Tips to avoid online dating scams

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The would-be suitor makes contact and uses something in common to spark a friendship or romantic relationship. The relationship ramps up quickly with scammers typically sending lots of messages throughout the day over a period of weeks or even months.

She explains that ideal targets might be those who are recently divorced or widowed. As such, they become vulnerable and are more likely to fall for these scams. An initial test might involve sending a small amount of money. At some point, the victim may be asked to send something to the scammer that can later be used against them, such as compromising photos or videos. Sometimes the message history is enough to use as a threat, especially if the victim is married or in a long-term relationship and is hiding this online relationship from their significant other.

Eventually, they are asked to send large amounts of money or to carry out something illegal. They may do this willingly out of love or compassion for the scammer.

Or they may do it because at this point they are being threatened. In a surprising number of cases, the scams continue for prolonged periods for the simple fact that the victim is too embarrassed to admit to friends, family, and law enforcement that they have fallen prey to a scammer. Even more surprising, in some cases, victims know that they are being scammed but are still in love with the scammer and continue to send money anyway. This goes to show two things: Scammers are very clever and prey on vulnerable people. Even so, there are often tell-tale signs that a potential love prospect is not being up front.

Here are some of the signs to look out for:.

How to Spot and Avoid an Online Dating Scammer

Online dating scams typically involve someone creating a fake profile, be it on a dating site or a social media platform. Many will claim to be from a Western country but currently working overseas. Scammers will often create multiple profiles using the same stolen images. Steve G Jones has had his identity stolen for this purpose multiple times. Scammers use his videos and images to create fake online profiles. Some also use his real name and personal information. His images have been used so many times, he decided to create a PSA to let everyone know and warn them of the dangers of befriending strangers on social media.

Scamalytics scans many of the most popular dating websites to find out what the most common scam profiles consist of.

How to Avoid a Romance Scam When Using Online Dating Sites

A typical male profile would be in his late forties, be a widower, and have a high-paid job. A typical female would also be well-paid, but be in her late twenties and never married.

Additionally, certain Facebook groups dedicated to raising awareness flag scam profiles. Some people suggest trying to arrange a meeting as early as possible, although this seems risky.

Tips for Detecting and Avoiding Online Dating Scams

A better option might be to try to arrange a video call early on and see how they react. Scammers often work in groups posing as a single person. Romance scamming is such a big business that people even profit off of writing scripts for criminals to follow. One UK woman was jailed for two years for writing such scripts. Not all scammers will bother paying for original content and things like poetry and romantic verses can easily be lifted from the internet.

When it comes to online public profiles, you should be very cautious about the pieces of information you divulge. For people conducting these scams, this is often their full-time job. A British Columbia man was in an online relationship for just six weeks before he started handing over money to his suitor. One romance scam victim described the feeling as similar to being brainwashed. This can start out very innocently.

But it can quickly ramp up. A common request for money can involve the scammer coming to visit the victim. They might say they need money for flights or other expenses. Other large sums might be requested for investing in a business or for medical costs. The urgency of these demands tends to ramp up and can even become threatening.

One common request is to send money for fees with the pretense that the victim will be compensated with additional often huge sums of money. She believed she was set to receive a sum many times higher than that in compensation from the Nigerian court system. There is some good news in that companies like Western Union are being held accountable for helping scammers. You sign up for an online dating website and receive a message from someone. He or she lives far away a typical excuse used by scammers is claiming to be working overseas or in the military.

But you want to give it a chance, so you reply. So then, you start emailing or chatting through a different service. Soon, you exchange photos and messages more frequently. You may even talk on the phone or through a webcam. Now your relationship is getting serious, and your new love interest wants to visit.

But after you send the money, you find your new sweetheart has suddenly stopped communicating! Unfortunately, online dating scams have been around for as long as the Internet has been around. Some scammers are even using social media, creating fake Facebook accounts and fake webcam footage. Some scammers will ask for money multiple times as the relationship progresses, continually upping the amount requested. Others will ask you to move money for them, which may make you an unwitting accomplice in another scam.

Always has an excuse to postpone meeting: Someone really interested in a relationship will want to see you in person.

But be on the lookout for big discrepancies. For example, a scammer may describe their fake persona as blonde but uses a photo of a brunette.

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