people actually use the im on here?

such a good samaritan.

Just got an IM that was dodgy from the first line, and got worse as it went along.

First of all, the notification box listed the caller as male but the pic was obviously female. It said she was in Nevada.

She started with the typical blah blah "How are you?" stuff, then mentioned that she's in Togo, in Africa. Red Flag.

She asked a bunch of questions that she would have already known the answers to if she had read my profile.

"So, are you married with kids?"

I told her I'm divorced, no kids.

She said she was a widow with a daughter.

She asked me why I was still single and I told her it was because I simply haven't been able to find anyone without kids.

She says "I'm the same way, I'm looking for that too. I don't have any kids."

I said "You just told me you have a daughter."

That seemed to throw her for a minute, and she took awhile to gather her wits about her. Then she said, "I do have a daughter, but do you have a problem with that?"

I said no, I don't have a problem with that, but that I'm not going to get involved with anyone who has kids. (Had the conversation gone on a bit longer, I may have added that I'm not going to get involved with anyone from Togo, anyone who doesn't know if they're male or female, or anyone who can't remember from one minute to the next if they have kids or not.)

She then tried to approach the subject a couple of other ways to explain why I should seriously consider her as a dating prospect.

Finally, I just said, "I'm not looking for someone with kids. Period. Doesn't matter how you try to rephrase it, that's just the way it is."

At which point she closed the IM window.

Where do they get these people from, anyway? Oh, right -- Togo.

I was on another site and got an IM from a guy who was using a picture of an actor as his default picture. I asked him if the picture was done professionally and he said no. I asked him if he knew he looked like the actor and he said no. Then I asked him why he was using a picture of an actor and he swore he wasn't.. then stopped talking.

Yesterday a girl contacted me on IM & started the same way as lex mentioned.Even afetr letting her know that I'm married with 2 kids,she asked me what do I do for living.....

After judging her intention for some time I adviced her as below:

"hey,u still not active in forums?

I'll suggest u to get involved in forums to get known to the people here

surely u will get someone special

u join in the forums

you are beautiful,you will get good friends around soon

& yes...I'll always support my best to you in forums "

She thanked for my advice & still isnt here in any forum.

Lex, I think that's a good idea to turn your IM off.
Although, I haven't been able read the entire book of your profile. From the chapters I have read so far, I think your profile is fascinated. I can totally relate to many things you have written.