Help and Support

Spam and Scams in your Christian Connection Inbox

The basic rule is NEVER EVER send money to somebody you have never met - even if you feel you really know them - and speaking on the telephone or on chat DOESN'T COUNT as actually meeting somebody!

For thousands of people community and dating sites are a great opportunity to meet new people and build new friendships. Unfortunately they have also provided an opportunity for some individuals and groups ("scammers") to target and exploit others. This varies from people simply trying to raise some money for themselves, to highly organised criminal groups.

Christian Connection works very hard to detect and remove scammers and are generally successful, but we also need our members to be vigilant and to report anything they feel is suspicious.

Scamming Emails

Scammers will intentionally create profiles and send messages to deceive others. Despite what they may say, they don’t really want you, they want your money!

Scamming emails will often mention a lucrative money making scheme, offering you the chance to make millions. Report these messages as soon as you get them, and DO NOT respond to them.

Alternatively you may develop a friendship/relationship with a member over a few weeks or months. You may be completely convinced that the other member is genuine but often various attempts at speaking by telephone fail to materialise.

At some stage you'll probably receive a message from them detailing a sudden personal crisis or tragedy, such as a relative or friend being diagnosed with a deadly illness, was in an accident or is stranded with no money far from home. These messages will sometimes ask for money or simply invite you to help. Do not send money. Report these emails to us and we can advise you whether they are likely to be genuine.

Spotting a Scammer

Here are some tell-tale signs to help you spot a scammer.

• the scammer claims to normally live in your country but is currently working in Nigeria, or serving in the army in Afghanistan or similar.
• the person who is approaching you is new to the site, has only logged in a few times, or logs in very rarely
• their profile is written in poor, broken English
• their photo is fake-looking, or obviously fake, or copied from somewhere on the Internet
• their photo is of a too-good-to-be-true young woman or man or is obviously a posed photo of a model
• they immediately ask you to contact them via live chat, regular email or Facebook (to avoid leaving evidence of their scamming to our administrators)
• you receive a message describing the details of a sudden personal tragedy/crisis out of the blue

Remember to report anything suspicious using the Report this message or Report this member links. We will treat your communication with us confidentially. If you have any doubts or questions about scammers, write to us.