Most people are online trying to connect and find love hence the blow-up of the dating app industry. We are sure you are familiar with popular dating apps like Tinder, Grindr, and Bumble. But, unfortunately, instead of finding a sweetheart, some individuals have found themselves deceived and defrauded by scammers.
Ask yourself, do you know of someone who has ever been on an online date? Was it a great way for them to find long-lasting love, or did it lead to their hearts being broken and wallets being empty? You can see it for yourself; as soon as Valentine’s Day approaches, millions of people turn to online dating apps or social networking sites in the hope of meeting someone. However, instead of meeting a lover, they are likely to fall into the trap of a scammer and of what is known as; dating scams. Now, what exactly is it? It is simply when a person believes they’re in a romantic relationship with someone they met online. The scammer uses the illusion of an intimate and romantic relationship to exploit the victim. Romance scammers are indeed masters of disguise.
Since when did love become so toxic? Perhaps it is the result of the growing power of digitalization. As the real world approached more towards the digital world in the coronavirus pandemic, self-seeker hackers found a chance of conducting fraudulent activities like these. According to a report, dating scams reached around £80 million, receiving almost 32000 reports in these extremely challenging times. In fact, the recent Netflix documentary “Tinder Swindler” is an excellent example of how people are vulnerable to online dating scams. It shows how easy it is for someone to get conned by an online scammer pretending to be someone else. The documentary tells the story of a scandalous man who misused the Tinder dating app in an attempt to live a luxurious life at the expense of scamming three women around Europe. With the help of dating apps, he scammed multiple women by showing off his lavish lifestyle and claiming to be the billionaire heir to an Israeli Diamond Fortune!
Want to learn more about these scams and how they work? Sit back, take a sip of coffee and continue reading!
How Does a Romance Scam Work?
Unfortunately, dating sites are no longer safe because of the infiltration of scammers on the platforms. They take advantage of the anonymity and discretion these apps provide to prey on target victims. They will use social media or email to develop a relationship with the target, often hiding their real identity. It is termed ”catfishing.” The scammer will create a fake online profile and persona, all in a bid to get you interested and strike a conversation with them. They may use a fictional name or commit identity fraud by posing as doctors, celebrities, respected military personnel, or even aid/volunteers working abroad.
So basically, it all begins with a friend request from a fake profile. Scammers put on appealing displays and begin reaching out to the victims by claiming similarities with them, shared interests, and a mutual connection, Woah. Once they have built a deeper understanding and so-called ‘relationship,’ they start asking for money. Sooner or later, they for sure do. They are extra skilled at playing with emotions, and their stories are endless, putting never-ending pressure on the victims. In fact, with the uprising of Covid 19, some people even claimed money for medical emergencies when in reality, they were doing perfectly fine. You think you are helping someone when you are just getting yourself stolen.
Photo scams are one of the most prominent examples of dating scams; here, the scammer pressures and convinces the victim to send their contact information in exchange for the intimate photos of the scammer. How low could someone get?
Online dating scams statistics depict that too many people have been in love that never ended in a ‘happily ever after’. In 2020 alone, due to covid and increased isolation periods, nearly 24000 people became victims, with almost 32000 reports. People have lost up to $304 million. Moreover, In 2023, the average individual loss was over $2400. You can lose up to millions which is a lot of money! You may think the money you lost is impossible to recover. You may feel a long-lasting emotional betrayal, but it’s okay. You are unique and worthy of love. Scammers are the masters of manipulation. They are always hiding behind masks and can go miles to ruin your lives. They can steal your video footage while video calls and blackmail you for life. In extreme cases, they can go to the extent of kidnapping later using confidential information to access your social media and bank accounts. How devastating!
If we talk more about how these work, then the story of The Tinder Swindler, as mentioned earlier, is the perfect example as many scammers today are following his approach. Just like him, scammers take their dates out on an expensive date, shower them with luxurious gifts and slowly build this ‘fake’ relationship while flying around on their private jets. However, suddenly later, they start making up stories claiming that they are in danger. According to the documentary, at one instance, Simon Leviev claimed his enemies were after him, so he needed access to someone else’s card to become untraceable. He would send photos of his bleeding bodyguard allegedly injured by his enemies to make it look genuine. Ultimately, ‘each’ of his girlfriend would receive a message from him saying that his credit card was under security threats, so she would need to open a new one for him under her name. According to the documentary and USA Today, Tinder Swindler scammed $10 million from women worldwide. One of his victims said that she lent him $40,000. Apart from this, three of the victims were defrauded with 185000, 103000, and 25000 pounds, leaving them huge debts. As per their GoFundMe accounts, they have received more than 8000 donations. It’s crazy what love can make people do!
In addition to this, romance scammers also do not keep promises. If someone just makes one excuse not to meet you, it shows how disinterested they are. They would overload you with attention, too many texts, and calls. Lastly, they would lean towards asking for things. Sometimes it starts with smaller amounts, and then the process is never-ending. Also, when it comes to declaring an intimate attachment, dating sites fraudsters move swiftly. Within one short amount of time, they might express that they adore the user because of the claim of feeling a strong connection and close relationship with them. Everything is due to the underlying deception that goes into a fake profile on dating services. That is why individuals who are already fragile and solitary are just such good options because they crave companionship. In addition to this, they only have a few photographs on their accounts, and those that do appear to be modeling or glamor generic shots. Scammers study or reside in some other nation, even though you seek individuals in your neighborhood. Numerous con artists argue to be joining the army in another country.
Lastly, scammers check and get back to some other product or webpage that you can use. Many fraudsters avoid cyberstalking in favor of more effective methods of target exploitation. It is mainly the case in online dating, wherein robot accounts are shared. When a mate offers you an URL to something like an application, tool, business, or blog that they claim you should explore, it’s usually a ruse to like you to provide banking details or install viruses. Fraudsters use it as a dating site equivalent to hacking, and it’s a common approach on hookup culture applications such as Tinder.
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The Lies They Tell in Their Schemes
Dating or romance scams have a very high success rate because of human emotions and connections. Unfortunately, these scammers know how to use that to their advantage. Victims of romance scams experience more devastation because some of them have fallen in love with these fraudsters. So they are dealing with the loss of their money and emotional betrayal from someone they thought loved and cared for them.
Red flags of a romance scam
The signs of a scam are always glaring; it is up to you to pay attention to them.
- They start pestering you for your phone number and start professing their love only a few days after interacting with you.
- Their profile is not consistent with who they have described themselves to be. Also, these scammers have poor English skills(both written and speech), although they claim to have obtained a higher education.
- They always refuse to be on facetime/video call with you.
- They always have an excuse as to why they cannot see you in person.
How To Protect Yourself From Romance Scams
According to a recent Forbes article, Americans lost $1 billion to romance scammers In 2023, making it the worst year for Romance Scams. Thus, it’s essential to understand that these scammers are adept at gaining people’s trust with their convincing lies and insanely plausible stories. So, we recommend everyone not to get so caught up in the new love that they forget the key signs of how to protect themselves. We have gathered some of the most basic ways of how one can help themselves. Have a look!
- Do not send money to people you do not know on the internet
- Be rational in your decisions no matter how caring and loving the person is
- If there are any inconsistencies in their stories, know that it is a scam
- If you feel pressured to send money or gifts, know that it is from a desperate scammer.
How Roselanegp Ltd can help you recover your lost romance scam funds?
If you or someone you know is a victim of forex fraud, we ask that you act fast by contacting us because the time frame is essential and every day counts. Luckily for you, we have wealth recovery professionals on our team who know exactly how to get your money back in the shortest time frame. So contact us with details of your transactions and dealings with the scammers and leave the rest to us. We will help you recover your funds and get your life back.
1. Be cautious about sharing personal information.
2. Check their images.
3. Scan their profile for loopholes.
4. Look out for inconsistencies in their communication.
Here are signs to look out for;
1. They’re far, far away.
2. Their profile seems too good to be true.
3. The relationship moves fast.
4. They break promises to visit.
Here are some ways to identify scam text messages
1. Abnormally long numbers. If a text message is legitimate, it’s usually from a number 10 digits or less.
2. Family crisis texts. Receiving news of a family crisis is alarming.
3. Text refund. Another common text scam comes in the form of a text refund.
4. Random prizes
