Online Tax Scams to Guard Against

Most people may hate the tax filing season but scam artists are licking their lips in anticipation of this time of year.

Scammers are out in force as the tax filing deadline approaches. Here are some of the most common scams to be on the lookout for:

Filing false tax returns

The Internal Revenue Service's online filing system is convenient for taxpayers – and for scammers, too. Once a bandit clips your Social Security number, they can file a bogus return and divert the refund to their debit card or post office box. That leaves you having to explain to the IRS why you shouldn’t be arrested for tax fraud.

Promising refunds

Because the tax code is so complex and changes from year to year, scam artists can make plausible pitches that promise to deliver money to you from the federal treasury for a credit you never heard of. For example, one swindle involves the American Opportunity Tax Credit. The credit is designed to help families pay for current college expenses. Scam artists are telling unwary targets that the credit applies to college expenses incurred at any time in their lives or even for taxes paid on groceries.

IRS correspondence

For many Americans, tangling with the IRS has all the allure of major dental surgery. If the IRS sends an e-mail asking for information that can be used to empty a person’s bank accounts or steal their identity, most people will turn it over and sigh with relief that that's all the IRS wants from them. Phishers are aware of those attitudes, which is why they craft e-mails pretending to be from the IRS soliciting that kind of information. Sometimes, they include attachments with those mails, too, which can plant nasty software on a recipient's computer, or links that can accomplish the same thing.

Here are some tips to help you avoid becoming a victim of tax fraudsters:

• Ignore all e-mail from the IRS. The agency doesn't contact taxpayers through e-mail about tax refunds or tax payments. Neither does it request banking and Social Security information via e-mail. On the other hand, scammers do. Suspicious e-mail can be forwarded to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
• Send all unsolicited offers for tax services to the trash bin, and whatever you do, never click on attachments in blind solicitations.
• Keep your security software up to date. A good Internet security suite can provide you with a second layer of defense should your first layer -- common sense and skepticism -- be penetrated.
• Choose your tax preparer carefully. Remember that someone who prepares your taxes has all the information they need to steal your identity, too.

Finance sector a magnet for online frauds

THE financial sector continues to be a magnet for frauds and cyber crime is becoming a major threat as increased internet usage gives rise to scams and data theft, a global survey has found.

Information technology experts say online banking creates fertile ground for frauds who use scams such as phishing to steal clients’ money after obtaining their account details.

Professional services company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says in its latest global survey on crime: "Most individuals and organisations rely upon the internet and connected technologies, opening themselves up to the risk of attack from global criminals from anywhere in the world."

PwC partner Louis Strydom said up to 40% of respondents in SA had not received cyber crime training or awareness communications of any kind during the past 12 months.

About 46% saw cyber crime as an external threat, he said, warning that companies should recognise the potential internal risk of the crime and prepare themselves accordingly.

"We are experiencing comparable levels of cyber crime to our international counterparts. South African banks are at the forefront of technology and combating cyber crime, but continued vigilance is required," Mr Strydom said yesterday.

Criminals were posing as cellphone company representatives and tricking customers into switching off their phones while they tried to gain access to their bank accounts, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre warned recently.

"Our survey showed that cyber crime has been rising rapidly over the last two years. We also found that South African companies still have some way to go with regard to readiness," Mr Strydom said.

PwC said globally, embezzlement — particularly by senior executives such as directors and other employees in key positions — was another growing problem, as was external fraud.

Globally, 45% of organisations in the financial sector had suffered fraud in the past 12 months, compared with 30% in other sectors, while cyber crime was the second most commonly reported type of economic crime.

Source: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=169376

How Credit Card Companies Detect Fraud

As many as 10 million cardholders could get phone calls from their issuers notifying them of suspicious activity posted to their accounts.

Most customers will be happy not to have to pay for stuff they didn’t buy.

But few of them will know exactly what was involved in averting a potential disaster.

Here's what happens:

Credit card companies detect fraud by flagging several different kinds of transactions. Among them are large purchases made just after small ones, online purchases and purchases that don’t fit a cardholder’s profile.

They have incentive to do this: Credit card companies "lose approximately seven cents per every hundred dollars of transactions due to fraud,” said Andrew Schrage, co-owner of the Money Crashers Personal Financewebsite. “For 2010, this translated into roughly $8.6 billion.”

If the credit card company "notices a relatively small purchase — for example, gas, followed by a large one say, for a flat-screen TV — this is likely to tip them off,” he said. “This is standard behavior for a criminal with a stolen card. They make one small purchase to see if the card is still active, and then make a major purchase.”

The anonymity of the Internet makes it an ideal venue for credit card thieves, he added.

“A large number of online purchases in a short period of time is also likely to get a credit card account flagged,” he said. Multiple purchases in rapid succession will also set off the credit card companies’ alarm bells, whether they’re made online or at a store.

Credit card companies also monitor cardholder transaction habits to establish individual customer profiles. These help issuers determine which purchases are standard operating procedure for the cardholder, and which ones deserve closer scrutiny.

According to Steve Weisman, author of “The Truth About Avoiding Scams,” issuers become suspicious whenever a transaction occurs that falls outside of the parameters of a customer’s profile. So if a cardholder usually only uses a credit card buys groceries and pay the dry cleaning bill but suddenly incurs a charge for five Louis Vuitton handbags, it’s almost certainly  a red flag.

Similarly, people who do most of their spending in the U.S. should notify card issuers before traveling overseas, as any charges they incur in a foreign country could be flagged.

The ex post facto nature of credit-card fraud detection may not offer much comfort to uneasy cardholders. However, they should be aware issuers spare no effort to crack down on these crimes, and not just because it’s good for their customers.

So the next time the credit card company calls to let you know they’ve detected suspicious activity on your account, remember they have as much of a vested interest in stopping it as you do.

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/46907307

Sweepstakes Scam: South Florida Senior Robbed Of $9,500

If someone calls to say you've a won sweepstakes that you never registered for, don't fall for it.

An elderly woman in South Florida lost $9,500 to scammers who told her on the phone that she needed to pay $20,000 in taxes in order to claim a sweepstakes prize totaling more than $1 million, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. The 70-year-old woman sent two personal checks to an address that the caller had said was for the IRS.

The scam was uncovered by an annuity holder, who became suspicious and contacted the police after the elderly woman tried to cash out an annuity, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The woman lives alone on just $1,500 per month.

Jeff Atwater, Florida's chief financial officer, said in a statement that he is proud that the police prevented the victim from "giving away her life savings to these scam artists."

Real lotteries do not ask for money upfront, and it should be a "red flag" if you are told that you've won a lottery that you never registered for, Atwater's press release noted.

Also, don't trust strangers. Anyone that you don't know who is offering you free money probably is lying to you. Don't send money to anyone you don't know.

The elderly woman in South Florida is not the only person who has fallen for a sweepstakes scam. A woman in Plymouth, Massachusetts, recently sent nearly $500 in Walmart gift cards to scammers who had convinced her she had won a sweepstakes, according to Wicked Local.

Some scammers do their work in person. A scammer told a victim at a Goodwill store in Riverside, California, earlier this month that she had a winning lottery ticket, according to ABC 7 News. She offered to share part of the jackpot if the victim gave some cash upfront. The victim said yes.

Similar scams are also common by mail. A man in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, recently received a letter in the mail telling him he had won $450,000, according to Patch. It included a fraudulent check to help pay for a $4,100 processing fee. He did not fall for the scam and instead told the police.

A woman in St. Cloud, Minnesota, recently received a letter saying she had won $2.1 million, but that she needed to pay a $34.99 processing fee, according to AM 1240 WJON.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/sweepstakes-scam-elderly-lottery_n_1385758.html

Schemes & Rip Offs: Online G.E.D. Scam

The folks who run the G.E.D. tests for students who didn't graduate from high school have a strong warning about on-line scams, targeting the hundreds of thousands of people.

Denise Richardson was one of the victims.  She knew that going back to high school or taking the GED would take more time than she had.  So she went on-line and found what looked like the perfect solution.

For a few hundred dollars, she could take what she thought was the G.E.D. test on-line, and if she passed, get her diploma.

"It was like a perfect opportunity and so that's where they got me," Richardson said.

After $500 and a 5-hour test, she got her diploma.  But when she then tried to enroll in a local technical college, they were suspicious.  Turns out, the test and diploma were fake.

The real GED testing service says thousands of people have also reported getting taken the same way.

"If you're not coming in person to one of our official testing centers, it's not the real GED test," said GED Testing Service president and CEO Randy Trask.  "And it's not likely to be recognized by employers or colleges."

The GED testing service has filed a lawsuit against what it calls a network of 13 web sites, that allegedly used the company's trademark to offer fake tests and diplomas.

The defendant named in the lawsuit is reportedly in Pakistan now.

Meanwhile, the website and the 800 number associated with this case have been redirected to another diploma website that doesn't claim to have any U.S. accreditation.

Experts say the lesson we can all take away is to always go to the real G.E.D. testing website for information about how to take the real G.E.D. in your state.


Source: http://www.valleynewslive.com/story/17286337/schemes-rip-offs-online-ged-scam

Tax Refund Scam Costing IRS Billions Of Dollars

It's tax season and you know what that means: Time for scams.

The government is cracking down on a scheme that they say has already likely bilked the IRS of billions of dollars, theWall Street Journal reports. The perpetrators of the scam, which has been going on for at least five years, take the social security numbers of Puerto Ricans -- who don’t have to pay federal income taxes -- and use them to file fake tax returns.

Prosecutors have been able to secure multiple convictions of people involved in the scheme, but have yet to nab any of the top organizers, the WSJ reports. 

The Puerto Rican scam is just one of many ways that fraudsters are stealing billions from the IRS and taxpayers. The number of tax refund scams has increased 700 percent over the past three years both because of the prevalence of online filing tools and because the IRS doesn’t cross-check returns against payroll records in an effort to get refunds out quickly. Overall, more than two million fraudulent tax returns were filed last year, costing the government $2 billion, according to CBS.

As of March 9 of this year, the IRS had stopped 215,000 questionable returns, with $1.15 billion worth of refunds, according to Forbes. The most common forms of fraud? Identity theft and "phishing," or trying to get sensitive account information through electronic communication.

A tax refund scam rocked one small Georgia town this year, as more than 67 residents in a town of 5,000 got ripped off, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Fraudsters posing as legitimate tax prep companies tricked some residents of Elberton, Georgia into letting them file their tax returns then tricked the IRS into sending them most of the refund instead of the victims.

And in North Carolina, the attorney general's office says that as many as 15 taxpayers found that their identities were stolen when they tried to file their returns, according to a local NBC affiliate.


Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/30/tax-refund-scam-irs_n_1391490.html

GED scam offers tests online

You can't take a GED test online — yet.

At least, not legitimately.

The Region 9 Education Service Center announced Friday that if earning a GED is on your to-do list for the spring, you can start the process by attending three orientation days at its service center, Tuesday through Thursday.

If the orientation days are completed successfully, students move into free GED preparation in daytime classes at the Galaxy Center or Wayland Baptist or in evening classes at Region 9 — beginning the training as early as April 3.

Their announcement comes on the heels of a national report that fraudulent online testing services are offering fake credentials to students who pay a fee to pursue their GED and to test online.

The GED Testing Service filed a lawsuit against a network of 13 websites, alleging they used the GED trademark to set up convenient websites for earning a GED that offered fake tests and diplomas.

"If you're not coming in person, it's not legitimate," said GED director Randy Trask in a report by MSNBC on the "Today Show."

Octaviano Garza, Region 9 adult education program coordinator in Wichita Falls, said he only recently learned about the GED scams and hadn't had anyone personally complain to him about them.

He said some legitimate companies — including colleges — are in the GED business for a profit. Region 9, however, offers a program that's federally- and state-funded through the Texas Education Agency.

"And it's free," Garza said.

Paid programs "take advantage of those folks that really are not aware of the fact that ... the state offers it at no cost to students," Garza said.

Various legitimate online sites may charge a fee to help students prepare and practice for the GED test, but the test itself cannot be taken online.

Even his program won't administer the test but only prepares them with the orientation and classes.

"We try to set them up to succeed when they take the test," Garza said. "When we send them to take it, we know they will pass. We do practice tests and assessments. Once they get to the score they need on the practice test, then they need to go take the test."

The Region 9 program is held accountable by the state and federal government and must show proof of moving students along a timeline of six accomplishments that lead up to completion of the GED.

Region 9's program starts with the three-day orientation that serves as a screening for a participant's commitment to the process. It's also a training opportunity to give them information about goal-setting, dealing with barriers, budgeting and planting the seed about the possibility of going further than just the GED in their education.

It primes them for success, Garza said. "We show them job pay ranges and different things they can do in different professions."

The Chamber of Commerce officials also visit the orientation and urge students to earn the National Career Readiness Certificate, which will give them an edge with employers. It certifies the student has mastered soft skills that enhance their performance in the workplace.

The three days of orientation can be taken in the daytime, from 9 a.m. to noon, or in the evening, from 6 to 9 p.m., and anyone interested in preparing for their General Education Development Test — the GED — must attend all three days in daytime or evening.

Once complete, students are folded into ongoing GED classes at a convenient place within the 12-county area by April 3.

Another spring orientation begins April 23, 24 and 25. The next orientation begins in July.

Such classes are more needed than ever before, Garza said.

Both nationally and locally, the drop-out rate is rising. Once, one in five students dropped out of school without earning their diploma; today, it's one in four.

"That's pretty bad," Garza said. The problem affects students in all subgroups, but mostly low economic and minority students, or those who come from homes where both parents work and emphasis is not given to academia, he said.

Source: http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2012/mar/24/ged-scam-offers-tests-online/

Beware of mortgage settlement scams

Realtors are warning California homeowners to beware of solicitations from scammers claiming to provide assistance related to the recent national mortgage settlement. An official warning about the mortgage settlement scams was recently issued by the office of California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris.

The national mortgage settlement is an agreement reached by 49 state attorneys general and the federal government with the nation's five largest loan servicers--Bank of America/Countrywide, JPMorgan Chase/Washington Mutual, GMAC Mortgage/Ally Financial, Citibank/CitiMortgage and Wells Fargo/Wachovia, after many months of negotiation. The settlement, which will provide as much as $25 billion in relief to distressed borrowers and direct payments to states and the federal government, addresses past mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses and fraud, provides substantial financial relief to borrowers harmed by bank fraud, and establishes significant new homeowner protections for the future.

"Often, on high profile settlements like this, scam artists prey on the vulnerability of desperate homeowners. Their goal is to make a quick profit through fees for services they claim they can do," said Suzanne Yost, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors. "Financially distressed homeowners are especially vulnerable to scams."

Homeowners receiving solicitations from third parties offering them access to funds under the national mortgage settlement should not provide any personal or financial information. They should report the solicitation to the California Department of Justice or file a complaint online athttp://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL.

Californians seeking relief under the state's recent $18 billion mortgage settlement should heed the following tips to avoid falling prey to scams:

• Be skeptical of third-party phone solicitations. Only your bank/loan servicer can assist you with regard to the recent national mortgage settlement.

• Do not give a solicitor your personal financial information such as your bank account number, Social Security number or even the name of your loan servicer. Your bank will already have this information.

• Never pay an upfront fee for mortgage-related services. It is against California law and should be reported to the California Department of Justice.

• Call your bank directly to see if you qualify for relief under the settlement.

For additional information regarding the mortgage settlement, visit http://oag.ca.gov/nationalmortgagesettlement. For free, trustworthy advice, homeowners may also call a HUD-approved counselor at 888.995.4673, or call Keep Your Home CA at 888.954.5337.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/saratoga/ci_20210195/beware-mortgage-settlement-scams

Emergency Scams Thrive on Money Transfers

You get a call out of the blue. Someone you know is either in jail or in an accident. They need cash fast. “Can you wire the money?” 

This “emergency” scam has been around for a while, but lately it’s been targeting older Americans. It always involves an urgent need for money that should be wired to some remote location.

More than half of the 900,000 fraud complaints reported to the U.S. Federal Trade Commissioninvolved wire transfers. The modus operandi works well for the swindlers, who generally take the money and run.

Western Union, a company that provides money-transfer services, warns that “with upcoming spring and summer travel, we are advising consumers to look out for fraudsters pretending to be family members or friends who have run into trouble (often while traveling or overseas) and are asking you to send them money immediately through a money transfer service.”

Here’s how older people are targeted, courtesy of the Mississippi Attorney General’s (MAG) Office:

“There are commonly two methods used in an attempt to fulfill this scam. In the typical scenario, a grandparent receives a phone call from the fraudster claiming to be one of his or hers grandchildren.  The caller goes on to say that they are in some kind of trouble, usually a car accident, returning from a foreign country, or even bail money and need money immediately.

Victims don’t verify the story until after the money has been sent as the caller specifically asks that they do not want other relatives to know what has happened by asking  `Can you please help me?  I’m in jail (or in the hospital or in some type of financial need). But don’t tell Dad.  He would kill me if he found out, please sent the money ASAP. I’m scared.’

Wanting to help their grandchild, the victim sends money by a money transfer company such as Money Gram or Western Union. Variations on the scam exist such as an old neighbor, a friend of the family etc. but predominantly the emergency scam is directed toward the grandparents.

In a recent variation of this scam, compromised contact lists from hijacked email accounts are used to send the potential victim an “urgent” email request for money from a friend or relative with whom they have a correspondence. Common themes continue to be hospitalization or imprisonment while away from home.  The friend is unaware that their account has been used to send out these requests to everyone on their contact list.”

How do you avoid these grifters? Here’s more advice from the MAG:

Your first safeguard is do not respond to any unsolicited e-mails of this nature.

• Do not click on any attachments associated with such emails, as they may contain viruses or malware.
• Educate yourself and your family on how the scam works.
• Be suspicious of anyone who is vague in identifying themselves on the phone.
• Be suspicious of anyone who calls unexpectedly and wants you to wire money–especially out of the country.
• Typically, the scammer will tell you to keep the conversation a secret.  Know that the right thing to do is to call someone else in the family to verify the situation.
• Consider creating a “code word” or a “password” for your family to use in emergency situations as verification of identity and do not tell it to anyone outside of the family.
• Always protect your PII (Personally Identifiable Information).  Giving it out could cause you to become a victim of identity theft.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/03/20/emergency-scams-thrive-on-money-transfers/2/

Dating safety: Don't let them steal more than your heart

When your grandparents started dating, chances are they knew each other already or had mutual friends. In those days, a blind date — going out with someone you hadn't met or knew nothing about — was a rarity. 

Today, with the boom in online dating, going on first dates with strangers is commonplace, while dating a friend seems like the "old-fashioned" approach.

Plenty of people find love online every year, but when you're dating a stranger, it's important to take steps to ensure the only thing they steal is your heart. Online dating, and other forms of blind dating, require extra caution to protect your personal information from those who might use it without your permission.

Safely connecting online 

Joining one or more dating websites can be a great way to meet people you might enjoy spending time with. Yet, nearly half of online daters fail to verify the authenticity of a potential match before communicating, according to a survey conducted by Impulse Research on behalf of ProtectMyID.

By following some basic safety guidelines, you can help ensure the experience is as positive as possible and minimize the risk of being targeted by cyber criminals who frequent dating sites.

First, be careful what you share in your profile. Never provide your full name, phone numbers, personal email addresses, home address, or other potentially identifying information such as where you work. Use the website's built-in tools for contacting and communicating with other members.

Be wary of requests for personal information such as where you bank or what you are doing. And be careful to not reveal potentially valuable information, such as your mother's maiden name (a frequently used identifier for online accounts).

These warnings sound obvious, but be alert that the information doesn't reveal itself in obvious ways. Scammers might make a request for a banking recommendation, or an inquiry as to where your family is from.

No matter how convincing the story, never respond to a request for money or financial information. Instead, report the individual to the website's security team; there's never any reason for someone you've just met (or haven't yet met) to make that kind of request.

While you're bringing so many new people into your life, keep an eye on your credit and financial accounts to ensure you detect fraud quickly. An identity theft protection service like ProtectyMyID can help you monitor your credit and know sooner if your identity has been compromised.

ProtectMyID uses daily Internet scanning to determine if your information appears on suspect sites or chat rooms that specialize in trafficking stolen credit card numbers. Identity theft resolution agents also provide personal assistance to resolve new identity theft issues.

Communicating safely 

Once you've made initial contact, be smart and cautious in your communications. Don't exchange private emails or engage in texting or instant messaging until you've gotten to know the person better through the website's protected communication methods.

When you're ready to talk to each other, consider doing so through an online service like Skype or Yahoo Messenger, rather than exchanging phone numbers. These free services allow you to have a voice conversation over the computer without revealing something as personal as your cell phone or land line number.

Meeting for the first time 

When you take the next step and meet in person, always take precautions. Meet in a public place and make sure a trusted loved one knows where you will be, who you are with and how long you expect to be there. Keep your cell phone handy and consider arranging a check-in with a trusted friend.

Drive your own car to the meeting or arrange for your own taxi; don't rely on your date for transportation. Adhere to the safety basics that you always have in place when you go out, including keeping personal items and your drink in your possession at all times and leaving unneeded ID like your Social Security card at home.

If meeting your online date requires long-distance traveling, you need to be even more careful and smart. Make sure someone at home knows your travel plans and schedule.

If you're arriving at your destination by plane, do not accept a ride from the person you're meeting and don't agree to stay in their home. Instead, arrange for your own rental car or taxi and stay in a hotel. Do not disclose the location of the hotel until you've met the person and established a level of trust.

Finally, if something doesn't feel right or you feel pressured, end the date immediately. Trusting your gut can help protect you from an unpleasant or unsafe experience. 


Source: http://www.postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1490969

How to Use Google and Facebook for Online Dating Safety

This week, the Attorney General of the State of California announced the Joint Statement of Key Principles for Online Dating Safety.

Online dating sites eHarmony, Match.com and Spark Networks have agreed to help their members date more safely.

As part of this agreement, sites will educate members on online dating safety tips, initiate a rapid abuse reporting system, and will screen against the sex offender list.

While this is huge news for the online dating industry, will it make you feel safer while looking for love online?

As a cyber-relations and online dating expert, I spend a large portion of my time educating singles on how to feel more comfortable and to practice online dating safety tips.

I encourage singles to trust their intuition as it can be powerful. However, I do have a few digital tricks up my sleeve that I'd like to share with you. After all, you're better safe than sorry.

I encourage you to use Google and Facebook, both sites that you're probably accessing daily as your dating buddy or support system. Here are five online dating tips to use, short of paying for a background check.

1. Sign up for a Google Voice phone number.

It's simple to do by visiting Google.com/voice. You can have your calls sent to your mobile phone or home phone and even activate call-screening to find out whose on the other end of the line. Text messages of your caller's transcript can be sent to your mobile phone. It's free. What are you waiting for?

2. Do a Google Search for the phone number of your date.

If your intuition says that something might be wrong with your potential date, type in his or her phone number into a Google search. This will confirm who they are and at times may reveal that there's been a problem associated with that phone number if it's been reported for suspicious activity in the past.

3. Set up a gmail account in Google to use for dating purposes only.

This will not identify who you are until you're ready to meet your date. You do need to protect your identity early on while corresponding with someone you haven't met yet.

4. Do a Google search for the email address of the person you're corresponding with.

While you want to go into your new relationship with trust in mind, if you feel uneasy for any reason, just type in his or her email address. This tip helped a woman who was corresponding with a man cancel her date when she found out that he had registered with that email address for a tantra sex and adult swingers site in a personal ad.

5. Search for your date's name on Facebook and see if the photos match up.

Sure we hope there's truth-in-advertising, but if the online dating photos appear to be 10 years younger and 15 pounds lighter, you know their fibbing on their profile. Check to see if you have any friends in common, which will make you feel better about meeting your date. However, don't send a Friends request before or after a first date. It's just too soon to be digitally checking up on each others' status updates.

At the end of the digital day, if someone is harassing you who you've met online or asks for money, report their profile right away to the dating site as suspicious. Dating sites take safety very seriously.

For more online dating safety tips visit CyberDatingExpert.com andFacebook.com/CyberDatingExpert

Julie Spira is an online dating and cyber-relations expert. She's the author of the bestseller, The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online. Follow@JulieSpira on Twitter.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-spira/online-dating_b_1373718.html