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Hi, I think you have to be very careful in using those kind of dating sites. Dont trust someone too easily. Especially you dont get to know if they are real or not.   

I have read about FC here and got curious about it ang signed in.😂😅
There are a lot of men and women but its too hard to find one who get to caught your interest.

All I can say is be careful and dont rush into things and be sorry later.

I had been chatting with this attractive girl in Pagadian for about a week, and I asked her about the town, and asked if she had been to the harbor, and she acted like she didn't know there was a body of water nearby. She did say which mall she said she worked in, but wouldn't tell me the store. Told me she was a virgin, never had a BF, went dark for 2 or 3 days, then communicates about how poor she is, and then sends me a smut video of herself.  I don't think virgins show themselves doing the things she was doing.  So I call BS on that one.  Seemed fairly elaborate in that it progressed over a fairly long period of time.

I have had other scammers, from those asking for money almost from the get go, to those who send these long heart felt letters and after a few back and forths, then say they live in Ghana.

So those are the red flags stay away from them...
If they are poor why do they have the luxury to use phones and not work their way to working and improve themselves. But they chose to rely to someone. Dont go for those

How old are you?  What are your future plans?  Why 2 months in the Philippines?  Do you intend to stay in hotels?  Have you ever been to the Philippines?  Are you intending to go to Mindanao?

I am 59 years old, newly retired, and have never been to PH before. I figured  on 2 months due to wanting to acclimate to the place, not being rushed.

I have not decided on hotels vs air bnb a condo.

I have thought of going to Davao or General Santos, but have seen travel advisories and am reluctant to take a chance.

Good luck

Hi,

If you are going to stay in the Phils. for 2 months there is no need to rush as far as dating is concerned. I suggest to make yourself familiar with the culture first and ask advise from foreigners who have been living in the Phils. for a long time. ( I have been here for 26 years).

I suggest you start with Cebu City because of it's size and number of international flights arriving each day. In this city there is a huge number of single women who are looking for a foreigner as boyfriend or husband. You can also get in touch with ladies from the dating sites you mentioned once you have settled in at your hotel here. Since you are already here potential scammers will tend to avoid you by not meeting with you in person.  Many of them only want to have a "long distance boyfriend" to chat with and receive money from to be spent with their real Filipino boyfriend.  Some ladies will surely meet up for a "one night stand" for a fee , but if you make it clear in your chat that this is not what you are looking for you may be left with a number of ladies who will meet you with honest intentions.

If you need personal advise there is a group of foreigners meeting every day at the Robinson Mall at Fuente Osmena in Cebu City at 3.30 PM to 5 PM near the food-court at ground floor. Most of the guys are Americans. I am part of this group and all of us want to give you the best advise possible to avoid the "pitfalls"  for a first timer in the Phils. (We learned ourselves the hard way!)

Davao and Gen San are safe if you don't venture out of the city core into the provinces on your own.

If your daughter is an adult she should not get involved in your love life since I assume you are no longer in a relationship with her mother. Tell her so and also that you love her very much. :-)

Thanks for the advice and the information about the expats meeting and Robinson Mall Cebu City. It would be nice to be able to connect with some fellow expats and here are some of their stories. Take care and thank you again.

One more thing: You will always find ladies who will simply like to meet you in person, but they will insist you to allow her to bring someone with her as she feels shy. Here the purpose may not be to meet you, but the real intention may be to get a free lunch, snacks or whatever you want to serve. These girls are not shy asking you directly whether they can eat something as they are very hungry. As you are meeting them for the first time, you may like to give them a better impression and accept it. Here the purpose is some outing for free while you pay for their food. Some may be so shameless that they may even purchase more food directly and would expect you to pay. Dont be stupid and let the red bells ring in your mind so that you can be careful. Many Filipinas like only white men as they also believe that white men are more generous (or stupid) than many brown men from Asia. I have experienced all these things. Even one lady who I wanted to meet in Quezone city pressed me to pay her 500 000 pesos so that so that his boss could give her cousin a free day to accompany her to me. Without him her parents wont allow her to meet me. According to her the cousin who worked in Real Estate hadn't sold any house so that his boss was angry, and the only way to have a meeting was to buy a house even if it was just on a paper. And believe me that you cant even buy a junk house for this price in Metro Manila. And she told me about it on the same day and same time when we had planned our meeting and I was there after my long trip from Norway. Dont get blackmailed by such girls. I am sure that you will hear many such stories when you meet other foreigners once you are there in Philippines. Good Luck!

Hi,

"Even one lady who I wanted to meet in Quezon City pressed me to pay her 500 000 pesos so that so that his boss could give her cousin a free day to accompany her to me."

It sounds from your message that you actually paid her PHP 500.000?

I hope you didn't, since this sounds absolutely ludicrous to me. I would simply have walked away without any further comments if I got a request like that no matter what kind of communication had taken place previously.

I advise anyone to stay clear of the Manila area. Much worse up there compared to the Visayas and Mindanao. I have heard lots of stories throughout the years about foreigners being set up and stripped for a lot of money by more or less professional gangs. I'm not saying that bad things cannot happen in other areas of the Phils., but in my experience Manila is the worst.

"Even one lady who I wanted to meet in Quezone city pressed me to pay her 500 000 pesos so that so that his boss could give her cousin a free day to accompany her to me. Without him her parents wont allow her to meet me."

Hadn't heard that one before, haha. I could see if it was 500p if that's what he earns, but beyond that is ridiculous. I will note that some of the horror stories I hear on this and other forums sometimes appears to be a result of miscommunication. Not saying that particular incident was, but there are big cultural differences and language barriers that sometimes cause communication problems. Before reacting to something that seems ridiculous, always test your understanding.

pactoil wrote:

Hi,
I advise anyone to stay clear of the Manila area. Much worse up there compared to the Visayas and Mindanao. I have heard lots of stories throughout the years about foreigners being set up and stripped for a lot of money by more or less professional gangs. I'm not saying that bad things cannot happen in other areas of the Phils., but in my experience Manila is the worst.

When I signed up with a penpal company out of Colorado in 1991, Kurt Kirsten, the founder married to a Filipina, advised everyone to avoid the visa hunters of Manila.  His operation was centered around Cebu, he provided guides and private investigators for anyone willing to pay the price.  He allowed the girls from  anywhere in the Philippines to join, but most were in Cebu.  I met fine women from all over the islands, was lucky enough to find my wife in Ilocos Sur on Luzon.

First and foremost hold on to your wa
llet .
Never send any money even for transportation......unless you like donating to charity.
1st trip here only for recon.
2nd trip decision time.