If you have a bunny, hide it now! Kidding, somewhat, but if someone is laying out that kind of heavy artillery so early on, it means:
A) Totally desperate psychopath, I pity your pets
B) They don't understand you at all
C) They really feel it for you, which means what the blazes did you say to this woman!!

PS I don't know this woman but free advice, know your audience befor you make such a grand gesture!

I would warn anyone against saying that until they've actually met and dated a couple of times at the very least.

You can get to know maybe 50% of the person through chatting online but it's not until you are actually together that you see their true nature. Maybe a couple of hours spent chatting on webcam is nice but could you stand each other's company along with their bad habits and other things you don't know about until you meet for a long period?

Maybe I'm a little more reserved but I'd want to know everything I could about them before I could ever say it. Until then, it's a strong attraction but little more than that. However, some people interpret that feeling differently. Also, especially for those who don't like being alone for long periods, loneliness can blur your real senses and fool you into feeling things that just aren't real.

Not to say it doesn't happen, as LV pointed out and if that really is the case, I'm happy for you.

The problems or pitfalls of long distance relationships is although abscence makes the heart grow fonder, it can also increase the sense of loneliness when you are not able to be together. This can SOMETIMES give a heightened sense of need and desire to be with that person, when if you lived just up the road to them you might not pine so much.

If somebody tells me that they love me before we have met and all we have had is msn chats, a few phone calls and maybe a webcam chat, I don't think I would be able to take it seriously. I would probably feel more like that person was looking for somebody to love and was kind of playing pin the tail on the donkey....ok you'll do. Rightly or wrongly, that was just how I felt and that is why I did not get to meet her, because it just wasn't feeling right to me and probably not her either, deep down. Plus she was being avoidant at meeting anyway.

I would still meet but make it clear to her that I couldn't make up my mind about her until after a face to face meeting. You don't know what spark may ignite when you do meet face to face but if not, there's still that possibility of making a new close friend.

Unless she starts getting obsessive about it, you can still meet up occasionally for a drink and a chat to catch up. It's not like we're kids on here and we can accept that the feelings may not be mutual.

You can only have one true love but you can't have enough friends.