Law enforcement officials believe that Solomon Jesus Nasser, from Greenburgh, NY, successfully used a series of online dating scams to steal $140,000 from women.

Nasser would target professional women on internet dating sites like Match.com as well as social networks with fraudulent personal stories about him being a multimillionaire; a CIA agent; a Department of Defense official; a personal friend of President George W. Bush and a high-level military commander.

After gaining their trust with his lies, Nasser managed to convince some of the women to “loan” him close to $140,000, according to prosecutors.

Nasser was arraigned on 1/28/2010 on a five count indictment that includes multiple felonies.

According to Westchester, NY District Attorney Janet DiFiore – “Soon after meeting the women, he would explain to them that he was currently in a dire financial state and that he and his ex-wife were in a contentious battle over child support or he had been sued” and that “either way, the court had frozen all his assets and he did not have money to live day-to-day.”

Nasser allegedly ran his dating scam during a three year period that ran from July 2005 to March 2008.

Nasser used dating sites, including Match.com and Plentyoffish.com to find potential victims for his scam.

According to reports, Nasser scammed over $114,000 from one victim alone. He also scammed as much as $24,764 from a second woman.

Fraud investigators from DiFiore’s department started an investigation into Nasser’s dating scam in April 2010 due to a complaint against him.

New York’s Department of Taxation and Finance assisted in the investigation, and discoverd that Nasser had avoided paying taxes with interest and penalties totaling $17,400.

Nasser has been charged with second and third-degree grand larceny, first-degree scheme to defraud and filing false tax returns, which are all felonies. He has also been charged with fifth-degree criminal tax fraud, a misdemeanor.

Nasser faces five to 15 years in jail for the top charge.

After his arraignment, Nasser was sent to Westchester County jail without bail.

[ Source: LoHud.com ]

As more people become comfortable with the idea of online dating and social networking, some business analysts predict that the online dating industry could grow by as much at 25 percent in 2010.

Online dating services in Australia alone grew by 5 percent in 2009 are are expected to grow by as much as 10 percent in 2010.

A recent survey of over 3000 people by RSVP, an online dating site, discovered that 50 percent of people polled had tried online dating and 10 percent responded that they met their current partner through online dating services.

[ Source: IndiaTimes.com ]

A new dating site called ScientificMatch.com takes the idea of “chemistry” in matchmaking literally and claims to have the biological answer to the online dating game with “DNA Matching”.

ScientificMatch.com does away with low-tech personal questionnaires about a person’s interests that are used by most online dating sites and, instead, uses a DNA compatibility test from a cheek swab sample to pair love-seeking singles.

According to the site’s creator Eric Holzle: “Nature’s driving force is to ensure that you produce the healthiest possible offspring, so what DNA matching offers is the chance to pick a partner with the widest possible variety of genes and therefore the best immune system for any potential children.”

Holzle also claims that DNA testing can predict if you will have a satisfying love life as well as the likelihood that you or a partner will cheat.

Even though the idea of DNA matching to pair people sounds like science fiction, there are studies that support this new matchmaking concept.

A 1995 study found that females were attracted to the scent of males who had immune systems that were different from their own.

This aptly-named “Sweaty T-Shirt Experiment” also found the same results for male participants, who were exposed to the scent of perspiration from females.

This study is believed to provide solid evidence that the more genetic variety there is between you and a potential partner, the greater the probability that you will be a compatible pair

Holzle emphasizes that his ScientificMatch.com is not trying to remove romance from the search to find the best partner. He simply wants to streamline the search process for people who want to see if they have the right chemistry with someone to begin with.

Hozle also notes that he has found that people under the age of 45 are open to the concept of DNA matching as a potential time-saver in the dating game, while people over the age of 45 are less trusting of the DNA approach to dating and are more likely to have privacy concerns about the process.

[ Source: Daily Mail ]

The online dating site BeautifulPeople.com, a self-proclaimed dating site for good looking people, has succeeded in creating buzz and controversy by removing 5,000 members who put on too much weight over the holiday season.

BeautifulPeople.com launched in Denmark in 2002 and went global in 2009. The dating site describes itself as the “the sexiest web site in the world.”

Members of the site rate each others’ photos as “Yes, definitely” or “NO definitely NOT” when deciding whether a person should be allowed to join the site. People with low scoring pictures are denied membership on the site.

A number of advocacy groups for overweight have publicly denounced the site since the membership purge was announced.

The Fox News show RedEye takes a humorous look at the issue:

Online dating sites are reporting a surge in web traffic that they attribute to the cold weather spell that is blanketing the globe with record low temperatures.

Mysinglefriend.com reports that traffic to their online dating site grew by 55% in a single day this past Tuesday. Singles365.com reported a 27% traffic increase from Tuesday to Wednesday.

IllicitEncounters.com ( a dating site for married people who are seeking an extramarital affair ) reports that their site registered a record number of new people on Wednesday.

The large increase in people visiting online dating sites comes at a time when the online dating business is already experiencing boom times.

As more adults become comfortable using computers, the stigma of using online dating sites diminishes and the ease of registering with an online dating agency with a laptop or mobile device makes people more likely to join and online dating site or dating social network.

[ Source: BBC ]

A report by online ad network Millenial Media shows that, despite the bad economy, mobile web users are increasingly visiting online dating sites during the holidays.

Millenial Media is one of the largest mobile ad networks and their records show that peoples’ response levels with advertising for online dating services grew 19 percent during the Thanksgiving weekend.

In light of the bad economy, Millenial Media found it to be a surprising trend that people showed a growing demand for online dating, especially during the holidays.

Millenial Media’s findings coincide with a recent report by People Media, Inc., a creator of online dating services, which reported that 51% of 27,000 singles surveyed say the recession has no impact on their dating activities.

According to Josh Meyers, CEO of People Media. “Online dating is actually the ideal tool for these times because unemployed people have more time available to spend online, and precisely because that need for a robust social life may be more acute than ever.”

However, the People media report indicated that people are not comfortable dating someone who is unemployed.

Despite growing unemployment, 24% of people surveyed indicated that they would not date someone who was unemployed.

Another 6% of people admitted that they viewed dating as a way to network professionally to find a job.

[ Source: Examiner.com ]

A chat on a phone dating service led to the arrest of an Evansville, Indiana man on drug charges.

A woman called police after talking to Lawrence McDonald on a telephone dating service Friday night. McDonald reportedly told the woman during their talk that he was engaged in a sexual act with a minor.

The woman informed the 911 dispatcher that she was worried when McDonald said he was involved in sexual acts with a 10 year old girl, the woman informed 911 that she heard the sound of a girl’s voice during her phone date with McDonald.

After the woman called 911 to report the incident, the local Sheriff’s Office was contacted.

When police arrived at McDonald’s place he did not answer the door. Police then obtained a search warrant to enter his house.

Police found no evidence an underage female at McDonald’s residence, however the sexual allegations are still being investigated.

While searching McDonald’s residence, the police found multiple marijuana plants, several firearms and three prescription painkillers, which McDonald did not have a prescription for, according to the police report.

McDonald was released after posting a $500 cash bond. He now faces various drug-related charges.

[ Source: CourierPress.com ]