Romance Scam
Scammers lure victims into false or misleading relationships, often with the intention to steal money or commit other types of fraud.
What is a Romance Scam?
A romance scam occurs when scammers lure victims into false or misleading relationships, often with the intention to steal money or commit other types of fraud.
How Does a Romance Scam Work?
Romance fraud or online dating scams come in many forms, including investment offers. Typically, there are some common moves fraudsters will make to find targets.
- Setup Profile: Fraudsters usually create accounts on legitimate dating apps and websites. They’ll construct fake profiles and personas by using stock photos or stealing someone’s identity.
- Hook & Reel: A scammer can play the long game. Similar to the example above, they may initiate a conversation or sit back and wait for someone to match with their fake profile. Once the targets are established, the hook and reel begins.
- Build Trust: A romance scam target might receive a constant stream of affectionate emails and messages. The fraudster will do this to build interest, attachment, and trust.
- Request Finances: Then, at some point, the fraudster will bring up finances. It could be a broad range of scenarios – business struggles, investment opportunities, family emergencies, or even asking for money to purchase a plane ticket so they can come visit.
Watch out for one or more of these common characteristics of romance scammers:
- They cannot meet you in person.
- They avoid video chats.
- They profess their love early on in relationships and flood you with affectionate messages.
- They steer the conversation toward finances and ask for money.