After 16 years of matchmaking in Ukraine, coaching men on setting achievable goals, and setting themselves free from online dating virtuality, I can provide clear facts about this phenomenon. 

The "poor Ukrainian women with limited access to the internet" is a hoax! There's a 3G and wi-fi connection everywhere, and most of those women have mobile phones better than yours.

Let's break through the propaganda and reach the reality:

1. Two out of every five single people aged 24 - 50 currently use or have used an online dating service representing 40% of the single population! 

Now think of all the single friends you have; how many of them have told you that they've signed up to a site to kick start their love lives? Not many, I would guess. That's because, despite its popularity, there's still a social stigma attached to dating sites; 23% of people think those who use online dating are desperate, so they generally pretend to their families and friends that they've met in a bar or at some party or work-related function.
2. Only about 5% of people who join dating sites end up in a relationship with someone they first make contact with! Let's equate this to the real world; you walk into a room full of one hundred strangers, and how many of them would you be attracted to? Probably no more than ten. And that's if you're lucky. But in cyberspace, things drastically reverts - how many total strangers will there be on any site that presses all your right buttons? Hundreds!!! So when you register with an international dating website, don't expect your love life to be different from reality just because you receive all those lovely messages from women often much younger than you. Remember that you're crossing an ocean swimming all by yourself and only have a 5% chance to reach the other shore successfully; will you be that lucky?

3. Almost two-thirds of people who use online dating say the number one thing they're looking for in a date or partner is common interests. 

While less than half say physical characteristics are the most important to them. Still, between you and me, I think at least half of them lie. For example, 20% of women will use photos from when they were younger on a local dating site, while 40% of men will lie about their jobs. But on the other hand, on international dating sites where men pay-per-letter, the men will use more not updated profile photos and lie about their age and still receive tens of overwhelming messages from much younger beautiful women igniting men's most hidden dreams and fantasies.
Keep in mind that it only happens because you are paying those letters dearly; you're then swimming dangerous waters crowded with mermaids fishing your wallet regardless of which profile photo you posted.
The fish always die by the mouth, and men by their blinded eyes often added to unrealistic expectations. If you get scammed, you shouldn't blame the site just as a bad worker shouldn't blame his tools. You started scamming yourself, believing in what was not credible. Such pay-per-letter dating sites' main purpose is not to match you but to take advantage of your unawareness or unrealistic expectations in exchange for a few dollars. (Credits).

4. Popular international dating sites are famous for one reason and one reason only. They have plenty of exuberant "fish." 

You'll find a handful of sites that outstrip others on the internet in terms of the volume of their profiles and reputation in general, but none of these sites are free. Global sites which can boast hundreds of thousands of members from all four corners of the globe are a waste of time unless you're looking for a pen-pal. These sites might sound rather impressive - "We have 5,000,000 members worldwide!!" - But so what? What you should be concerned with when choosing a site is how many members they have in your city, your town, or your village. If you're serious about finding a local partner, stick to one-two cities and disregard the dream-connection sales pitch. Do not pay for what you do not need! On the other hand, if you search for a wife abroad, keep in mind that, no matter her nationality, women are always women, and there are no shortcuts to find a wife abroad.

5. While numerous dating sites lean slightly more female with their gender ratio, online dating tends to attract more males as a whole: 

52.4% compared to 47.6% so as far as the online arena is concerned, it's the girls who are calling the shots. They have more choice and can, therefore, be more discerning about who they contact or write back. Another alternative is the international dating sites where attractive young foreign women overwhelmingly overrate men. You'll be surprised with their "manifested interest in you" (no matter who you are), and your expectations levels will reach the skies. But how certain you can be upon their legit interest and honest communication, that's another big question! The chances you will be directly communicating with those ladies on such pay-per-letter sites are below 2%. So guys, if you do not want to end falling in love with a picture and are honestly searching for a foreign wife, you better not dive in such waters, not knowing how profound danger goes.

6. These sites fish you in as supposedly inexpensive, but in the long run and after you failed, as happens in 95% of the cases, you'll find it all definitely expensive and highly frustrating! 

Joining those dating sites is cheap, and the perspective of finding a great relationship makes the risk/reward ratio a no-brainer compared to, let's say, contracting a matchmaker. But why then, those dating sites have such a ridiculous success rate when compared to a matchmaker?
It would be best if you did not look at the big picture but make some calculations because all is a numbers game. If a specific site advertises to have helped create 240 couples in one year and based on the fact that it is proven such site success rate is below 5%, it means that every year 4800 persons expensively fail to find their partner.
Even knowing for a fact that a matchmaker has a 10x success rate than a dating site, it would take him or her 20 years to successfully match those same 240 couples. But in this case, you have 50% chances of getting what you paid for within a predefined time, so; where do you feel having more opportunities to succeed? Being one among 48 others, working directly with a matchmaker, having a 50/50% chance to succeed, or being one among 480, in those international dating sites and have a 5% chance to succeed?

7. Online dating fraud rose by 150% percent in the last couple of years.

The revenue in the matchmaking segment in the United States amounts to US$731m in 2019, versus the US$581m online dating segment. The Matchmaking Institute estimates that there are now more than 2,000 professional matchmakers and above 2,500 dating sites in the U.S. alone. Considering that, Zoosk as an example among those 2,500 sites, exchanges over 3 million messages a day, and others as Match have 23.5 users, shouldn't the success rate be higher than those inexpressive 5%?
In the U.S. alone, the target demographic for these services is 90 million singles between 19 and 45. 62% of online daters are already in a relationship or married (51% vs. 11%, respectively). Within the same percentage of a dating app, users are men compared to 38% women. 
If taking international dating as an option, the numbers will look much more optimistic due to the vast offer of available foreign women. Still, the chances to succeed marrying them are below 5% so, what seems to be cheaper and rapidly achievable has a 95% chance not to happen.