By GIFT NDOLWANE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – SOCIAL media users looking for relationships or marriages online are in for heartbreak owing to the prevalence of fake profiles and cyber scammers.
This is according to research by Kaspersky Lab, indicating that despite around one-in-three (31 percent) of people in South Africa using online dating services and apps, not everyone enjoys a positive experience.
The latest research suggests that people looking for “the one” online might be disappointed.
Many have come across fake information and photos, malicious links, scammers trying to extort information from them, or other people lying about what they are looking for in a relationship.
The research found that those searching for their soulmate on online dating platforms are in the minority, with just 10 percent locally using online dating to actually find a marriage partner.
That is compared to half (50 percent) of online dating users doing it for fun. Some 19 percent are simply looking for sex.
According to research, the online dating world is also rife with false information, causing more problems for those actually looking for love.
Over half (62 percent) of people have locally admitted to lying while dating online. These make themselves look better than in real-life.
“Online dating is a great way of meeting new people in our connected and busy online world, and it’s easy to see why one-in-three are doing it,” said Andrei Mochola, Head of Consumer Business at Kaspersky Lab.
“But it isn’t all plain-sailing, and those looking for their soulmate online are encountering a large amount of false information, scammers, or ulterior motives in the process.”
Mochola said like every popular online trend, people used online dating for malicious purposes.
“Far from advising users to avoid online dating altogether, we simply urge them to consider their safety at every step of the way.”
– CAJ News
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