You know those fake emails that you get from Nigeria asking you to transfer money? Well, since everyone knows about those now, the scammers are moving on to more intricate schemes. And they might affect you if you're involved in online dating.



The way it works is that someone pretends to be interested in dating you, then suddenly starts asking if you'll receive shipments of certain goods at your home. The next thing you know, you could be in trouble for engaging in international fraud. Take a look at this article about a woman named Shirley singer who was caught up in one of these scams.



To protect yourself, you really just need to use some common sense and trust your gut. No matter how much you might like someone that you've only met online, you shouldn't start doing business with them of any kind before you've met in person. And you should always be wary when asked to do unusual things like accept packages or ship items to foreign countries.