How do romance scams work

Romance scams are lucrative and easy to commit. In addition, they often allow a perpetrator to remain anonymous while committing their crimes. The average age for romance fraud victims is around 50 years old. Unfortunately, the show continues to thrive and people continue to be scammed. These types of playbooks have specific lines used to make a person fall in love. Often, romance scammers will say that they are in the building and construction industry overseas.

Others will say that they are military service members serving overseas. They will also have plenty of excuses of why they are unable to talk on the phone. Romance scammers want to get anything valuable from you. Whether it be cash, jewelry or other gifts, these scammers are not interested in you—only what you can give them.

To achieve this, these scammers will come up with stories that seem believable to a person who is in love, but may raise an eyebrow or both from others who hear the story. Financial signs that you are being scammed include:. They will likely deposit a fake check that leads to you paying significant overdraft fees. Each year, Americans lose millions of dollars from these types of scams.

Romance scammers will persuade a person to send them money to travel. They will often begin the scam process by asking for a small amount, a few hundred to purchase a new phone or laptop to keep talking to you. This a common scam.

In some U. You can avoid a romance scam by using the following strategies:. Romance scammers have full-on organized efforts to scam people out of their money. More often, however, there is no one to answer and no one to hold accountable in the aftermath of a romance scam. Romance scams rank as the number one reason that people report scam losses.

These scams can happen to anyone. How can you tell if someone is a romance scammer? Well, you probably have a sense for what's considered normal behavior online. But it might be hard to see through an online dating scam when emotions are involved. Here are some telltale signs a cybercriminal may be up to more than just sweeping you off your feet.

One of the first giveaways of a romance scammer is their background. Fakers often pose as someone who is stationed abroad to create a reason for why they can't meet in person. Some common stories include:. A legitimate dating profile usually has plenty of photos of the person in different situations, with one or two that show the person's whole body, not just part of their face.

The individual might also include links to their Instagram or Facebook accounts. In contrast, a dating profile might be fake if the person doesn't list any details. Or maybe their interests and hobbies just about exactly match yours — the similarities might be too good to be true. Romance scammers want to act fast before their targets catch on to their antics.

For this reason, they like to gain your trust right away. Some common approaches include:. Many online dating sites offer some type of safety features and if you move your conversation off them to talk using text messages or other chat options, you lose those safety measures.

Plus, the person will have your phone number, which could make it harder to cut communication. Romance scammers want to keep their identities a secret.

One way to keep you from questioning their identity is to promise to come visit. They may even have you pay for plane tickets or other travel costs. But they'll cancel at the last minute, providing an elaborate reason for why they can't see you after all. A romance scammer may ask you to send money for things like:. An alternate money scam to watch for: They may send you money! This could rope you into a "money mule" scheme, whereby the scammer asks to deposit money into your bank account, distribute the funds to other people, or deliver packages.

In fact, these requests could be tied to money-laundering. These are ways to get cash quickly and remain anonymous. Plus, the transactions are hard to reverse. Once you send a little bit of money, they might even ask for more. Online dating scams can often end with victims losing money and, in some cases, even being pulled into criminal activity. Besides the financial costs, there may be emotional costs, too. You may feel heartbroken, depressed, or embarrassed after someone you trusted scammed you.

Simply knowing how a romance scammer operates can help you identify and avoid one. Remember some of the red flags and lies romance scammers tell:. A few basic cybersecurity best practices can help protect you against internet scams.

Consider that the more you share, the more scammers know about you — and know how to lure you. For this reason, consider keeping your online dating profiles anonymous by using different usernames on sites or even different emails to protect your privacy. Also, be careful what you make public online on social media. The internet is an incredible place for community, developing friendships, and sometimes even relationships.

For this reason, set up a phone or video chat early on in your communications with an online love interest.

If they dodge the opportunity, they may be a romance scammer. These could be used as blackmail later. If you paid a romance scammer with a gift card , contact the company that issued the card right away. Tell them you paid a scammer with the gift card and ask if they can refund your money. Notify the website or app where you met the scammer, too.

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