Unfortunatley too commom. There are people who use online dating and chat rooms for the wrong and possibly illegal reasons. Most child molesters use chat rooms as a way to find unsuspecting victims, some serial killers and rapists have used dating websites to find people to victimize. My sister told me of a person on craigslist who was seeking single mothers in order to sexually abuse their children. He put in his ad that he lives in a secluded house in the middle of the country and loves kids , if thats not a red flag I don't know what is. some rules of thumb for online dating are to not give out super personal info about yourself (aninimity is your best friend and ally online), some people do lie about their apperiance or job status which isn't the most horrible crime ever commited but it definitely screws with the expetations of the other person. I wouldn't be too happy if someone told me that they had blue eyes, blonde hair, and a muscular build only to find out they actually have brown hair, brown eyes, and are one cheeseburger away from 300 pounds or that they make six figures only to find out that they make mimium wage flipping burgers. I feel that if you are so embarassed of your self that you have to screw with someone by lying about who you are then you are not ready for a relationship and should leave the personals online or otherwise alone. . The biggest rule of thumb is if the person you are talking to makes you feel uncomfortable for any reason terminate contact with them immeditely and report them don't hesitate to do so because you can save not only you but somebody else from becoming a potential victim of this person. Online dating isn't all bad but there are bad apples out there that have alterial motives and that revel in creating chaos for others but that shouldn't be a reason not to engage in it. You just have to be on the look out for dating decevers.