With more guys than girls chatting online, guys have to try that extra bit harder to impress, as the competition is generally tougher.

Unfortunately, many guys would stop at nothing to lure ladies to his inbox and con their way into your life.

But fine-tune your snitch switch and separate the weed from the chaff by taking a closer look at his picture.

When chatting online, the first telltale clue that a guy might be hiding something is if his picture is either absent or so fuzzy or distant that he cannot be recognised.

If a guy has nothing to hide, he wouldn't have to hide behind sunglasses or a hoodie, or post a picture taken from 30 metres away.

Worse still, if he sends you a photo only of his body, it sends an unequivocal message of what he's after: all things physical.

Investigate the other elements of his photo, not only as conversation starters, but also to dispel any wrong assumptions you might make about him.

Guys admit to often pose with puppies for their online dating profiles. Online chatter Richard says: "Puppies are babe magnets. Chicks immediately assume if you're cuddling a puppy, you're sweet and sensitive."

However, there's no reason to turn into a complete cynic. Many great and honest guys are floating around in cyberworld, so make sure you put your energy into flagging them down, instead of wasting energy on the red-flagged profiles.