The Internet dating stigma no longer exists, and it's about time. But just because looking for love online is more mainstream, that doesn't mean you should let your guard down completely. After all, it may be easier to meet that special someone -- but it's also easier to be deceived by someone else's special someone masquerading as a bachelor. How can you avoid falling for a married man's cyber line? And what are the warning signs that the guy on the other end of the cute emails is otherwise engaged? Take note of these tips.

Stacey Lance found out the hard way that the boyfriend she'd met six months earlier through Eharmony.com was married: His wife called! Stacey, a 29 year old publicist of Clinton, Maryland said that he didn’t live in the same town as her, which is why she didn’t have reason to suspect anything. Of course he couldn’t make it over all the time because of the distance. She definitely noticed inconsistencies in his schedule, but the flagged was raised when he claimed he had to miss a date because he boss called him in… at 8 p.m. There had been numerous red flags. For instance, he only called from his cell phone while driving in his car. It turns out that Fernando was chatting with about 3 women online. According to his wife, Stacey was the only one he'd actually met and kissed. After about two weeks, Fernando called Stacey and said he wanted to be with her because he didn’t love his wife.

Some states are now requiring online dating sites to reveal up-front whether they conduct criminal background checks on their clients (which disclose not only criminal records, but also marital status) like true.com does, for example.

Why Are you Attracting Married Men?

It may seem kind of odd, but if you continue to attract married men it might be something about the way communicate in your profile. If you seem at all needy or desperate, you will be a target for a married man. They prey on the weak and lonely. It doesn't make a difference if your profile says 'no married men. There are always lurkers and lookers.

Clues:

No Picture Posted

If someone is really trying to find love, they are going to do what their site recommends. One of the first options after building a profile is to upload a picture. More than likely if a man does not have his picture posted he is hiding something. What married man wants his picture accessible to tons of people, some of whom might know his wife?

He lists his marital status as "separated."

A separated man is a married man. Why not just get a divorce?

His home phone number is privileged information.

Once you've spoken, he should be comfortable handing out those seven digits. It is normally the woman that had to be extremely careful about giving out her home number because of safety issues. If he cannot give you his home number, you may want to ask why. If his reason seems valid that is good thing. If it seems like he made up some lame excuse you should definitely move on.