When Romance Does Not End Happily Ever After by Vivienne Diane Neal

Imagine you are a man or a woman searching for love, romance, or a lifetime partner; you are happy because you have met someone on an online dating site, at a social function, through a pen pal service, on a social medium, or through a chance meeting. You believe you have found true love and happiness and become romantically involved with that person. The relationship is going great; love has gotten a hold on you, and you are now ready to take that next step by committing yourself to that man or woman, but somewhere down the road, you discover that a heartless pretender has played a cruel joke on you.

When you read romance novels, the endings are supposed to end happily ever after or happily for now. In the real world, the two do not always come into fruition and can sometimes lead to broken hearts and empty bank accounts.

You discover that some folks will use love and romance as embellishments to pull people into their perverted lives and use any means necessary to get what they want. This is why it is so important to get to know someone before giving out personal or financial information to a potential love interest that you meet on an online dating site.

There are numerous dating sites that do background checks, but most will deny any type of responsibilities or liabilities if you decide to meet someone online and you become the victim of a criminal act perpetuated by that person. Just searching a name on search engines may provide some information, but the details may be sketchy at best. While there are no guarantees that you won’t come across a fraudulent individual, you can try to protect yourself against potential con-artists by observing a person’s character and actions in person and not behind a computer screen.

Before providing any pertinent details about yourself or your finances, get to know that person first, on a face to face basis.  If the conversation centers only on money, this may be a sign that the individual wants to get his or her hands into your nest egg.

If you have fallen hard for someone who lives in another state or country, and he or she wants to be with you, but does not have the resources to pay for the trip but will ask you to send money for a plane, train, or bus ticket, your sixth sense should go into full mode. Because you are so infatuated with the person and see your relationship blossoming into eternal bliss, you go ahead and send the money. Chances are you will never see that individual or your money.

The last thing you want is to end up losing the shirt or blouse off your back. So, be extra careful when you meet someone on an online dating site. Love is not cheap if you end up flat broke and busted.

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About the Author: Vivienne has just written her sixth novel, Deception in Plain Sight, which is due to be released in the fall of 2014.