[KellieCM]

PC World is working on an article about online dating, and we're looking for your horror stories! Share your worst and funniest experiences with online dating, and your story may be included in an upcoming PC World article.

[TechyGuy]

Well, let's see here . . .
I had a relative who, once upon a time, registered on eHarmony. He filled out all of the forms, and told as much about himself that he possibly could before he reviewed his "matches". So, a day or two later, he logs on to eHarmony too take looksie at his reccomended "matches"; where he finds this one woman who "matched" his criteria exactly. After he messages her,and chats with her (online), they decide to meet for the first time at a local restaraunt. So, this relative of mine is really excited . . . until his "date" doesn't show up at first. "Okay", says he, "Maybe she's just running late". So, there he waits. And waits. After a few hours, still no sign of his "date". Feeling like he had been ripped off, he drives back home, and logs on to eHarmony; and notices that he has a new message from his theoretical "match". The subject reads "n00b". Furiously, he opens the rest of the message, only to find that someone had completely scammed him . . . and this was after about a month or two of this relative of mine doing anything to find new love, along with paid services via his online dating site.
The lesson? Be cautious when using these type of sites, and make sure that the people you connect with via these sites are genuine. I'm sure that my uncle(that certain relative I was speaking of) learned this.

[GoneFishing]

OK well I really shouldn't do this as I have no bad experiences with online dating, 2 years of it, just no one that "clicked" and then I met someone online in another country, went there, expecting the worst, got married 6 weeks later and never went home, it's been 10 months now and she treats me like a husband wants to be treated, in hind sight I figured out why dating sites at home have so many horror stories, desperate people wanting to meet someone that won't take advantage of them, lots of caution on both sides, maybe too much, but for good reason, I traveled 12,000 miles, (you don't do that for the hell of it), to meet some one who wanted a LTR just as much as I did, key word WANTED, it's the WANTED on both parts that makes the big difference in a real happy ending-sorry guys it's the truth

[AuroraDizon]

I don't have any horror stories. I met my husband online in a jla rpg board and am very happy. Apparently though one of my relatives back when the internet was first getting popular. (early/mid90s') met a guy online, he came to her house to like "move in" took all her stuff, possibly cleared out her bank account as well and took off.

[Evildave]

A few years ago I tried Match.com. I gave up after not very long at all. Seems the only women online were spambots trying to fish my email address.

People appear to have written software to make accounts to slap random pictures of hot chicks on and post up a message to every male profile.

There are a couple of easy ways to spot 'em.

1. They're ALWAYS from a different state.

2. Copy/paste likely snippets from the message into google and see if there's a hit. You'll usually see the message verbatim there.

3. They almost never match your profile.

Anyway, with the hundredth or so spam-bot message, I got the REAL message and killed the account.

[DimplesAkaKaren]

This Should be fun...lol...I have a couple of stories to share. I have never stepped foot into a dating site. But I have played online Poker. I started talking to a man from California, along with his wife, in a poker room. To make a long story short, they divorced and he contacted me thru an email, about a year later. We talked everyday, online and on the phone. He decided to come meet me. The plans were for him to come stay with me for a week, but he ended up staying for 2 1/2 months. We got along great! The day after Thanksgiving, he went back home to pack his belongings. He was gonna drive back here and stay for good. Well, that didn't happen. He had the nerve to call me and thank me for the Christmas package I sent him. Then he had the nerve to ask me if I would pay half his plane fare, to come for another visit. I snapped on him...gently....and blocked all contact from him. I did fail to mention to say that, his mother called him "everyday" while he was here with me. He also gave me "excuses" about his heart condition and an excuse about him getting custody of his daughter, etc. That didn't matter to me, and he knew this. Anyways...I dried the tears after a month and moved on. But...He did leave a "Beta Fish" behind. He did say that if we ever broke up, he wanted custody of that fish. Well, the poor thing died in his tank. I decided to freeze it for a day, then I stuck it in an envelope and mailed it to him. I sure did! I sent the frozen fish along with a letter that said : "Here's your fish, give it a proper burial. WE no longer have any ties together"...lol...That made me feel sooo much better
(I wish I was a fly on his wall that day)