It’s in human nature to search for romantic relationships and we all want to find love. That’s why romance scams are particularly hurtful, as they leave an individual with an empty bank account and a broken heart. Manipulative gigolos and gold-diggers have always been around, but the rise of the internet and social media have made these types of schemes reach a mass level.
What Is a Romance Scam?
You can boil down online dating scams into two main types. The first would be various forms of deceitful dating sites and apps. These portals are just a cover for a data extracting operation. The victim voluntarily divulges their personal info which then scammers use for identity theft or credit card fraud.
The other type of romance scam runs as a long con. An unsuspicious individual gets approached by a charismatic stranger online. They start chatting innocently enough, and the newly met friend usually has an interesting background story. Soon enough, the chat partner expresses deep emotions, and the victim is led to believe they are in an online relationship. Sadly, they are not in a loving relationship, but in a money-siphoning scam.
These con people tend to operate in organized groups, carefully juggling several victims at once. They work slowly and unintrusively so they could build trust with the target. A common tactic is employing psychological tricks and priming the victim for future money extortions. In the beginning, the scammer asks for small gifts or acceptable loans. After a while, these requests grow in size and accumulate making the target lose considerable amounts of money.
How Does the Romance Scam Take out Money?
Once the target shows trust and they have formed an emotional bond, the scammer is set for exploitation. They universally start small and innocently enough. They might ask for a trivial gift or an innocuous money loan with a stern promise they will return it once they finally meet in person.
Slowly but surely the requests will increase in frequency and value, each time presenting a compelling reason for asking for it. The con artist will ask for money for the plane ticket so they could finally consummate their love face to face. Even though the victim sends the funds for the trip, there is always a delay, an accident, or another surprising excuse.
Requests can also include asking for money to get a new phone or a computer to improve communication. Scammers also don’t hesitate from pulling on victims’ heartstrings. They will plead for money because of health issues, their dying family members, and freak accidents that have destroyed their living space. The list is inexhaustible and creative.
Social Networks
Nowadays there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t have a social network account. They help us stay connected, but they also help scammers enter the lives of their targets. Social networks, as fun as they are, can be a great entry point for a con artist to start their scheme.
Firstly, a malicious party can analyze a person’s public info on the profile to make an affinity scam. This means they will make a tailor-made plan to manipulate their target. Secondly, social networks enable con artists to curate their profiles. They can present their false identities as genuine, though pictures and posts are completely fake. This makes the illusion that the target is communicating with a loving person, and not a money-sucking scammer.
Lastly, the scammer can use social networks to create a false impression of authenticity. The victim might find comments and posts by faux-friends and family members. In fact, they are all there to entangle the target deeper into the illusion of a relationship.
Messenger Apps
Our smartphones are often irreplaceable parts of our everyday lives, still, this amazing technology in our pockets can enable scammers to access our world. Many frauds start their long romance scam by sending a direct message to their target. They usually falsely present themselves as a long-lost classmate or an acquaintance from a distant past.
They feign previous encounters in order to put their foot into the door, as the target is less likely to ignore them. Then they use their typical method of operation, slowly building trust and emotional bonds so they can fleece their targets. Messenger apps are particularly useful for romance scams, as they create a sense of privacy in communication. They provide all the perks as the social networks do, without potential interference from other users of the platform.
What to Do in Case of a Romance Scam?
We understand that it is emotionally draining to go through a romance scam and to come to a realization you’ve been swindled. Due to our extensive experience in dealing with romance scam cases, we know that these types of fraudsters employ dirty tricks that will extort money from any decent person. The Funds Recovery agency would like to offer our services to all the romance scam victims. We might not be able to return your lost time, but we assure you we will do all in our power to return your lost money.
Dating Websites Require In-Depth Personal Information
The goal of many scams is to acquire your private details and credit card info so they can ultimately commit identity theft or credit card fraud. Using a dating site as a cover for this scheme is particularly helpful. Mainly because these portals require you to fulfill a questionnaire as a part of their match-making process.
While it is perfectly normal that dating sites require you to give your personal information, there is a limit to this. The reason behind this personal questionnaire is to find a suitable match for their clients. The inquiry shouldn’t extend to financial details and credit card specifications. Unfortunately, many fraud victims don’t realize this and they give their financial information willingly.
The Online Dating Profile Has Only Professional Photos
If you want to guard yourself against fraud, a general rule of the thumb is: ‘If it’s too good to be true it’s probably a scam’. The same goes for dating sites. If you are contacted by a profile with only steamy professional photos, most likely it is a scam. Whether this profile is run by a bot or an actual con artist, the chances are that you would be asked to click on a link that will infect you with malware.
The Person Gets Very Emotional too Soon
One of the universal red flags for a romance scam is if the newly matched stranger gets emotional surprisingly quickly. Everybody likes to feel desired so scammers will use this to their advantage. They’ll try to reel their victims with statements of undying love and deep longing after a short period of communication.