A decade ago, I found myself in Cali, Colombia, working as a bilingual English-Spanish translator for North American and European men visiting local dating and marriage agencies. These men were hoping to find love and build lasting relationships with Colombian women. However, my experience opened my eyes to the often-hidden realities of the international dating industry.
While some individuals do find genuine connections—around 2%, by my estimation—the truth is that many of these matchmaking setups operate as a “rigged game.” Unscrupulous practices, both from agencies and individuals, create an environment where naïve men and women are often exploited. Whether for financial gain, temporary pleasure, or more elaborate scams, the intentions of some participants are not always pure.
In this article, I’ll share the insights I gained during my time in South America, including red flags to watch out for, how to avoid common pitfalls, and practical advice for those genuinely seeking love abroad. As we step into 2025, with international dating becoming more accessible through technology, it’s more important than ever to approach these opportunities with a well-informed and cautious mindset.
Read on to learn how to navigate the complex world of international romance safely and successfully.
TOP3 Sites For Russian & Ukraine Dating
Ukrainian Dating Adventure - How it started
Now I am preparing to travel to (western) Ukraine for the first time to teach English. I do not know the local language nor do I have any contacts outside a single contact at the language institute, so I have been interested in meeting some people over there.
Through the advances in information technology and a little bit of smarts I have been able to meet dozens of university aged English speakers in my destination city via the internet over the period of a month – and I have gotten to know about 10 of them pretty well. Being a single guy I thought I would also try to meet some single women that were closer to my age and not university age for friendship, or possible dating if a serious relationship might result.
Discovering Ukrainian dating sites
I quickly found myself on AnastasiaDate.com as it presents an attractive and easy to use platform (IMHO). Also, I noted the advances in information technology over the last 10 years provided the men much more interesting incentives to get involved in online interaction via this site (and I assume other sites like it).
However, the comparison of the blockages to open and normal communication and the excessive charges for services – as compared to what I had easily accomplished on my own with normal Ukrainians via internet social media platforms was like comparing night and day.
Furthermore, the advances in technology that allow men and women to instantaneously chat or share video online have been totally abused by AnastasiaDate.com.
Ladies on the dating sites are paid
The vast majority of women who are online for chat or video are most definitely unscrupulous – and I do not doubt (what I read elsewhere on this site) that they were getting a cut (getting paid) a portion of whatever excessive charges AnastasiaDate.com was charging for this distraction of a service.
It is possible that there may be a fair number of decent women available for exchange of letters (as long as they are not the lurking online vampires), however, that game starts pre-rigged as AnastasiaDate.com does not provide complete information regarding the man to the woman (lack of photos for instance).
Ukrainian dating sites: unacceptable waste of time
Although I would like to better know about a dozen single women in the area I will visit, and possibly get to know one or two of them well before I arrive, my guess is that the cost to me could be at least $2,000 or higher, as well as untold frustration, and unacceptable wastes of time.
As it is, I spent less than $100 to confirm my suspicions that online dating has become all the more treacherous as technology has advanced during the last decade.
Conclusion
Finally, I have one last insight for your readers from the United States regarding dating sites and the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005. The net result is this law provides minimal protection for the ladies, and that dating agencies have simply used it to create excuses to entrap men and women in their degenerative business models.
Lacking a law to protect the men from the unscrupulous behavior of the dating agencies and many of the most attractive women found at these agencies, it is up to the guys to be wise, and to only trust the people and women found in the dating agencies as far as you can throw them.
Teo B.
Last Updated & Reviewed: March 07, 2025
