The Warning Signs of Romance Scams
Unfortunately, romance scams seem to be on the rise. Reports rose since the pandemic, presumably, because more people were restricted to home and the internet was the only way to communicate with other people. Generally, internet-based scams have been on the rise since 2020 because fraudsters will go wherever the most people can be found. It creates opportunity, and they are very creative in the way in which they go about scamming people.
What is a Romance Scam?
Scammers create fake Internet profiles and feign romantic interest in an online user. These fraudsters can appear in any forum, but of course, online dating is one of the most prolific ways for scanners to find their victims, but they can also try and start conversations in chat rooms and social media platforms. Once they have won the affection of the individual, they will look to take money from them with semi-plausible stories of need.
So, How Do You Spot a Romance Scam?
New interest is always exciting, and of course, there have been some very genuine relationships and friendships developed when people met online first. However, it’s worth being aware of the potential ways you can spot a romance scam so that you don’t end up as a victim.
The Profile is Vague
As the profile is fake, most scammers are unlikely to use pictures of themselves. Therefore, they are stealing images from the Internet and will possibly only have a single picture available. It may also seem like a staged picture rather than something taken naturally. Genuine profiles, especially those on dating sites, tend to have several different pictures of the users taken in real-life settings. To try and prove they have more than one picture, they may use similar-looking people in images taken from behind or to the side where it’s harder to compare to ensure they match.
They Call it Love
We’re not saying there is no such thing as love at first sight, and plenty of people have stories of just that. But romance scammers are very quick to profess their love. They want the relationship to move quickly, as the aim is to make the victim feel completely emotionally connected. They might use cliched terms like the love of my life, dear all darling. It would be common for them to claim that this relationship is fate or destiny and that the victim is the person they have been waiting for all their lives. They will also talk about marriage very early on in the relationship, so again, these are things that you should be aware of.
They Suggest Leaving the Platform
Online dating sites will have teams of texts available whose job it is to spot scours. So, any potential fraudster is going to look to take the conversation away from the platform as quickly as possible. They will suggest texting or using a platform such as WhatsApp is easier for them. They will claim they don’t get notifications quickly enough if they are messaged on the platform and want to spend every moment of the day being able to talk to you. Guard against giving out any phone numbers or email addresses associated with your financial activities.
Romance Scams are rife and it’s important that you remember to never send money to anyone you meet online.
If your online dating please be careful and stay vigilant – it may be a good idea to run a background check on your new online date to be on the safe side.
If you have been the victim of a Romance Scam then its important to report it. You can report Romance Scams via action fraud https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/. Never feel embarrassed or ashamed absolutely anyone can fall victim to a romance scam and sadly these types of scams are extremely common.
