Single ladies across the country sign up for popular dating sites each day, thinking they will find the love of their life and live happily ever after. But a trend is starting to grow within the online dating community that many of us do not expect. Prisoners have come up with some clever ways of playing Mr. Right, while paying their debt to society.
How Does a Prisoner Get Social Access?
The secret of their social success is good old fashioned technology. But the question is, how does an inmate get access to the internet, when that type of communication is banned from most of the prison systems? In correctional institution across the United States, inmates use numerous and very creative methods to smuggle, buy, and sell many illegal items such as drugs, cigarettes, and even prepaid debit cards. Now there is a new “black market” item. . . the cell phone. Throughout this system, phones are being smuggled in and sold for large amounts of cash, costing anywhere from $200-$700 or more, and varying in models from the older flip phones to the newest Androids. With this virtual escape, they have new freedom in the online world.
Hiding Behind The Profile
Dating online allows everyone to tell their story from personal perspective and in their own words on a profile. They may also pick and choose what they want to include in that profile, making it extremely easy for an incarcerated criminal to use an alias, post fake pictures, or to take a picture of their own (on their nifty cell phone ) that does not reveal their location or situation. This could be dangerous if the inmate is a violent offender.
So, What Should Women Do To Avoid This Situation?
To be safe on any dating site, do not put personal information on your profile. You should also pay attention to the personality traits of your match, and trust your gut if he makes you feel uncomfortable in any way by seeming short tempered and edgy or asking for inappropriate pictures. Specifically, you should pay attention to the back ground in his pictures. If it involves a lot brick walls, air ducts above his head, or if he seems to always being laying in his bed, he could be talking to someone that may be in a cell or prison bunk. If you decide that you are comfortable with phone conversation, look for inconsistencies involving his behavior while he is talking to you. Beware if he uses a low tone every time you talk. Or, he hangs up in your face a lot, calling back each time, apologizing. Or, if you are not allowed to call him and he calls you at either a scheduled time or in the late night hours. When you do talk, listen to find out if there are constantly other men around him. Have you met him? This is an important question. If not, ask him why. Look out for responses like, “we will meet in due time”, or “I’m waiting for the right time”. These are all red flags that indicate that this person may be an inmate.
