Below two recent posts on GoKunming.

Well I am reasonable open minded and like to try something new, but however, I am not a between 20 and 35 years old girl.

Please spammers take the GoKunming readers a bit more serious than posting this type of crap.

Looking for a friend
Awais Khoso a day ago Classifieds > Personals > Man Seeking Woman
Hi!
Is there a woman in Kunming (or elsewhere in Yunnan) who wants a boy to have fun with from time to time? Eventually, if we are comfortable with each other, I'd love to find someone who might be interested in fun. Maybe we could casually date? I am 25 years old , 175cm , Canadian .. Please be an open-minded girl, between 20 and 35 years old. I'm okay if you have a complicated relationship situation, as I will respect you and give you space in all circumstances. Just, please be honest about your situation.
If you think we might be able to enjoy hanging out together on occasion, please send me a picture of yourself and tell me a little about who you are. WeChat : Be-happpy123

Want to try something new?
funny about 11 hours ago Classifieds > Personals > Man Seeking Woman
Hi!
Is there a woman in Kunming (or elsewhere in Yunnan) who wants a man to have fun with from time to time? Eventually, if we are comfortable with each other, I'd love to find someone who might be interested in going on trips with me to explore various new places. Maybe we could casually date?
Me: mid-30s, from USA, highly educated (PhD), business professional, cute brown eyes, average body, facial hair (goatee), and I can make most people laugh. I always treat people with respect, care, tenderness, and consideration. I value true friendship. I also am great at cuddles and kisses, if you need practice. ;)
Please be an open-minded girl, between 20 and 45 years old. I'm okay if you have a complicated relationship situation, as I will respect you and give you space in all circumstances. Just, please be honest about your situation.
If you think we might be able to enjoy hanging out together on occasion, please send me a picture of yourself and tell me a little about who you are.
谢谢! (我也可以说普通话.) :-)

Why are you scouring the personals, lemon? Business or pleasure? ;)

A bit of devil's advocacy. I think it may be possible poster is being truthful in his ads. He could in fact hold dual citizenships. Fishing with his Canadian and American passport baits to increase his chances of a bite.

No, he isn't being subtle with his flirty intentions. At least he's being direct about it. Quite a few men may hide their actual intentions by hooking women with false hopes of a marriage, granted not all women may want all out serious relationships. Lonelier women these days may also seek fun and companionship on the side while looking for a serious relationship as their MO. The eclectic, non-binary nature of personals are not for us to judge too harshly.

So my overall take is the poster seems honest enough. However, the self-pronouncement of being "highly educated" did ring a familiar bell. That tone sounded like a guy, whom I shall not name, you were engaging in an acrimonious exchange with in the forums a while back.

Good question Ladybug, why did I look at them? Normally I don’t read any classified.

I looked again and know why I did. On the front page after the header is displayed the first sentence is given. I looked at them because both first sentences are the same. That looked strange to me.

Contrary to Ladybug I am not looking why these two messages might be genuine. In general messages like this are phishing things trying to lure the innocent into all kind of problems.

To my understanding, phishing is a type of scam where voice calls, text, emails, or "unofficial" WeChat account disguise themselves as reputable or familiar organizations which victims inherently trust. For example, phishing scammers pretend to be Bank of China, PSB, or a local hospital inquiring about victim's personal information, to be used for nefarious purposes.

This is not the case above. It is highly unlikely women would submit their sensitive info to a total stranger right off the bat. Especially to "Be-happy124" looking to get lucky on GoK's personals, but unbeknownst to his potential cuddling partners, is trying to steal their banking info.

That said, online dating scams are prevalent worldwide. Scammers prey on victims' trust in order to have them invest in shady dealings. Cryptocurrencies for instance in HK. Or less financially depleting, splurge at teahouses or bars they may get commissions from. So it goes without saying we should guard ourselves from scams that tap into our innate greed, lust, or fear. Those are a different beast from phishing.

I quote:

"online dating scams are prevalent worldwide. Scammers prey on victims' trust in order to have them invest in shady dealings. Cryptocurrencies for instance in HK. Or less financially depleting, splurge at teahouses or bars they may get commissions from. So it goes without saying we should guard ourselves from scams that tap into our innate greed, lust, or fear. Those are a different beast from phishing."

Scammers throw the net wide. Here so wide and plentiful that similar text ended up more or less next to each other.

“Victims trust” can be build up by grooming as well. Might go on for month but then suddenly there is the request for money or favours.

Scams aside - it's nice to see the traffic on gokm returning...

Enjoy it while lasts. I have a feeling less and less foreigners are coming to Kunming/China so the traffic will come to a halt. Ha.Ha.

For those who still use cash (AlPage48?), when inserting your debit card into ATMs such as for ICBC, you may hear a prerecorded woman's voice in Chinese. They are basically warning customers not to give out passwords or other sensitive info to unknown numbers (via SMS or voice calls) pretending to represent the bank. A friendly caution of potential phishing. I'm assuming this type of organized scam is rampant across China, whose victims are not restricted to seniors and the more gullible.

In terms of relationship grooming for future favors, money borrowing, or eyeing assets for hostile takeover. These scams appear to be an insidious social problem we should all naturally be wary of. Not restricted to dating sites or personals in the classified section, but have evolved into online gaming and live streaming social platforms like Douyin with a gluttony of followers/patrons.

If anything, I worry for Be-happy123, who seems to be a lonely Canadian/American dude who just needs a hug with possible happy ending. He may be the who risks getting groomed and taken advantaged of at the end.