Romance Scams
Protect Your Heart and Your Wallet
Romance scams involve fraudsters who create fake profiles on dating sites, social media platforms, and chat rooms to form relationships with their victims. Posing as potential romantic partners, these scammers slowly gain the victim's trust with the aim of manipulating them into sending money, sharing personal and financial information, or even laundering money. Often, the scammer will create elaborate stories needing financial assistance, exploiting the emotional investment of their victim.
Things to Be Careful About:
- Too Good to Be True: Be cautious if the person you're communicating with seems too perfect or quickly moves to profess love or deep affection.
- Profile Red Flags: Poorly crafted profiles, or profiles lacking in detail and with very few friends or connections, can be a sign of a fraudulent account.
- Requests for Money: Be wary of any requests for financial help, no matter how convincing or desperate the plea sounds.
- Avoid Sharing Personal Information: Never share personal or financial information with someone you’ve only met online.
Actions That Can Be Taken:
- Perform a Reverse Image Search: If you're suspicious, a reverse image search of the person’s profile picture can help you check for multiple online identities.
- Speak to Friends and Family: Share your online romance with trusted friends or family members to get an objective view of your online relationship.
- Report Suspected Scammers: If you suspect you’re a victim of a romance scam, report it to the dating site or social media platform and consider reporting it to the FTC or your local police department.
- Cut Off Contact: If you determine or suspect the person is a scammer, cut off all contact immediately. Block their phone number, email address, and any social media connections.
Educating yourself about the signs of romance scams can help protect your heart and your wallet from fraudsters exploiting those looking for love online.