real chance that someone who appears to be nice in a chat room is not so wonderful in real life, and the most dangerous ones are very clever at hiding their anti-social behavior. The most dangerous of course are homicidal stalkers. They may think nothing of taking your life.

You may wonder why I am singling out free online dating sites, when in fact I am not.
This range of sites also includes facebook.com. So the next time you accept a friend request from someone that you are not sure you know, think again. About the only thing that protects you from stalkers on facebook is that the friend of the friend you are accepting actually knows one of your friends. But if you and your friends are the types that just click on every friend request in some game to get the most friends on their list, then you are setting up people that you cherish in your life to a lot of hurt.

Social networking sites that require some form of payment before allowing communication are inherently safer. The reason is that the payment process is a very easy trace for police to follow, and for that very reason, sociopaths and known sexual predators stay clear of these sites.  It only takes them a small amount of time to set up a string of bogus email account on yahoo using a real email account as reference, then set up a phoney email account on gmail ,then erase the initial yahoo account.  Now just tie the gmail account to a fictitious email on AOL and it makes it tough to track you.  Smart stalkers use a trail for free emails spanning several countries and corporate entities, thus becoming more invisible.  Once the stalker has a largely untraceable email account on a free service like gmail, then they are free to use it to join all the free communication sites out there.  If they couple this with a disposable cell phone, you are now fully communicating with someone who looks legit, but is untraceable by anyone. They are free to do what they please with you..

So what can you do about it?
Well the first, and most important step is to stay off of free social network dating sites. They are just plain risky.
These next tips are just common sense details:
1) Make sure you communicate online for a fair length of time before meeting in person. Make sure that you use the anonymity features that most dating sites give you and do not let out any contact details to the person – such as where you work, live, or your external email address.
2) At the point where you want to hear their voice, use an untraceable cell phone or myprivateline.com.
3) When communicating, keep your bullshit filters set to maximum alert.  Look for inconsistencies. Look for inconsistencies in what they tell you by asking similar questions and making sure that the answers line up consistently. Be careful if the answers are not the same. He just might be stalking you. Stalkers will often mix up the stories that they tell different women, and that is one of your best weapons in finding if they are genuine or bullshit.
4) Seek recent photos, and think of some way that you can verify that the photo is recent.
5) Tell them that you are being careful right off the get-go. If they are honest and aboveboard, then they will not take offence and will comply. Be willing to reciprocate. Consider using the public library and use a current newspaper from a different town to keep your location secret.
6) Your first date should be in a public place and you should meet him there, and do not go home with your date.
7) Use your camera phone to take a picture of your date and send it to a friend while you are on the date, just in case something happens. He should know up front you are doing this, and if he has a problem with taking his picture, then get out ASAP!

Use your head before you let yourself lose your heart.

Now for a good resource to find sites where men have to pay to contact you, check out the following link:

Online Dating Sites