For many years, Online romance scam has been in existence. Several ignorant people have fallen into the traps of these criminals. This article summarizes all you need to know about online romance scams.
What is it about?
An online romance scam is a practice whereby a criminal takes on a fake online personality for the purpose of extorting the victim. These criminals basically try to gain the love and trust of the victims in order to request favors from them. A romance scam is a trick that involves faking romantic intentions towards a victim, gaining their attention and affection, and using that compassion to get the victim to send money to the fraudster under false pretenses.
These romance scams do not stop at online dating sites; Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms are now being used for this purpose.
It is also known as the Confidence trick/fraud. Many people know this scam as “yahoo” or “yahoo yahoo”. When someone says another person is doing “yahoo” it simply means that person is involved in online scams which often involve romance scams.
General Concept
To outsmart an online romance scammer, you must know how it works. They have the same MO and it can be noticed if paid attention to. They have the kinds of persons that they find look to as potential targets and some are lonely people, old people, divorced people, widows, and widowers.
These fraudsters create catfish (fake) profiles on dating sites as well as social media platforms and are swift to make a move once they spot a possible target.
The relationship starts as a lovely and possibly romantic one. Once they have established a certain relationship with their victim, they start deceiving them on one pretext or the other. Even if the signs of a romance scammer are glaring, the victim is so captivated by them that they end up doing as they are told. Often, this is despite a voice inside their head telling them that something is not right.
Different examples of Online Romance Scams.
Fraudsters say they need the victim to send money to pay for a passport.
Money for flights to the victim’s country with fleemzy emotional blackmailing stories. In all cases, the scammer never comes.
They need money to join the victim in his or her country.
They need money to pay hospital bills.
Saying they need the money to pay their phone bills in order to continue communicating with the victim.
They are offering a job, oftentimes to people in a poor country; on payment of a registration fee. This is common at African dating sites.
Romance scams reached a record $304 million in losses reported to the FTC in 2020. That is about 50% from 2019. From 2016 to 2020, reported total dollar losses increased more than fourfold, and the number of reports nearly tripled. You can find more statistics here – Online Romance Scams Statistics
How to Identify Online Romance Scams
There are little signs you should look out for if you suspect a person is an Online Romance Scammer. These signs are as follows:
Scarce profile information: Their profiles have very few images or images that seem to be model-like or too good to be true. In addition to this, they do not link other social media accounts to their dating app.
Transfer of Conversation to another platform: These scammers will quickly ask you to move to another form of messaging outside the platform you met. Oftentimes, scammers will want to communicate via written messages on social media apps like Facebook or Instagram. Also, they may choose to message you via SMS or an app like WhatsApp. Beware of anyone you haven’t met that wants to move the conversation to another platform.
Read Also: Social Media Best Practices for Data Privacy
Early Love Profession: Within a short period of time, they may say they love you.
This is all part of the emotional manipulation involved in catfishing while using online dating sites. It’s also why people who are vulnerable and isolated are desirable targets – since they’re longing for a connection.
Dodging from video call requests: Most scammers avoid phone calls or voice and video chats. No matter what, a scammer will not appear in video chat since they use fake profile images.
Request for Financial Assistance: Definitely, a scammer will request money from you, as this is the ultimate goal of most scammers. There are different scenarios that they may invent; family emergencies, health issues, or travel problems.
How to Avoid Online Romance Scams ·
Use reverse image searches and tools like Social catfish to confirm a person’s online identity.
Never reveal too much information about yourself or your family to someone you have not met in person. This includes financial details.
Scrutinize their profiles for loopholes.
Ask many questions when they come up with stories; there will most likely be inconsistencies if they are lying.
Never send money to someone you ‘love’ online.
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2 Responses
Thanks for the advice, I have been played as well. When I read through your write-up I noticed that it was exactly what they did to me.
Another one called herself David Joy from Crowd 1 who also played me as well before realising my silly mistake. So thank you for the advice and God bless you in Jesus name. Amen.
Sorry about your experience Moses, We are glad this article could share more insight