Valentine’s day is supposed to be the most precious day to celebrate with your significant other. For single people, it’s an opportunity to meet your potential partner which most people meet through dating apps. However, what happens if you meet someone who isn’t who he/she really is, lying to you and trying to steal your money? For your information, this is known as "romance scam" or "online dating scam". It is a fraudulent technique in which a scammer develops a fictitious persona on dating websites, social media platforms, or via email in order to initiate a romantic relationship with an unsuspecting individual.
Romance Scam Statistics
- Federal Trade Commission reported that in 2022, around 70 000 people reported romance scam.
- Based on romance scam reports, the most popular sentence used by a scammer was I or someone close to me is sick, hurt, or in jailto trick his/her victim. (With a rate of 24%)
- According to the Canadian Anti‑Fraud Centre, romance scam costs Canadians more than $50.3 million in losses in 2023.
- The National Anti-Scam Centre reports that romance-baiting scams have resulted in $40 million in losses in 2023 and Scamwatch received 484 reports of this type of scam.
- "In 2023, complaints filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) showed that victims within the FBI San Francisco division’s territory lost more than $27 million to romance scams."
Tactics Employed by Romance Scammers
Romance fraudsters use a range of strategies to deceive and exploit their victims, including psychological manipulation and emotional vulnerability. Some of the most usual tactics are:
- Making a Fake Profile: To look authentic and alluring, scammers frequently use stolen photos and made-up information to construct captivating and appealing accounts on dating websites or social networking platforms.
- Quick Relationship Development: They have a tendency to establish a false sense of intimacy and bond by claiming love or intense affection abnormally quickly.
- Isolation: Scammers attempt to cut off their victims from friends and family in an effort to turn them into their only source of affection and trust. This limits the victim's ability to recognize the scam.
- Stories of Hard Luck and Emergencies: They frequently write about health problems, unexpected financial difficulties, and other situations that need for emergency financial assistance.
- Manipulation of Feelings: They take advantage of the victim's feelings by showing affection, fabricating stories to gain the victim's sympathies, or even making the victim feel bad for not helping.
Signs of Online Dating Scam
Recognizing these signs of an online dating scam can help you avoid falling victim to this type of fraud:
- The “Perfect Person”: The person's profile might seem perfect to your interests. If their photos look like they're from a magazine, it might be because the scammer has used stolen or stock images.
- Avoidance of Meeting in Person: They always have an excuse for not meeting in person, often for travel, work, or health-related reasons, even if they claim to live nearby.
- Requests for Money: One of the most common signs is when they ask for money, especially under the guise of emergencies, such as medical bills, travel expenses to visit you, or other crises.
- Unwillingness to Video Chat: Despite the availability of video calling technology, they may refuse or avoid video chats, often claiming technical difficulties or lack of access to the necessary technology.
- Vague or Inconsistent Details: Their accounts may be loaded with ambiguous or inconsistent details that don't add up. A scammer may also give ambiguous information regarding their background, occupation, or housing arrangement.
- Requesting Personal or Financial Information: They can ask to give you gifts or set up a visit, or they might ask for personal information such as your financial situation.
- Giving Unsolicited Gifts or Money: In certain situations, the con artist may give presents or little amounts of cash to establish trust before requesting much bigger sums of money.
- Taking Conversations Off the Dating Site: In order to avoid being discovered by the fraud monitoring systems of the dating site, they frequently wish to transfer discussions straight over to email, instant messaging, or phone calls.
- Pressure Tactics: They want to pressure you to make decisions quickly, particularly when it comes to giving them money or disclosing personal information.
Impacts of Romance Scam
Victims of romance scams suffer psychological, emotional, and financial consequences in addition to financial ones. The following are a few of the effects:
- Financial Loss: Scammers have the ability to defraud victims of large amounts of money, sometimes even their entire life savings. Debts acquired as a result of victims borrowing money or making financial obligations based on the scammer's promises may potentially constitute financial harm.
- Damage to Credit Score: If a person falls for a romantic scam and takes out loans or credit card debt to pay the con artist, this could result in bad credit.
- Risks to Legal Status and Reputation: Scammers may deceive victims into unintentionally participating in illicit activities by laundering money for them, which could result in negative legal outcomes and harm to their reputation.
- Emotional Pain and Distress: Feelings of shame, remorse, and worthlessness are just a few of the intense emotions that can result from the betrayal and manipulation experience.
- Trust Issues: After falling victim to a scam, victims may find it difficult to trust people, which can hinder their capacity to build new relationships or even sour their already-existing ones with friends and family who might not comprehend why the victim was duped.
- Seclusion: Embarrassed and ashamed, victims may withdraw from society out of fear of being judged by others. The disintegration of social support networks, which are essential for emotional healing, can result from this isolation.
- Relationship Damage: Due to the financial and emotional stress, the psychological effects and trust issues that arise from a romance scam can harm a victim's future romantic relationships. It can also occasionally have an adverse effect on relationships with family and friends.
How to Protect Yourself From Romance Fraud?
- Watch Out for Perfect Profiles: To trick victims, scammers frequently fabricate idealized profiles. If someone looks too good to be true, proceed with caution.
- Prior to Entering Into a Relationship, Give Yourself Time: Reasoning might be hindered by emotional investment. Spend some time getting to know the individual and their goals.
- Don't Disclose Personal Data: Sharing personal information, particularly financial information, with someone you've only met online should be done carefully.
- Remain Aware of Scams: Acquire knowledge on your own regarding the most typical strategies scammers employ. Knowing more makes it simpler to recognize and stay away from scammers.
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