Long before I learned about the 'honey trap' scandal engulfing match.com and Yahoo, I distrusted dating websites. The reason: some profiles posted on them seem to belong to phantoms - fictitious individuals devised to foster financial involvement. I worked this out a couple of years ago when, for research, I was roaming a site called swampheat.com. One supposed woman I contacted sent me a photo in which she looked the embodiment of the English rose. In the time it takes to say 'pre-nuptial agreement', I had responded. But 'she' never replied. Feeling 'had', I guessed that the picture emanated from: a) a 12-year-old boy with nothing better to do than wind up strangers; b) a prostitute, although there was no mention of money; or c) an in-house creep planting imaginary sirens on the site to make visitors pay the full fee that bestowed unlimited access. My suspicions about dating websites deepened when, in the course of further research, I accessed another hub called swapspit.com. Again, I bumped into someone who looked irresistible in her picture. She said she liked the honesty of my profile and wanted me to come and chat with her while she paraded on webcam on the site. The catch, which she omitted to mention, was that compliance would have forced me to pay the full membership fee. I brought this up and never heard back. Now I wonder how many suckers become mixed up in websites littered with decoys who try to lure the visitor in. There could be a lot. After all, just about everybody I know has dabbled in online dating because it seems the antidote to hanging around in bars, and developing a belly and an alcohol-dependency problem in the process. Worse, dating site malpractice may well be rife in the light of the stature of the firms facing lawsuits. The first, match.com, is accused of sending bogus e-mails to clients and deploying staff on dates. Picture the scene, guys - for it is men who seem to be the targets of the apparent con artistry. After renewing your membership at the last moment in response to a belated surge of interest, you power-shower, shave with particular diligence, enlist that special-occasion white shirt and knife-crease trousers, head into town and buy drinks for an attractive stranger. The conversation is genial but stilted. Because your date is exceptional, you nonetheless try to pursue the dialogue further, but she slithers away into the night and moves onto the next dupe. Fraud so intimate is enough to aggravate anyone. Even if you only receive a fake romantic e-mail that leads nowhere or empty 'kisses', it is a crummy game to play - preying on the lonely. Californian lonely heart Matthew Evans felt so aggrieved that he decided to pursue litigation after meeting some 'date bait' through match.com. The relationship between him and the woman, the colourfully named Autumn Marzec, was a non-starter. This was because, as she allegedly confessed, she was paid to cosy up to 100 members a month. Match.com fabricated the date to dissuade Mr Evans from cancelling his subscription and to encourage him to tell other potential members how good the service was, claimed Los Angeles-based H Scott Leviant, lawyer for Mr Evans. 'This is a grossly fraudulent practice,' Mr Leviant alleged. He further accused the firm of failing to practise what it preached, alleging match.com 'promotes the policies of integrity to protect members, and yet misleads its entire customer base'. The charges Yahoo faces are just as ugly. They stem from the case of Floridian Robert Anthony, who started receiving notices of new matches just as his membership rolled up for renewal. The matches failed to blossom into dates. Moreover, the photos of one woman turned out to be posted on several Yahoo dating pages under different names and scattered across the internet. Stung, Mr Anthony set off an investigation that confirmed his suspicions and on which he based his legal action. Whatever the outcome of the Anthony and Evans cases, the message is as clear as the ink on an affidavit: think twice before becoming entangled with any digital dating agency. Even the Russian roulette of speed-dating or just hanging around in bars may well be a safer bet. Confused by computer jargon? E-mail technopedia@scmp.com with your questions