Beware of Scammers on Tinder

Have you grown tired of snuggling with your cat on Saturday nights while your friends are out enjoying couples bliss? 

Then you’ve likely been on the hunt for a relationship. This can sometimes become a long and frustrating process. 

If you’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places and decided to start an online search, beware. Romance scams have been cropping up again lately, and unsuspecting lonely hearts are being bilked out of thousands of dollars. The most recent version of this scam involves the mobile dating app Tinder. 

Unfortunately, Tinder’s popularity has made it a magnet for scammers. The Better Business Bureau released a warning for consumers, alerting them to scammers who are using Tinder to spread malware or obtain money. 

Instant attraction 
The scam usually starts with you browsing for profiles, and then receiving an immediate response from a match as soon as you swipe right to communicate interest. After a lengthy messaging session (the fraudster is trying to get you buttered up so you’ll let your guard down), your potential suitor will then suggest texting instead of continuing to communicate through Tinder. 

Trouble in paradise 
And that’s when the trouble begins. Your new match may start telling you about a new service or product that you should try. The Better Business Bureau says the scammer will usually send a link with referral codes. This is done so that the spammer will receive payment for referring new customers. Then, you’ll be asked to download an app, but once you click on the link that was provided, your phone is infected with malware. Furthermore, some scammers will request personal information such as your address, pretending that they need this information so they can send you a romantic gift. 

The Better Business Bureau gives these tips for spotting a Tinder Scam: 

1. You receive a lighting-fast response 
If you are a little suspicious of a fast response from a Tinder suitor, your instincts may be accurate. The Better Business Bureau says that some of the Tinder profiles are not real, but are in fact spam bots. If you get a message immediately after you are matched, proceed with caution. 

2. The scammer pressures you to communicate outside of Tinder 
Another red flag is if the new guy or gal fires off multiple messages and then tries to get you off Tinder as soon as possible. The spammer may suggest text or chat. The BBB says it is common for Tinder users to move on to a text conversation but that a spammer will make this suggestion almost right away. 

3. You don’t have their attention 
Be even more suspicious if the answers to your questions don’t make sense. This could be a sign that answers have been automated. The BBB suggests asking a few questions to see if the responses add up. If you get crazy answers, it’s time to shut the conversation down. 

4. Their photo is too good to be true 

Be leery of Tinder users who post glamour shots. Unfortunately, that toned hottie drenched in baby oil may not be the real deal. So if you’re drooling over your match’s photo, be prepared for disappointment. While we hope that’s not the case and you find your love connection, don’t be surprised if you end up with more than you bargained for — and not in a good way. 

original article here

More Evidence Online Dating Sites are Dangerous

(U.S.A.) Army lieutenant Peter Burks was killed in Iraq in 2007 but that didn’t stop dating website True.com from swiping his picture and using it in ads to attract women to their website.

The picture was spotted on two ad spots at free dating site PlentyofFish.com with the words ”Military Man Searching for Love” and ”Soldiers Want You!”

The Burks family is now planning to sue both PlentyOfFish.com and True.com for their parts in using the photo without permission.

The family says Burks died just days after the photo was taken and that he definitely didn’t upload the photograph to the website. In fact the photo was being used on a website to help raise funds to provide supplies to troops in Burks’ honor which is likely where the picture was stolen from.

The Burks family also notes that Peter Burks was engaged when he died which makes True.com’s claims of “Soldier’s Want You!” nothing more than a scam to attract users to the site through the use of fake profiles.

In the meantime a representative for PlentyOfFish notes that the website displays ads from hundreds of thousands of advertisers and is not in charge of the ads for those websites. True.com ads were quickly blocked by PlentyOfFish.com after the Burks family notified the website of the issue.

In the meantime True.com’s potential members might want to look for a dating site that doesn’t create fake profiles in order to lure them in.

What might be the most tragic part of the entire ordeal is that True.com founder Herb Vest attacked other dating websites during a 2006 Forbes interview, as he put it at that time:

“We had to establish a wholesome environment for courtship. Internet dating is populated, to a large degree, by criminals and married people.”

It looks like True.com has turned into the exact type of company it hoped to fight against just five years earlier.

original article here

PREDATORS TARGET SINGLE/ DISABLED/ DIVORCED/ ABUSED MOMS

DIVORCED, ABUSED, DISABLED
OR SINGLE MOM?

AN ONLINE PREDATOR IS LOOKING FOR YOU!

(As EOPC has said - PREDATORS HUNT THE WOUNDED! Are you divorced, alone, depressed, single, disabled, verbally/ emotionally abused, single parent and online? You're a Target!)

More than 20 million Americans log on to their computers each month looking for love, according to Online Dating Magazine.

While getting to know a potential mate from the privacy of their home may be comforting to some — especially single women getting back in the dating pool — it is not without danger. A growing number of sexual predators and pedophiles are taking advantage of online anonymity and using dating sites to prey on single/ divorced/ disabled/ abused mothers and their children.

One single mother, who asked that her identity be withheld to protect her daughter, had such an experience.

She met her future husband online and within in six months, the couple were living together. Two years into the relationship they married.

"At the time, it just seemed magical," she said. "It was the dream come true."

Discovering the Truth
But FBI agents said they discovered the man's true intentions when an undercover agent intercepted his e-mails during an online chat. "These e-mails indicated that he actually married the mother to have access to the child," said FBI Special Agent Deborah McCarley.

Police said women looking for companionship can be easy targets. In this case, the man took advantage of the mother's vulnerability to get to her 6-year-old daughter.

"I think I was really looking for someone to rescue me, although I didn't recognize it at the time," the mother said.

The mother said she decided to speak out for the first time on "Good Morning America" to help other women.

Confronting the Allegations
The woman said she had no idea any abuse was taking place and saw no warning signs until the day the FBI knocked on her door.

"That day I felt like somebody stuck a straw in my ear and sucked out my brain," she said. "It really just felt like I had been punched in the stomach."

A tape obtained by "GMA" captured her anguish as she confronted her husband on the phone.
Mother: How could you do this to me?

Husband: How could I do it to anybody? I don't know.

Mother: How could you do it to her?

Husband: I'm sorry. I have no answer.

Mother: I trusted you!

Husband: I know. You're right.

Mother: I loved you with all my heart!
Husband: What I have done is evil and it's wrong and there are going to be a lot of people that are going to hate me now. And I don't blame any of them.

Not only did her now-former husband molest her daughter, but he also offered the girl to other pedophiles online. Authorities stepped in just in time.

"I'd never say that I was going to kill myself, but there's times where I wish that I would die," the mother said.

Now, the couple have divorced. The ex-husband currently is serving 30 years in prison for his crimes, while his victim continues her health process.

"She's awesome," the mother said. "She's doing so well. She's got her sense of self-worth back, and I'm so proud of her."

A Disturbing Trend?
This case is just one example of predators using dating sites/ reunion sites/ penpal sites/ single or divorced parent sites and even Christian dating sites to supplement their crimes.

After conducting online searches and talking to law enforcement officers around the nation, "GMA" uncovered cases of dangerous online dating situations all across the country.

The research found instances of sex offenders trolling Web sites and not mentioning their pasts, Internet romances that led to beatings and rapes and felons who never admitted their convictions in their dating profiles.

"Once they feel comfortable on that Internet, they feel like they're shielded because they're on that computer," said Phoenix Police Department Sgt. Andy Hill.

Celeste Moyers, the director of the Safer Online Dating Alliance, said that if someone wants to do harm, that person will find a way to do it.

"People are caught off guard," she said. "Even the smartest savviest online dater can be a victim of sexual assault."

Protecting Yourself
States including New Jersey are considering legislation that will require dating sites to clearly disclose whether or not they conduct background screenings on members.

Don't EVER use your personal e-mail address. Don't include information in this new address that would allow a predator to identify you.
Do not EVER post pictures of yourself or your children or give out details about their sexes or ages ANYWHERE online (that includes Facebook).

original article found here

DISHONESTY: JUST ONE DISADVANTAGE OF ONLINE DATING

Perhaps the most commonly recognized and deserved disadvantage of online dating is the propensity for dishonesty. There is an abundance of stories about e-liars, commonly involving six months of dating ending with the realization one of the two is married. Even more begin with sexy photographs which turn out to be taken prior to a major weight gain, tooth loss, or all-over body tattoo.

Wendy Tanaka tells the story of a man whose online interest described herself as looking like actress Renee Zellweger. Before getting together, she revealed that she was actually “an older, less pretty version of Renee Zellweger.” In one last e-mail before getting together, she said she’d “once been described as looking like John Denver”.

Users aren’t the only liars online. Online dating sites are also caught in fibs from time to time. On November 28, 2002, an article in The Spokesman Review detailed a lawsuit (on behalf of a user whose identity was kept a secret) accusing the site INeedANewGirlfriend.com of lying in order to get newly registered users to buy subscriptions. The lawsuit says that bogus e-mails with photos of beautiful women were sent to men asking them for a reply or for a date. Once the men paid their membership fees and e-mailed the women, they never heard back. The article continued on, explaining:

To prove his client’s contention, the lawyer concocted a handful of cyber straw men -- false profiles of men he believed no woman would want to be involved with. They were the Internet’s most ineligible bachelors, he said: hard-drinking, overweight, out-of-work men. Their goal, he stated in their profiles, was to meet rich, beautiful women who would support them.

The offers came rolling in.

The issue of deception online is more commonly aimed at users, however, than sites. It can be easily argued that profiles as a basis of online dating sites encourage dishonesty. For those eager to meet accepting partners, profile questions can be daunting. For instance, when signing up on Kiss.com, users are prompted to “Please describe your looks.” Possible answers are limited to: ugly; not very good looking; average; good looking; very good looking; and stunning.

Another common question, that of annual income, is a good example of one that is easily exaggerated (or lessened to protect family funds!). With questions such as these, the ultimate goal of attracting interested parties may be threatened by honest answers. Profile questions are exceedingly open to interpretation.

In the end, while the Internet may make dishonesty tempting initially, should a relationship progress to actually meeting, truths will generally be revealed. Online culture seems to have established acceptable, even expected levels of misrepresentation. (NEVER ACCEPTABLE!) Comparable to fibbing on a drivers licenses, height and weight questions are less likely to deem one a dirty liar than, say, not revealing five children and a wife. Whether disclosure makes or breaks a relationship depends on the severity of the lie and the values of the judge.


Ultimately, there is nothing fundamentally honest about meeting in-person either. Under the influence of alcohol and loud music, it is certainly easy for an unhappily married woman to remove a wedding ring before accepting a drink from across the room. Why are people tempted to misrepresent themselves when eventual meetings will reveal all anyway? Morris at Udate.com believes that it comes down to human nature. “If someone is going to lie online, they’d do it offline anyway”. The human desire to increase one’s standing among the competition is strong.

Technology does, however, lend help to those distrustful of the medium. Assuming that a correct name is acquired, the truly determined can visit the county courthouse and search for marriage licenses, divorce records and criminal histories (including felonies and domestic violence. Those with a minimum knowledge of using the Internet--and it’s assumed that online daters qualify -- can do a few quick Google searches with a minimal amount of accurate information and foil liars early on. (NOT ALWAYS!) Generic online searches can reveal work and educational history among other things. The more cynical can access “an abundance of public records, often free and easily accessible, that can tip off online daters to fakes”.

WHAT ABUNDANCE OF PUBLIC RECORDS MIGHT THAT BE?
THERE'S NO NATIONAL MARRIAGE DATABASE or CENTRALIZED CRIMINAL DATABASE EITHER!

EOPC NEVER EVER RECOMMENDS OR IS O.K. WITH ONLINE DATING! EVER!
FROM THIS SITE

Pubgoers Urged to Help Find 'Love Rat' Thief

(U.K.) Pubgoers are being urged to help trace a man police have labelled a "love rat" who befriended a woman, then sold her car.

The woman, from Easington, County Durham, met the man calling himself Jamie Patterson, on a dating web site. But on the day he was due to move in with her and her teenage daughter, he sold her car and vanished.

Posters are now being placed in pubs in Newcastle, where Durham Police believe the man may live. The incident happened in October, but so far police have been unable to trace the man, who is in his 40s and has a number of distinctive tattoos.

A Durham Police spokeswoman described him as a "love rat" and added: "This was a single woman in her 40s who was looking for friendship and took this man at face value.

On 26 October, 2011 she contacted us to report her green Ford Fiesta stolen."

"It later transpired she had been befriended by this man on a dating website, and within a few weeks their relationship had become serious enough for him to start leaving belongings at her house. Jamie said he would drop the woman at her place of work in Sunderland, following which he would go to his home address in Newcastle and pick up more of his things. However, he failed to pick her up and she could not get an answer from his mobile phone. She got a taxi home and, because her house keys and car keys were on the same key ring, she needed to smash a window to get into her own home. She found all of his clothes gone and documentation for the car which showed it had been sold for about £1,000. Luckily we managed to recover the vehicle, but so far we have not been able to trace the man."

Police said the man is in his 40's, of stocky build and bald. He also has some distinctive tattoos, including the names Melisa and Keighley on his arm.

original article here

Another Online Dating Nightmare

(Eastbourne, U.K.) A widow who was looking for love on the internet has hit out at the courts after a man who conned her and broke into her home escaped jail.

Amanda Avery criticised the legal system this week after hearing that Colin Bradish – a man who she says made her life hell – was handed a 50-week suspended sentence for burglary and harassment.

Bradish, 53, of Portslade, was also made subject of a restraining order banning him from contacting Ms Avery. However, according to his 43-year-old victim, he was still signed up to a host of other dating websites – leaving other women potentially at risk of being targeted.

Ms Avery, of East Dean, said the punishment should have been far more severe. Speaking to the Herald about her ordeal, she said, “You rely on the justice system and I feel let down by it. It is as if he has not even been punished for what he did.”

Having wormed his way into her affections, Bradish proceeded to break in, steal a laptop and set about hacking into a host of Ms Avery’s personal accounts.

And, as well as changing her mobile phone tariff and messing with other files, Bradish signed her up for a string of other dating websites and advertised her home address.

Ms Avery was devastated but, as she explained, the internet side of things was far from the most upsetting.

“The worst thing was,” she said, “that he came into my room and took my mobile phone from next to my bed. He would have been yards from where I was sleeping. For ages I had could not sleep because of the thought and used lay awake until it became light.”

Bradish was the first person Ms Avery had met online. In fact, she had only ended up on the dating website by accident after filling in an internet personality test and being told she had to sign up to get the results.

A day later, she was contacted by Bradish and he began spinning his web of lies.

“He photoshopped his picture,” remembered Ms Avery. “He is a good deal uglier in real life.”

“You won’t believe this but he had actually asked me if my photo was a current one because he said people often used one of themselves younger. When I saw him I thought ‘you’ve aged a bit’ but looks have never been the most important thing to me. He seemed nice and could hold an intelligent conversation.”

Ms Avery, who said she always tried to see the good in people but had been left feeling ‘a bit stupid’ after falling for Bradish’s carefully concocted deceit, did not rush into meeting her online date.

The pair exchanged messages and spoke at length on the phone before she decided to take the plunge and meet up. Now, having seen her home broken into and her trust shattered, she understandably wishes she had never met him.

“He was trying to control me,” She said. “He had nothing going on in his life. He had made up a fake job and all the rest of it. This was probably the only way he had of getting control.”

Although she slammed the courts for delivering such a lenient sentence, she reserved special praise for the police.

“You get idiots everywhere,” she said. “The internet is just another place for them."


original article here

Online Dating & Online Prostitution Cause Rise in Rapes

By Christopher D. Kirkpatrick

excerpts from the article:
(NORTH CAROLINA, USA) Reported rape is up 16 percent in Mecklenburg County this year, fueled by the popularity of Internet dating and online classifieds offering sexual services, Charlotte police and experts say.

“In the past, (rapists) would have to hunt and stalk,” said Sgt. Darrell Price, who's in charge of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's sexual assault unit. “Now, all you have to do is (get on the Internet), and she's waiting for you at a hotel room.”

Officials also say a higher percentage of victims each year are coming forward to report rape. Nationally, the number of rapes reported to police has increased by 30 percent since 1993, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a nonprofit advocacy group.

Greater media coverage, including attention from Oprah Winfrey, is lessening the shame and social stigma of being a victim, says Brandy Redmile Stephens, victim services director for Charlotte's United Family Services. The nonprofit has been seeing more victims lately, but she couldn't say how many more.

“It's getting easier for them to understand that it's not something they should keep a secret,” she said. “They're more informed.”

In North Carolina, a new state law that passed this year allows victims to provide medical evidence anonymously and free before deciding if they want to call police. To be effective, medical evidence needs to be collected within 72 hours of an assault.

In the past, victims without medical insurance might have paid $800 or more for an ambulance, emergency room and for a doctor or nurse to collect the evidence, Stephens estimated. The state-run N.C. Rape Victims Assistance Program now reimburses a medical staff up to $1,000.

Medical professionals also used to require the victim to report the rape to police before they would collect evidence. So victims who had financial concerns or were too traumatized missed their chance to provide forensic evidence and regretted it later, Price said. Now, they can decide later if they want to file a police report and still preserve evidence, he said.

“It gives the victim much more power,” he said.

Outreach is helping
Rape is the only major crime category up this year, according to statistics.

Through July, there were 26 more rapes reported to police (185) than last year, when CMPD investigated 159 rapes during the same period. That goes against a two-year trend that saw fewer reported rapes in Mecklenburg.

Price said he believes the Internet is playing a role in the rising numbers. But he also explains the increase as a result of stepped-up outreach programs by the department during the past year and a half.

No Cyber-Case Registry
No central authority or group is counting how many sex crimes are Internet-related, said Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy lawyer and executive director of New York-based wiredsafety.org, an Internet safety group.

But she said it's clearly going up, and the dangers are real – even for women dating online through 'reputable' cyber-dating sites.

“The crimes are notoriously underreported,” said Aftab, who is regularly consulted by government and media outlets on the subject.

Her group advocates changing police forms and FBI crime reporting requirements to include a cyber category to better track it: “Right now, it just shows as a general sexual assault.”

Locally, experts say more date rapes and sexual assaults are growing out of Internet chat room introductions and from dates arranged through popular cyber-dating sites.

But Charlotte-Mecklenburg police also are reporting a surge in crimes against women who blatantly advertise adult sexual services on the Internet, Price said.

Some are prostitutes advertising through sites such as Craigslist, which offers free Internet classified ads. They try to hook up with clients in Charlotte hotel rooms, but end up getting robbed or raped, police reported. Others are arrested for prostitution in police stings.

Since September, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say 13 robberies and five sexual assaults have resulted from ads placed by women advertising sex services. And police also arrested at least 24 prostitutes and johns in a June sting operation.

Concerned about the increase, Price said he sent an e-mail to Craigslist last week asking the online posting company to warn women advertising personal services that Charlotte had become too dangerous for them.

Craigslist has drawn fire in recent months for its adult services ads. S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster threatened to file criminal charges earlier this year against Craigslist executives. Craigslist and its CEO Jim Buckmaster fired back with a lawsuit, which is pending. N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has also focused attention on MySpace and Facebook over sexual predators...

Craigslist did not respond to the Observer's request for comment about the Charlotte incidents or Price's request for the company to post a warning.

Authorities say the company has helped with criminal investigations, including helping track down a suspect police say raped a Kannapolis woman at her husband's request in late May 2009.

Price said he doesn't know how Charlotte might compare to other big cities but said the number of victims in “such a short period of time” is a concern for the department.

“It was a simple request. … It's just a matter of time before one of them gets murdered,” he said.

One in six women and one in 33 men will be a victim of sexual assault in their lifetime.

College-aged women are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted.

Sexual Assault Numbers

• In 2007, there were 248,300 sexual assault victims.
• Every two minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.
• Approximately 73 percent of rape victims know their assailants.
• Only 6 percent of rapists will ever spend a day in jail.

For more information visit www.rainn.org. The group also runs a national sexual assault hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).


When meeting someone for the first time, remember to:

• Insist on a public meeting place.
• Tell a friend or family member where you're going.
• Take your cell phone.
• Consider having a friend accompany you.
• Trust your instincts.

For more information about personal safety online, check out these resources: http://getsafeonline.org, http://wiredsafety.org

original article posted here

Soldier's Online Dating Con Costs Woman ALL Her Life Savings

An elderly widow has been left seriously out of pocket by an internet dating site scam.

The woman has lost almost all her life savings after being duped into sending hundreds of thousands of pounds to a supposed American soldier.

The trickster befriended the lady on an online chatroom, claiming to be a lieutenant in the US Army stationed in Afghanistan.

And after gaining her trust over a period of months he began to ask to borrow money – saying he could not access his American bank account and that he needed to buy himself out of the army.

Northumbria Police are aware of similar incidents happening all over the country. Enquiries have revealed it to be a scam involving tricksters from the UK, North America and Nigeria.

Northumbria Police is now working with forces across the UK in a bid to trace the scammers. Det Cons Steph Heaney said: “Research carried out during the investigation shows this is quite a well used internet scam with many variations on a similar theme.

“We’re working closely with other forces to find out if they are investigating any similar incidents and we’re doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this – including checking activity on a variety of bank accounts and phone numbers.

“The offenders have taken advantage of a vulnerable woman who trusted the man claiming to be at the other end of the e-mail and believed he was true to his word and would pay her back.

“He promised to take her on holiday and to come and stay with her once he’d left the army.

“It’s disgusting that people could do this to anyone and it’s imperative we do all we can to find the people behind this.

“I’d urge anyone who has fallen victim to a similar scam or knows of anyone who has to get on touch with their local force as they may have vital information.

“And I’d like to raise awareness of this scam to prevent other people from falling victim. The offenders will try to make contact through social and dating websites and it’s imperative that people do not hand over any money to someone they don’t know or have only met online.

“I’d also encourage friends and relatives to make sure they keep an eye on the elderly or vulnerable and listen out for any warning signs so they can make sure they don’t give money to people they don’t know.”

original article here

Policeman Caught Stalking Ex-Girlfriend

(FLORIDA) A Bunnell police officer who was fired is facing charges of using his work-issued computer to stalk his ex-girlfriend.

The complaints about officer Russell Nasby began in October, according to an Internal Affairs report released by the Bunnell Police Department.

The report says an ex-girlfriend told a Flagler County deputy that Nasby was stalking her though e-mails, phone calls and Facebook.

The ex-girlfriend refused to press charges, but a subsequent investigation revealed that the veteran officer had performed background checks on his ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend and the deputy who first investigated the stalking allegations, according to the report.

Deputies searched Nasby's work computer and concluded that 75 percent of his Internet activity was for his personal use, according to the report.

Document: Officer's Disciplinary Action Report

The report says that Nasby visited dating sites such as Match.com, pharmaceutical sites that sell Viagra, and gaming sites on FloridaLottery.com.

Nasby recorded more than 3,600 visits to personal and dating Web sites while in his patrol car, while he was suppose to be on duty, according to the report.

The reports says that Nasby admitted to going to improper Web sites while on patrol. He also confessed to contacting his ex-girlfriend after she had asked him to stop.

Nasby's stepfather, Bob Costello, said that his 46-year-old stepson moved out of the home his address was listed as two weeks ago.

"I don't know anything about (Nasby's termination)," Costello said.

original article here

Ed Hicks hits the news once again

By Kristin Davis

Authorities in Florida have arrested convicted bigamist Charles Edward Hicks, a Chesapeake man whose marital affairs were the subject of a TV talk show and a cable-channel documentary.

The 65-year-old was being held without bond in Monroe County in the Florida Keys, according to online inmate records.

A Chesapeake judge sentenced Hicks to five years in prison with four years suspended after he pleaded guilty in 2006 to bigamy involving his fifth and sixth wives.

He did not report to his parole officer in July 2008 and had been on the run ever since, according to court records.

At least two 2006 "Dr. Phil" episodes featured women who learned they were married to Hicks at the same time. In 2007, the We channel aired a program on Hicks called "Very Bad Men: The Man Who Married Too Much."

original article here

EOPC POSTS ON ED HICKS - OUR FIRST CYBERPATH!

IF YOU WERE EVER INVOLVED WITH ED HICKS - YOU'RE INVITED TO JOIN THE SUPPORT GROUP OF HIS VICTIMS: Write To: CEHsupportgroup@gmail.com

MUSLIM MEN TROLLING FOR WIVES

MUSLIM MEN TROLLING FOR WIVES
Muslim men in Australia are trawling "marriage websites" looking for second wives in what Immigration officials say is a growing illegal trade.

And Muslim leaders have warned that men who take second wives from overseas face jail or deportation.

A Sunday Herald Sun investigation has found Muslim men are using the internet to attract second wives with promises of financial security.

Immigration officials are investigating a growing number of second marriages and say anyone found to have committed bigamy will be prosecuted.

"Muslims are required to follow the law of the land and since the law of Australia prohibits a second marriage, Islamic law will also prohibit it," Islamic Council of Australia spokesman Mohamad Abdalla said.

Victorian Women's Affairs Minister Mary Delahunty said websites that depicted women as chattels were a disgrace.

"Muslim women must be protected by Australian laws," Ms Delahunty said.

Australian men are among thousands who log on to matrimonial sites such as muslimunions.com and qiran.com to find a spouse.

The Sunday Herald Sun investigation identified 77 married men in Australia who were looking for a second wife.

A reporter registered on the sites, posing as a young Muslim woman from Pakistan, and was able to search through the profiles of potential husbands.

The men, aged between 18 and 60, promised their brides houses and financial security provided they accept male leadership and wear a hijab after the wedding...

ORIGINAL