Hi Smiley,

Yikes..ooh..boy, right up my alley, with online dating relationships. I have been in so many I’m embarrassed to say. Social media such as Facebook and Google Plus to Online dating sites. And from my unfortunate experiences and warnings from my friends (whom I never listened to), these “relationships” never worked out.

There were alot of reasons why, and most is what you mentioned. Mixed signals, different religious beliefs. Although in my case, alot of the men I met were out of the state, and some were even out of the country, such as Iraq, Pakistan, Israel, Egypt..you name it. Boy, I wanted it to work. I was infatuated, in like, in love, bonded emotionally, fell in love, we would use Skype, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, Hangouts, to videochat, they were the first person I saw in the morning, last person I saw at night. After about two months, I found out this guy was using a fake profile, after asking me for money, after him telling me he was going to come visit me. I did a reverse search image on his profile picture, and he had stolen someone’s military picture. This was after I had fallen for him.

The other guy ended up “Catphishing” me, he did not love me like he said. He just wanted to use me to get out of the middle east and come to America. I still have not gotten over him. I guess what I am saying, is that I saw alot of doubt and hesitancy, uncertainty in your post. There is too much conflict going on with this person and that is a red flag. Not something you want in the long run. Many people on line show their best self at first, but it’s just show, then when time goes by, that’s when you see all the obstacles and hurdles.

I would say go with your gut. I’m not saying everyone online is “bad” but you do have to be careful, so many unknowns. Let me know your thoughts.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 5 months ago by Eliana.