In this fast digital age, it is only natural for many to find online dates. As we become more and more dependent on smartphones, finding dates online has become very easy. You have the option of finding dates based on your likes, tastes, and other interests, which enables you, as the user, to choose from many potential love interests.
There are several online dating sites, and romance scammers are a dime a dozen. Falling prey to scammers online impersonating “perfect” and “ideal” dates is easy and quite common. These online charlatans rip off their potential victims and leave them cheated, brokenhearted, and in financial chaos.
Although finding an ideal date from several potential partners is easy, it is still challenging to find a genuine one from a scammer.
What Are Online Dating Scams?
A few years ago, many would find their “ideal” dates in social gatherings like pubs, theaters, recreation parks, and so forth. As smartphones evolved, many developers took the opportunity to create dating apps. These apps are a hit, as many still rely on them to find their soulmates today.
Working on these dating apps is very user-friendly; all you need to do is type in your interests, hobbies, and other general descriptions. You type in your ideal soulmate’s criteria. And several matches appear. You select one out of many and connect with them. If the other person is interested in you, they will respond. You can then start your conversation.
Scammers know that it is easy for them to rip off their potential victims through manipulation, and it is easy to exploit them if they have earned their complete trust and confidence. Scammers are expert manipulators who can invoke the emotions they want from their potential victims. Thus, it becomes easier for these con artists to hurt their victims financially through romance scams.
Common Types of Dating Scams
Scammers take advantage of their potential victims by gaining their trust through online dating scams. These imposters have such a grip over their victims that they rarely realize that they are being scammed. They employ various strategies to entice them. We have compiled the number of ways in which these scammers gain trust and push their victims into a debt trap.
Investment Scams
These con artists will impersonate a financial guru and try to influence their potential victims to invest their hard-earned money in bogus financial schemes. They will create a fake portfolio of financial assets that are unheard of and claim that their firm has been surviving in these harsh economic conditions.
These fraudsters attract their victims in a variety of methods, all with the promise of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a large sum of money.
They will initially provide a good return on investment to their potential victims just to gain their trust and confidence. Once their potential victims are convinced that they can make a good amount of money, they are prompted to invest even larger amounts in their trading accounts.
These victims keep on investing until the time comes that they want to withdraw some of their winnings. Unfortunately, scammers will not allow them to do so, and if they are allowed, they will charge a hefty withdrawal fee. These fraudsters make certain that the majority of the money remains with them.
Brokers or Brokerage Firms
Any genuine broker or brokerage firm will charge a commission on each trade. They may charge it on each trade or the spread of the trade. Charging a brokerage is legal, and that is how they make a profit.
Scammers, on the other hand, will charge hidden fees when their victims try to withdraw money from their winnings. They make sure that victims are allowed as little money to withdraw as possible while keeping the bulk of the money with them.
Sometimes these criminals completely avoid paying the money to their victims and are made to run between fictitious departments for the withdrawals. Finally, when these victims are convinced enough that they won’t get their money, they avoid pursuing the matter any further and lose all of it.
Managed Accounts
Not everyone finds trading easy. They may think it is quite easy, but they end up losing a lot of money. Genuine brokers or brokerage firms give their clients a choice when it comes to trading. Either these clients can trade on their own or they can authorize their brokers to manage their trading accounts.
As we know, brokers and brokerage firms make money by charging for the trade or spread of the trade. Such actions taken by their clients allow them to minimize the risk of losing all their money while trading. Since these brokers have a vast amount of experience, the chances of minimal loss with relatively good profits are quite high.
Scammers will also give their potential victims the option to either trade their own or authorize them to manage their accounts. However, these charlatans will indiscriminately trade without considering their so-called “client” financial interests. They are more interested in making a huge amount of money through commissions.
Trading Bots
The technology has advanced so much that you can rely on a trading bot while trading. These bots are special software programs that are developed by brokers or brokerage firms. They refer to the historical performance of the financial assets, and based on that, they execute a trade. The win-to-loss potential is substantially high compared to a veteran trader. These bots have been field-tested and are highly reliable. A lot of money needs to be spent while creating these trading bots, and they are quite expensive.
Scammers will offer a bogus trading bot at a competitive price. These bots are neither field-tested nor reliable. You will only end up losing all the money you have by using such trading bots.
You may be wondering what this has to do with online dating scams. It has everything to do with it. As we have already established, people do things that they do when they are in love, which they normally avoid doing. All romance scams end in financial loss for the victim. We will further explain how they do so.
Romance Scam
Scammers will create intimacy with their sweet talks and gain their trust and confidence. Through sweet talk, they will gather information about their potential victims. They will either strike them by collecting their sensitive information or they will hit them financially.
If they are hitting them financially, they will convince them to invest money in a scheme that will allow them the financial freedom these imposters have. They will pull off the investment scam that we have mentioned above. They may also frequently ask for money for one reason or another.
How Romance Scams Work?
Pig-butchering and catfishing are terms used in romance scams where the victim is bombarded with compliments that make them special. Like a pig is fattened, these victims are complimented with fake intentions. Once the trust is assured, they kill the “pig” financially.
In “catfishing,” scammers will earn the trust and confidence of their victims and prompt them to reveal all the sensitive data that they would never share with their loved ones.
Dating Site Scams
As we have mentioned earlier, scammers will create fake personas to entice their victims and then not only rip them off financially but also rip their hearts out.
Scammers use photos of normal people randomly available online in an attempt to make it as natural as possible. They will create a fake account while describing themselves as someone who has a strong inclination to do something good for the world.
Military Scam
These charlatans impersonate someone serving in the military. They understand that those serving in the military are well respected, as they are willing to sacrifice themselves to protect freedom. They will contact their potential victims and gain confidence through sweet talks. They will frequently ask for money for daily activities, as they will say that their bank accounts cannot be accessed where they are posted.
Philanthropist Scam
They may impersonate a health care specialist or voluntary worker working in underdeveloped countries, as they want to make a difference in the world by helping the downtrodden. They are quite successful in their lives and now want to find a special someone to settle down with.
Business Person Scam
Scammers will select attractive photos and project a lavish lifestyle. Their excuse is that they have not met anyone interesting until now. Now that they have all the comforts of life that money can offer, they want to spend their lives with someone interesting.
Once they can win over the trust of their will, they will be prompted to invest in business opportunities, as they want you to be financially sound. However, these are all tricks that will make you invest in a bogus scheme and run away with all your invested money.
At times, they appear to be sugar daddies, wealthy old people who want company and are ready for the time invested by their potential victims. They will produce fake receipts for money transferred to their past associates who were paid for spending time with them.
They offer a generous amount of money for the service they get, and they entice their victims through these means. In the sugar daddy scams, as part of a loyalty test, they will ask their victims to reveal sensitive details of their lives and also ask you to deposit a certain amount.
Once the money is transferred, these daddies completely go offline and cannot be tracked.
Oil Rig Eplorator
They will confess their love to their victims and want to marry you off. However, they need the necessary funds to pay off the contractors, as they would be breaching the contract. Thus, this is where their potential victims come in and frequently ask for money, which they promise to pay off once they are free from the bondage of the contract.
Besides this, they will also work on the fear and greed of their potential victims; they will contact their victims and say that they have met with an accident and need their immediate medical care. Interestingly, their medical condition never recovers, and they expect their victims to keep on paying the bills.
Sometimes, they happen to be taken hostage by a warlord or drug cartel and need financial help to pay off the ransom. No matter how much money is sent, it is never enough, and they frequently ask for more and more.
Warning Signs of Romance Scammers
An often-requested question is, “How to tell if someone is scamming you online?” We have described the red warning signs that are common with such schemes:
- They are in a different state or country that requires air travel.
- They appear to have had all the success in their lives but never made time for a romantic relationship.
- You share the same interests and hobbies.
- They are quick to confess their love and their desire to marry you.
- They are ready to compliment you on your mediocre achievements.
- They want you to keep the relationship a secret until they feel ready.
- They want to move their conversation from the dating site to another online messaging platform.
- They have recently joined social media platforms.
- There is less information about them on their social media platform.
- They will add you to their social media account, but they have a few friends on their contact list.
- They are not active on their social media platforms.
- It is difficult to have a video call as they are in an area where signal reception is poor.
- They will call you at odd hours.
- Although they have a lot of money, they cannot access it and need your financial help to see through their daily activities.
- They are more interested in your financial stability and would recommend and pursue you to invest in a “lucrative” scheme.
- Every time you make a plan to meet in person, they cancel the plan at the last possible moment due to some emergencies.
- They may ask you to pay for their flight tickets.
Tips to Avoid Online Dating Scams
One of the best ways to avoid falling for online dating scams is to be aware of those you interact with through dating sites and other social media platforms. All you need to do is keep your mind open and follow the tips that we have listed below:
- Be skeptical when you meet someone online.
- Be on guard if they start to probe you with questions that you would avoid sharing with your loved one.
- Do a reverse image search to find out the true identity of the person.
- They want to jump from a dating site to a messaging platform in just a few online encounters.
- Go through the dating account and social media platforms of the person whom you are dating and check how old they are.
- Their stories lack consistency.
- English is not their first language, and they have a poor command of the language.
- They avoid FaceTime while making a video call.
- Frequently asking for money.
Reporting Romance Scammers
When you realize that you have been ripped off by a romance scammer, you need to act fast. You must carry out these steps:
- Avoid all contact with con artists.
- Report the incident on the dating platform.
- Make a report that includes how the scammer contacted you and any business opportunity that they might have suggested.
- Change all the passwords on your social media platforms and your financial passwords.
- Change your crypto login credentials if you have experienced a crypto scam and report it to the crypto exchange.
- Visit your local law enforcement department and file a complaint with the scammer involved while providing all the detailed incidents that you may have written down.
- Visit the Internet Crime Complaint Center and provide them with the report.
- Contact your financial institution and provide them with the same details.
- Request the bank to reverse transactions if the money is being transferred through credit or debit cards.
- Request the payment gateway to reverse the transaction if you have transferred the amount through a wire transfer service.
- Contact your credit bureau agency and report the scam. Request that they put a temporary freeze on all your accounts until the investigation is completed.
- Request a free annual credit report and observe all the entries. Report them if you find any unauthorized entries.
- Contact your local district and state general attorneys and file a case.
- Contact the Federal Trade Commission and notify them about the fraud.
Final Thoughts
Developers are aware of dating site scams, and as a measure, they will safeguard their users if these scammers commit scams on their dating sites. Thus, this is the reason why they want to move their conversation to other social media platforms.
Scammers use stock photos of attractive young people. Always scrutinize the person whom you have met online and face-to-face.
Finally, if you are aware of current online dating scams, you can avoid falling prey to them, even to sugar daddy scams.
