There are many people who look down upon free dating websites for various reasons. Maybe, they have been through some unpleasant experiences that cause them to despise the concept of free dating websites. If you are new to the online dating world, it is natural for you to wonder how these free dating websites stay in business without taking any money for their services. There was actually a good article in wired magazine about this. It talks about the free economy. Basically, once the site is up and running, it doesn’t cost the site anything for another member to join. So, they don’t have any cost. Spread the overhead of keeping the site up over enough people, and the cost per person is essentially zero. Then, the only task is to derive some revenue from the site. This is usually accomplished via advertising and affiliate arrangements.

Some free dating websites have given a bad name to free online dating due to mismanagement of their website. These websites have a number of issues that their members often face with. Even though they are free, you should consider different aspects before signing up with them. Here are some drawbacks that have been found in free dating websites.

Fake Profiles: Some free dating websites are notorious for using fake profiles as a bait to attract you into signing up for their services. Although their services are free, they gain through increasing the size of their database. Usually, they will show you the pictures of attractive singles to lure you into signing up. In some other cases, some malicious individuals create fake profiles to attract your attention. Since some free dating websites don’t spend much on security, so it is tough for them to catch these individuals.

Spam: Spamming is another reason why many people think twice before signing up with free dating websites. Some free dating websites are very lenient about their security policies which result in invasion of many spammers into their sites. As a result, when you get a couple of mails from other members expecting them to be your prospective dates, they turn out to be advertisements related to products that they expect you to buy.

Security: Some free dating websites have poor or no privacy policy at all. Hence, when you are required to declare your personal information details, you run the risk of becoming the victim of identity theft. Never join any free dating websites that don’t have a privacy policy.

Despite these pitfalls that some free dating websites are infamous for, it is not too hard to find free dating websites that are actually safe and offer exciting online dating experience. So, look before you leap.