It’s about making yourself seem ‘better’ than what you are in real life.

Despite the well-known and ugly truth that looking for “the one” on the internet means dealing with fake information and photos, as well as malicious links, 31 percent of South Africans use online dating.

According to Kaspersky Lab, a Russian multinational cyber security and antivirus provider, online dating is a risk because people fake their personal information.

Its research found that over 62 percent of people surveyed admitted to lying while dating online, and faking information to make themselves look better than in real life.Some said they did it to try to catch their partners cheating.

54 percent used fake photos, and 59 percent lied about their ages.

The research also found that 50 percent of online dating users used it purely for fun, while 19 percent of users were hoping to extract sexual favours and a mere 10 percent of optimistic users were on the hunt for their ‘soul mate’.

Beware of the fakers!

But fake data seemed to have put people off online dating, with one in five respondents stating they were put off by false photos. One in 10 were put off by fake relationship expectations and dishonest relationship statuses.

Some said they felt threatened and were afraid for their online security. About 17 percent had encountered scammers who tried to extort personal or financial information by sending malicious links to infect their devices.

READ NEXT: Aisha Baker and Wayne Parnell were couple goals at the Pink Polo

AUTHOR: PRETORIA NEWS | PHOTO CREDIT: Freepik