Dating scams are increasingly common. The most well-known are Russian and Eastern European, with some of the most beautiful women in the world. Most Russian dating sites are full of women keen on relieving you of your money. But here the women are employees working on a commission. Every large city in Ukraine has several “marriage agencies” who hire the women (see ads at job.ua). Each agency then hires themselves out to AD or other dating sites. AD pays the agency who pays the girls.
Anastasia.date.com and its associate sites are supposedly the most reputable as they say they verify identity with a scan of your passport or other documents. I say supposedly because their anti-scam system is a scam in itself. The agency tells the women to falsify their profile (not married, no children, Ukrainian passports verified by AD do not include page 8 & 9 which contain marriage and children information) and the women are prohibited from being on other sites but can be routinely found on vk.com, ok.ru or mail.ru. And you pay dearly for that false security. It is the most malicious of all dating sites. It is a dating site scam.
1. AnastasiaDate, AsianDate (AsianBeauties), ArabianDate, AmoLatinoDate, AftricaBeauties
These sites are all owned by the same company and are integrated between each other. Initially a legitimate dating site formed many years ago by an American/Russian couple, it was sold in 2010. Since then they have all developed a very successful business model, identical in all the sites.
THE HOOK. When you join, there are no membership fees to search or to receive your first email from interested women (this last varies but with AnastasiaDate, you get to see all first letters for free). Unlike any other dating site, I rarely performed a routine search on this site (maybe I would have met real women if I had). To enter the site, the initial search is by age only and I used 25-45. More advanced search by country, city, age and other filters are also possible. 22,000 women appeared. After a week, I had 100 unsolicited letters in my inbox (after a month 250), some from women as young as 18 but few over 33). Most were Ukrainian and those were mostly from South Ukraine. There was more than enough choice here. Why search through 22,000 women when here are 100 spectacular looking women who state they want a permanent relationship with you no matter your age, appearance, health or wealth. Is this starting to sound too good to be true? To be practical, I would limit my search to women within 20 years of your age. These women are more likely looking for a real relationship and you would have something to talk about.
In fact, most of these First Letters are auto-generated by AD (few show any evidence of every having looked at your profile).
And they were all spectacularly beautiful. It seems that any could be models – perfect faces and bodies, ideal weight, professional make-up and hair and professional photo shoot pictures. The pictures are heavily altered in Photoshop to produce unblemished skin, large breasts (all these women have world-class boobs) and thin waists. They must be the only young women in the world who never have tattoos. In actuality, unless you are picky, there isn’t much physical difference between any of these women as they are presented. The only individuality is expressed in the high-end clothing and how much cleavage is shown. A few women have private pictures (often in bathing suits) visible after you have exchanged one letter. Their bodies are perfection. Many are divorced and some have children. Most have marriage as the goal but desire for children is not usually stated, unusual for such young women. Almost all have college degrees. It is surprising that so few university educated women have usable English. And despite limited English, they have long precise error-free profiles. Nothing of much importance or specificity is said in the profiles. They list the platitudes that everyone wants in a relationship: someone who is kind, romantic, respectful, and humorous. Most are “canned” letters. Not one mentions any age, money, physical requirements or preferences. Profiles and letters are all screened by the site and doctored to be the most appealing.
And how do you know you are even talking to the woman in the profile? There is no way to know. Several testimonials of men who went to Ukraine said the women were not the woman they expected – either a different person entirely or someone not so attractive.
Are Eastern European women the most beautiful in the world? When I was in St Petersburg and Moscow in September 2014, most of the women were tens with perfect hair, makeup, faces, clothes, and spike heels. But I think those two cities congregate beautiful women from all over the country. And every country has beautiful women. Nobody has a monopoly. Russian women though are the best presented. Take off all that makeup and dress them normally and I doubt many look so good. The most distinguishing characteristic was their remarkable thinness. Russian men were dumpy, poorly dressed and looked hung-over, but they like thin women. Historically and culturally, it appears that women must work hard to find a good man. And they do not age well. Few women over 40 are very attractive. Look at my posts in my Travelogue where I discuss these factors.
THE CATCH. That’s the hook and here is the catch. To communicate at all with any of these women, you must pay for every email read and sent, every minute of chat, cam share and phone call, and every gift. These are all paid for by credits purchased in US$. The cost per credit varies with the number purchased. An introductory offer gives 2 free emails and 10 three-minute chats for $2.99 to suck you in. Bulk purchase of 1000 credits are 40 cents each ($400 total) and 80 credits are 70 cents each ($56 total). Make sure to turn off automatic billing. Don’t click on the free photo icon under their profile photo. It is often not free (10 credits or $7 for one photo!!!). Just go to their profile to see all their photos.
The site has a constantly rolling pop-up with women wanting to chat or cam share. It is always in the way. Clicking minimize makes it disappear for a few seconds only. Clicking delete or block only produces another request. When AnastasiaDate runs out of chatters, then they join in from AsianDate or ArabianDate. It is endless. It is a great way to spend money. When on chat (if you decide you have money to waste), spare the BS and cut to the chase. Cut and paste messages to save time. Payment does not start until the woman responds. Little real discourse occurs antway. The women delay answers to consume time. Save your money.
If you lose control at this point, it will be costly. There are a lot of women to spend time and money on. So control your enthusiasm. Emails cost 10 credits to send or receive ($4-7), chat is 1 – 2 credits per minute (and it goes slow with the translation) and cam share (no audio) is 6 credits per minute. Virtual gifts with a censored message are 15 credits. A gift of actual flowers or a present delivered to the woman are $160 to $800, depending on the present (you receive a picture back of the woman receiving the present, but apparently these photos are even fictitious). It is easy to spend several hundred dollars quickly. If you choose to continue, pick the highest bulk purchase possible to save costs. 1000 is not unreasonable if you truly are in search of permanent relationship. But it would be best to buy none.
My suggestion, if you choose to use these sites (not recommended), is to pick a very few women to communicate with. I am 62 and, let’s face it, there is not much point looking at women under 40 or even more realistically, more than 20 years younger than you. Choose women with reasonable English. Translators arranged by AD work for the agency and are not reliable. Carefully craft emails in Word to convey every bit of information possible. State your requirements clearly (no kids, pets, ability to travel etc) and general lifestyle characteristics. Ask the women for real answers. Try to get them to communicate off site.
If you must chat, prepare what you want to say in 300 character segments (the maximum length of one chat). Then copy and paste as fast as you can. Free chat lasts 3 minutes (set an alarm or timer), and you can say a huge amount in this time. You can still get several individual chats in for the cost of one minute of chat. Just hang up within a minute of her answering. These women don’t say anything of much importance anyway. Because the women are employees paid on commission, they must hate this. They make no money. But, it is only the employees on chat anyway.
THE OUTCOME. It is estimated that 70 – 93% of the women on the site are employees of marriage agencies and less than 1% of men ever find a relationship on AD. Employees are generally not available to be in a relationship. Young, attractive women who already have boyfriends go to their “9-to-5” job at the marriage agency with the only goal of making money. The more they can get you to chat, email, and send gifts, the more money they make as pay is on commission. Your money is divided between the women (10%?), the translators and the agency. The agency pays the women, not AD. Some agencies work for many dating sites. The women can either work at the agency office or in their home. Western men may view such women as scammers but because so many women are involved with this “job”, it has become a legitimate profession. They are called “pro-daters”. However they do scam you by lying that they want a relationship with you. But that is what they are employed to do. That is the job.
How do you know if you are talking to a pro-dater? The answer is that you can never really tell over the Internet. Do reverse image searches but these are usually not successful as the URL’s are private. There is no ability to do any of the investigations listed below for individual dating scammers. Anyway, these women are not those kind of scammers. They are employees of a scammer.
Even if men are actually in the country, arranging a date with women met on AnastasiaDate is difficult. Women met in person from this site in Ukraine, if you could ever arrange a date, were very clear about what they wanted: money and presents. Some exchange sex for money, some want to travel, but few are really nice people for a relationship. Normal spending might include small presents, dinners, taxi, and translators but don’t let her decide anything. Her choices may be 5 times the normal cost and she will be getting a take. Beware it they ask for money for a sick relative, rent or expensive purchases. Usually, you are simply stood up and never see the women. AnastasiaDate facilitates inordinately expensive Date the Lady, Socials and Tours With women in Ukraine.
These sites are practically little different from a virtual dating site where none of the women are real, all fictitious gorgeous women, who send out automated emails that you answer. Nothing ever goes anywhere. But on true virtual sites, they have the courtesy to clearly tell you that the people are virtual in their Terms of Use. Both types of sites deal in exploiting vulnerable men looking for love. Significantly, both of these types of sites are only for men seeking women.
All letters sent by the women are screened and the site adds, corrects and changes content. If working at an agency, her computer is sometimes recording her key strokes, so she must follow all the agency rules regarding exchanging contact info, but a Lady in her own home can send and receive phone numbers and other contact info. Ladies sign an agency agreement, and are told not to send and receive contact info, but many men receive and send phone numbers successfully. The successful way is to forward numbers to your interpreter, and the interpreter calls you to set up a meeting.
But generally, meetings are uncommon and permanent relationships rare.
There are many signs of an employee. They send unsolicited emails as soon as you enrol on the site (but all emails are unsolicited). They are on chat frequently, answer all emails and sometimes send gifts. And no matter if you could be their grandfather, age never matters. That age does not matter is a conspicuous lie. Some cultures (SE Asia) seem to value security over age and appearance, but Ukraine is not one of those cultures. Beware of statements like: “Age is only a number.” “Your age is perfect.” or “I am looking for a mature man.” One fictitious profile was of a 80-year-old man with AIDs who needed a wheelchair and weighed 350 pounds. He got as many letters and chat requests as anybody else. Don’t think that you are anyone special because all these gorgeous women ask naughty questions and want to talk to you. Analyze their letters carefully for signs. The women actually looking for a man send more realistic letters, talk little of sex, are leery of escalating relationships and put conditions on continuing to communicate. You cannot judge by the quality of pictures as they are all professionally done. They have another job and are not on the chat roll-by. They don’t give expensive gifts.
Tell her you are already in the country and you want to meet her. If she gives excuses, then she is probably a pro-dater. If you are very serious about a woman and planning on sending money or visiting her, get her full name and hire a local detective agency to do a background check on her. It could be worth the money. Most men do not take the time to do their homework and that is the main reason why they get scammed.
Join Eastern European social sites like vk.com, ok.com, or mail.ru. Don’t plan on setting up a phoney account as the sites have a verification process that prevents this. Then search by the city and age of the women you have been communicating with. Recognize them by their profile pictures, find their real names and see pictures of them with their boyfriends, children and friends. If they are not on any of these social sites, then consider that they may be fake. Also use google.com.ua for searches – it is much better than google.com. Check Instagram for pictures.
Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p103WzTMMEM and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p103WzTMMEM to watch videos on this by Olga, a young Ukrainian woman who produces all sorts of videos about Ukraine.
EXCHANGING PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION. So, why not exchange personal information (email addresses, web sites, Skype names, phone numbers) allowing you to communicate with the love of your life off the dating site? The Terms of Use that you agreed to when signing up to AnastasiaDate clearly state that it is expressly forbidden to share any of this information between each other. Supposedly all personal information is blocked and removed from any message and replaced by a series of ………………. The women all say that it is blocked and that they want to continue to communicate on the dating site. I have tried every method of encryption my little brain could concoct and embedded it in chat messages, virtual gifts and emails, but usually unsuccessfully. Testimonials on the internet state that they often get women to communicate on FaceBook or VK.com, a popular Eastern European social site. Many say that the women can see everything you write. Only one woman from AnastasiaDate has ever contacted me on personal email. I had included my email written as john doe at gmail dot com. Maybe it is a translation problem? Maybe the women are not that smart? Maybe they are all employees and don’t want your email address?
AnastasiaDate does allow personal information to be exchanged in certain ways. 1. Travel to their home country and meet them personally in dates and tours sold by the AnastasiaDate. Cost: $thousands. Success rate: low but depends on your methods (read below). 2. Send a post card with the personal contact information that accompanies a gift of flowers or a present. Cost $160 -$800. Success rate: usually pictures of the women getting the present are fake and who knows if they get the post card. 3. You can reserve and make a phone call through the site with a translator supplied by the site. Cost 100 credits/10 minutes or $40 – $80. In fact translation is required for all communication including fluent English speakers. Success rate: low as translators are not reliable and who knows who is on the other end of the phone, most likely not your woman. 4. You can chat on cam share (no audio). All personal information is supposedly removed from the chat, just like normal chat. My idea was to print pertinent information on 8×11 paper using Ukrainian or Russian Cyrillic. “Hi Svetlana, how are you?”, “You look as lovely as your pictures.”, My email address is xxxxxx. My Skype name is xxxxxxxx. Cost 6 credits per minute or $5 to infinity depending on how long you wanted to look at each other. I think it would be a lot of fun. By putting significant effort into the experience with good signs and humorous messages, you could make her fall in love with you. Success Rate: Unknown as I have not found a woman I was interested in with Cam Share. Would still require a woman who wanted the information. or 5. The site says that you can include postal addresses in any communications. Ask the woman to send a post card or letter with contact information. Cost $0. I like this the most. Besides the obvious cost savings, it could be the best way to separate out the employees from the women searching for a real relationship. Employees would not write. If time is not important, sit back and wait. A little time off would be good for your bank balance anyway. Check your credit card to see how much money you have wasted so far.
Obviously, getting off these types of dating sites should be your immediate goal with any woman with whom you want to continue to develop a relationship. Write postal addresses, and embed email addresses or phone numbers in all communications. It cannot hurt to try. But if the the woman does not want it, she simply says it is all blocked. Most women do not want real contact.
The stories of men sucked in by AnastasiaDate and its sister companies are sad. One fellow spent over $20,000 and made 7 trips to Ukraine. One guy was obsessed for over 5 years until his wife finally divorced him. Many men spend $1-2,000 before they realize what is happening. Some never figure it out. It is big money.
Another possible concern is the HIV rate in Ukraine, at 2%, the highest in Eastern Europe. Between 1995 and 2007, injection drug use was the chief cause. But after 2008, sexual spread took over. HIV rates are highest in East and South Ukraine, especially in Odessa.
SUMMARY If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Attractive and gorgeous foreign women are everywhere, not just residing in the Ukraine and Russia. Very few attractive and gorgeous foreign women, seeking a husband online are willing to leave her family, friends, lifestyle, job, associates and country for a man she only met online, especially if they are young. Any foreign woman seeking an American to marry online, will join a large American dating site, where she has more options. Why would she join AnastasiaDate, to compete with other more attractive women? AnastasiaDate and its partners are all SCAMS. The chances of finding a long-term partner here are slim, well less than 1%. Fulfil your fantasies if you want, but set a limit on how much money you don’t mind wasting and stop at your limit. Even if money is not “an issue” for you, most people don’t like being duped. You have been warned. Spend your money elsewhere.
If you really want a relationship, search at home. If you can’t find one there, you will probably not be able to find one somewhere else.
“Normal” Dating Sites for Eastern European Women
There are many dating sites for Eastern Europe that function normally and are not in themselves scams. They are unlikely to have good security to detect individual romance scammers though. The women are nowhere near as attractive, but most of them are real.
a. RussianCupid.com – Pay to see and send email. Real women but watch for the scammers.
b. ElenasModels.com – Pay for site with lots of attractive women from all over Eastern Europe.
c. Russiangirls4u.com – Pay for site.
d. uadate.com – An elite dating service that specializes in luxury tours to Kiev.
e. Ukrainedate.com – A traditional pay-for site. Same owners and format as RussianCupid. “Normal” women
f. fdating.com. Completely free. Women from all over the world.
And then there are social web sites like FaceBook, VK.com and Mamba.com.
Translation Services
Google Translate.
multi-tran.ru. Better than Google.
VISITING UKRAINE
Ukrainian women are truly more considerate and family oriented, in general, than Western women. This is simply cultural. Since Crimea (Eastern Ukraine) has been involved in civil war, Ukrainian women do want to move to the west for personal survival. Men are no longer traveling to Ukraine (especially Odessa) to find women.
I would encourage anyone who uses these Dating sites to stop spending your hard-earned money buying credits, sending letters, and answering chat requests. If you really want to meet a beautiful Ukraine woman, go to Ukraine. Airfare purchased in advance can cost as little as $850 – $950.00 round trip, Hotels and apartments average about $24 – $55.00 USD per day, and expenses are cheap. The average cab ride should only be about $120 UAH which is only $6.00 USD to most destinations, just a few more UAH from the airport. Taxis are not metered or regulated. If you are in a different city, just ask a local for the Taxi service phone number. Do not ask hotels, concierge or restaurants for a taxi, because they will all refer you one that charges and pays commissions.
As a tourist in Ukraine, everyone will charge you more for everything, it is a way of life. Everything is commission based, especially hotels and restaurants, so don’t expect a friendly smile and helpful assist to be cheaper. A good translator will protect you from these. The local currency is the UAH and today it is worth half the value from past years. So for Americans, it is a great exchange rate at better than 21 to one. For locals, the low buying power of the UAH leaves people with little disposal income.
AnastasiaDate arranges dates and tours to meet women but they are very expensive. Translators are employees and may not be reliable. Do not arrange flights or apartments through the women or AD. Socials in Ukraine apparently are worthwhile. The Socials are held in night clubs or a Park/Spa setting with a ratio of 7 women to every guy. The women were out for a good time, and open to talk, not chat for credits. Attending a Social is 100 times better than sitting at your computer keyboard. Ukraine women come from many different local cities to attend. AnastasiaDate provides free interpreters during the 5-6 hour mixers. After the Socials, it is every man for themselves, and every interpreter for herself.
Possibly the most important things about Ukraine is to find one trustworthy, honest interpreter. You will quickly learn some painful truths about the Dating Business in Ukraine.
A good interpreter is worth her weight in gold – she will interpret conversations, steer you clear of gold diggers, protect your wallet, never allow taxis or restaurants to overcharge, never ask you for gifts, or money (other than the negotiated hourly rate – usually between $300-$400 UAH – $15-$20.00 per hour). A good interpreter will have your safety and best interest at hand, and also be a great tourist guide. Most important of all, a good interpreter will never abbreviate your words or meanings to rush a conversation, and will always tell you what is being said about you both directly and indirectly from all directions. If you do arrange a meeting, never go alone, always take your own interpreter with you… She will save you from wasting your time and money. If the woman is too young, she is just going to try to scam you, plain and simple, it is just a way of life for this sort of opportunity.
It is not hard to make good friends in Ukraine who can help with apartment arrangements, drive you around and safely leave luggage or documents with.
Thousands of Ukrainian ladies are serious about finding a husband or boyfriend, but these are not the ladies that you are corresponding with on AnastasiaDate. Agencies advertise aLL the time for ladies to come in, have their pictures taken, post profiles and attract attention in the form of letters, chat requests, and gifts.
There are many single mothers in Ukraine who have been abandoned by their husband or boyfriends (seeking younger girlfriends) and these ladies are forced to move back home with mom and dad. There are many older Ukraine women who are tired of being alone, and have decided to pack up their life and move away with their future husband.
Ask your self this question. Why would any young lady (20 -28 ) want to leave behind her friends, family, relatives, and her way of life for someone that she has never met in real life? Many Ukraine women live a comfortable life, it may not be a rich life, but it is a good simple life. Many younger Ukraine women honestly tell you about free and easy money from foreign men who are happy to take them out for dinners, buy gifts, and give them money. They never have to worry about money, because foreign men flow into Odessa like an ocean wave. In 2011, American and Foreign men were everywhere, the restaurants were full of 3-way dates, but all has changed in 2015 with the civil war. Ladies from Ukraine are just like ladies from anywhere else, the big difference is the Slavic ethnicity and strong family traditions.
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2. VIRTUAL DATING SITES SeekingMilf, CheatingHookUp, MilfsAffair, SeekingNaughty, AffairHookUps, MilfHookUp, CheatingCougars, Untrue, AdultMeetings, LocalMilfSelfies, MegaHookUp, FreeFuckBuddyDating, Grannie HookUps, XxxPersonals and hundreds more.
In virtual dating sites, none of the women are real. These are fictitious beautiful women who do not exist. They are not true scams as they do not misrepresent what the women are and men exercise a free choice to register and receive and send emails. But unless you read the fine print, they misrepresent what is available. All are completely fictitious gorgeous women with great profiles, who send out automated emails that you answer. The women are called Fantasy Cuties, Love Stars, or other enticing names. Nothing ever goes anywhere – there is no one there to go for coffee, meet or fall in love with. This is fantasy dating and a fictitious relationship can be satisfactory for some people. Just be aware that you will never form a relationship here, no matter what fantasies you create in your head.
But on these sites, they have the courtesy to clearly tell you that the people are virtual. Read the Terms of Use of each site. They still exploit those looking for love, a search that causes you to be more vulnerable than usual. These “virtual” types of sites are only for men seeking women. They cost the same “reasonable” amounts as normal dating sites.
3. Sites that I have not done research on but would be very leary of. As you can see Russian/Ukrainian dating sites are a dime a dozen. These are probably some of the other sites that hire marriage agencies in Ukraine. Beware of any of these.
loveme.com
charmdate.com
foreignladies.com
ukraine-match.com – Links directly to AnastasiaDate
dream-marriage.com
find-bride.com
natashaclub.com
army-of-brides.com
interracialgirls.com