Many people have seen the tv show "Catfish" or at least heard the term before. If you haven't, it describes a person who leads another person on in a strictly online relationship. In cases like these, the perpetrator creates an entirely fictitious person that the victim falls for and becomes invested in. These people have never met face to face and may have never even heard the others voice. This is what I would consider on the low end of the dark side of online dating. While it may hurt the victim mental or emotionally, there isn't any real life harm done and law enforcement is seldom involved.
As we progress up the scale, you can come across some very interesting characters within the online world. There are those with ridiculous fetishes or those hungry for power and control or those whom would sooner assault their "romantic partner" than listen to a grievance. Above catfishers would have to be sociopaths. They are those "perfect" profiles just surfing, stalking, and targeting those individuals who seem lonely and able to be easily taken advantage of. Sociopaths are those people who seem to have just a little too much in common with you, most likely because they adjusted their profile to match, hoping for an easier pickup. Once you're hooked, you get carried away into a fast paced relationship in which you're encouraged to quickly give out personal details like phone number or accepting a friend request on Facebook. These people are strictly here to manipulate and take advantage of others.
We now move to the worst part of the spectrum. A combination of
sociopath, catfisher, and outright criminal. In an article from huffington post, we catch a glimpse of
the truly dark side of people. It goes without saying that online dating can be
risky and should be taken at a slower more careful pace than in the real world,
but even so, there is always that chance of finding that one wack-job who is
missing a few brain synapses or has been through a very difficult,
untraditional life. In the story, a man, Gilles, found a “perfect match,” which
leads back to the sociopath side. But when Gilles went to meet for the first
time, it turns out he was outright catfished, because “she” was a “he” and he
was wearing a hockey mask and tried to attack Gilles. It turns out, Gilles got
pretty lucky, because a short time in the future, it was reported that a man was
murdered and the same mask was recovered from the scene. At this point, Gilles
stepped forward and told his story, and with his help, the police caught the
aspiring serial killer.
Now, you probably have a better chance of winning the lottery than you
do of this happening, because it is definitely the worst case scenario, but
this also isn’t the first instance of murder, kidnapping, or other nefarious
acts performed with the help of online dating sites.
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