Many of the same things apply to looking at a potential’s profile as they do constructing your own. But for some reasons, usually our own patterns of attraction related to our own issues, we might waive some red flags in favor of qualities that reel us in.

There was a rash of complaints trickling in to the dating site I monitored, mainly from women who had in some way been duped. I wanted to double back and look at the profiles of repeat offenders who were kicked off for misrepresenting themselves or were outright scammers. (Yes, dating sites are ripe for the picking for scams. Start with hopeful, vulnerable, lonely people and you have a foot in the door right there. The methods are gender biased, but essentially involve manipulation tactics and misrepresentation.) After a while, I could sting these people and get rid of them to minimize the damage, but, they crop up under different names all the time. There are some red flags for different types.