We have been warned over and over: don’t talk to strangers, don’t trust people from the internet, use caution when sending money for items or services on the internet. What happened to most of that hype?

Thank Chris Hansen from Dateline for warning us about scammers on the internet.

This year I took a great leap of trust and met an online friend in person.  It was really cool that I could connect with someone online and later meet them in-person and it was like nothing strange or weird happened during the encounter.

First, we were told as kids to never speak to strangers. That didn’t stop me from corresponding with people I met via the internet. This year, I met an online friend in person who I had known since 2002 and been Facebook friends since 2006. Given we are both of the opposite sex, it turned out to be an awesome experience to finally meet in person. We had a few phone calls before and we had a positive feeling about meeting up . Sometimes it may not turn out that way, but it worked out because we both shared similar interests, known each other for a long time, and are nearly the same age.

There have been stories of people scammed out of thousands of dollars, presumably because of a fake internet girlfriend or banking scam which the con-artist asks for money. There are probably worse stories circulating the internet, but I won’t go into details.

Why are people so gullible and fall for these types of scams? In that same regard, why do people participate in online dating? It’s a double-edge sword that can either lead you to meet a great person or run back home to lick your wounds.

The internet has distanced regular intimate relationships with people and with the same token has brought people closer together. I would not have imagined ever visiting a person who I only corresponded through my computer. I was always in contact with my friend yet we never met in real life until this year.

There are good people out there on the internet; you just need to trust yourself and your intuition.