Back in the dating game: the dangers of online dating after 50

MISHAWAKA -

Valentine's Day is around the corner. And that might have you thinking about finding that special someone to share your life with. But if you've been off the market for a while, you face a radically different dating landscape than the one you grew up with. The dating pool is thinner for older people so they often try online dating for more options. Dating online can be surprisingly dangerous...for the middle aged. The Pew Research Center reported in 2013 about 20% of online daters are at least 45 or older. And they're easy targets for people looking for more than just love.

"I didn't know a lot. I do now," said Robin Cowell

57. Self-described as goofy. Says she loves midnight walks in the snow. The romance road has been rocky. She's been both widowed and divorced.

"I started doing the same thing I did in the past. You know you go to the bars. Might meet someone there," Cowell said.

But she didn't....and a good friend told her to focus on her son. So she did....for the next twelve years. But now Chris is off at college.

"Chris is my bud. Ya know. He did everything. Well my bud's on doing his own life now. It's time for Mom to start a life," Cowell said.

Friends at work encouraged her to try online dating. She signed up on a few sites. And messages started streaming in.

"When you haven't had anything positive when you've gone through what I went through. My friends say I'm pretty, but to have a man say that to you it's totally different," Cowell said.

But she soon learned that flattery was a way of reeling in victims. She met a man who said he was an engineer.

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Back in the dating game: the dangers of online dating after 50