Are there any real men online? More scammers

The quiet was deafening.

The minute I took the word "widow" off my profile, the traffic dropped so much that I was beginning to feel unloved until I slapped that foolishness out of my head. I don't want to be the belle of the scammer ball. My goal is to meet a real man, in the sense that he actually exists.  And since he is so rare, that seems to be the only deal breaker that isn't fluid.

But, it's no wonder women fall prey to dating scams. They make so much noise that it's hard to ignore it all the time. Especially since they are the ones who give you the most instant gratification. Good looks, smooth talk and persistence.

Especially persistence. As good as my defenses are, a scammer still gets through every now and then. I was being dense for a while, thinking that those pop-up notices at the bottom of your online dating search screen weren't all from the Match.com. Match has a pop-up that notifies you that someone wants to email you or chat. It's just a more efficient way for the scammers to engage because it's an  immediate connection.,

I was sucked into one conversation because the profile said Nashville and, of course, the guy in the photo was smokin'.

Me: So are you from Nashville?

Mr. Trust Me, I'm Hot: Yes, but do you mind telling me why you want to know? (First clue)

Me: Nashville has a lot of transplants. So what part of Nashville do you live?

This is a hard question. They aren't trained to Google map Nashville and find a street. Or maybe they do, but in true scammer fashion, have to change it just a little, just to be confusing.

Mr.. Trust Me I'm Hot: Norton Street

I cut off the conversation right there, despite his little pop-up cries of "Janet. Are you there?" For one thing, decent scammer would know that we are talking about neighborhoods, so to tell me Norton Street means you don't know anything about the most common of all denominators; rush hour gridlock.

And a Google search was the final nail in the coffin.

Nashville has a Norton Avenue, not a Norton Street.


Here's a chat with another who got by my initial screening.

Hi Pretty

My name is FrankYour profile really caught my attention and i most confess you are such a beautiful chamring woman i am really interested in getting to know you
we never know we could be a match."im an engineer nice to meet you Janet if you dont mind can i have your email address so we can share more about each other better on there

Sigh. My response?

No. Have a good day.

Now, why did I say that?  Why did I feel the need to be polite when signing off with a scammer? I can only pray that this scammer is not making his quota of contacts and discussions, didn't get any money wired to him and is having the crappiest day of his life.

How doe "piss off " sound?