Not everyone using online dating sites is looking for love. Scammers create fake online profiles using photos of other people — even stolen pictures of real military personnel. They profess their love quickly. And they tug at your heartstrings with made-up stories about how they need money — for emergencies, hospital bills, or travel. Why all of the tricks? They’re looking to steal your money.
As if all that isn’t bad enough, romance scammers are now involving their victims in online bank fraud. Here’s how it works: The scammers set up dating profiles to meet potential victims. After they form a “relationship,” they come up with reasons to ask their love interest to set up a new bank account. The scammers transfer stolen money into the new account, and then tell their victims to wire the money out of the country. Victims think they’re just helping out their soulmate, never realizing they’re aiding and abetting a crime.
Here are some warning signs that an online love interest might be a fake. They ask you to:
- chat off of the dating site immediately, using personal email, text, or phone
- wire money using Western Union or Money Gram
- set up a new bank account
Did you know you can do an image search of your love interest’s photo in your favorite search engine? If you do an image search and the person’s photo appears under several different names, you’re probably dealing with a scammer. And if the person’s online profile disappears a few days after they meet you, that’s another tip-off.
Here’s the real deal: Don’t send money to someone you met online — for any reason. If your online sweetheart asks for money, you can expect it’s a scam.
Unfortunately, online dating scams are all too common. There may be tens of thousands of victims, and only a small fraction report it to the FTC. If this happens to you, please report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
In reply to Bridget - I met someone on by franda
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In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
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In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
Hi Bridget, I just found out my fiance of 9yrs & father of my 3 kids agedr7, 4 & 6mos special needs baby, has been talking to a girl from Ghana! I looked thru his phone cuz I had doubts about why his paycheck was gone in 3 days. I found out he sent her $114 which cost $54!!
Everything you say to watch out for I've read, they text & talk in the app hangouts right after they started talking she's saying she loves him, he's her "forever husband",then she started asking for money!! He doesn't make a lot and I'm home with our 2 youngest kids so his parents are already paying our bills and have been for a long time. I should've been suspicious when our infant was aproved for SSI and he got upset that I'm the only payee and I refused to have his check direct deposited inmy fiance's account.
But some intuition told me to protect my kids and myself. Well we've had problems about the 100lbs I've gained from 2010 til now & yes he's cheated before but I desperately wanted to believe in him this time after our baby almost died at birth he swore he'd changed that his family was everything to him, what a fool I am!!
Last night something told me to check his phone for the first time in over a year, I noticed Hangouts and started reading. Shocked and sickened doesn't even begin to describe my feelings. He sent a total stranger money "for food" because she's skinny & hot and works his ego, while our house is empty of food and I had to have his mom bring me milk for the kids & water for the baby's formula!! I wish I knew her name all I know is the user name Priceless Love also I'm going to try to send her picture to my phone. I believe he's being scammed, which he deserves, but it takes food awsy from my babies. Please let me know if you've come across her screen name and same story please . Thank you from a desperate stay at home mom.
In reply to Hi Bridget, I just found out by a lied to fiance
I'm sorry this is happening to your family. Scammers use many different tricks to persuade people to send money. If the scammer is getting money by wire transfer, and you know the name the scammer is using, you can report her to the wire transfer company.
Sometimes a friend or family member can talk to a victim and help them understand this is a scam. Maybe you could share some of the stories from this other blog post about romance scams.
You may be able to get help paying for food for your family. This list from the federal government has links to state agencies that can help families with children and people with disabilties.
In reply to I'm sorry this is happening by FTC Staff
In reply to How do you report a scammer by Don't use your…
Call WU Fraud Hotline at 800-448-1492, or MoneyGram Customer Care Center at 1‑800‑926‑9400.
In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to I am really unsure of what to by Lilly
Could you show your sister some of the comments people wrote on this blog? Maybe seeing how other people werer tricked by romantic scammers and lured into financial schemes will persuade her that something is wrong.
Scammers develop online relationships and ask their "sweetheart" to use their own bank account, or open a new account, and accept money, and transfer funds. Law enforcement calls the victims of these scams money mules, because they're carrying money for criminals. If someone gets involved this scam, they can lose money from their bank account, lose personal information, have their bank account closed down, and get into legal trouble. This blog tells more about money mules.
If you have information about the scammer, you can call the Western Union Fraud Hotline at 800-448-1492 and explain the situation.
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In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
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In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to Your story shows many signs by FTC Staff
In reply to i am tera 22 reporting the by Tera 22
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I met a guy in social networking for about a month now who claims he is Captain John H Wilson and is 40yrs old. He is currently deployed in Iraq. He said he is widowed with a son who lives with his granny in Alaska. He even said he will be retiring and coming home in October. He says he is religious, wants to be my husband and marry me, etc. He completely ignores everything you say. However, if you didnt reply back right away, he just harassed you.
Today was were I drew the line and stopped all communications when he told me his " computer was affected with a virus and wasnt working anymore" In the meantime he is telling me this through a computer. The next second he is asking me to get him a computer through the military store at this website Us_army.s @USA.com. Very bogus website and is a HUGE SCAM! I knew something wasn't right from the beginning but because he was coming from the military background, I figure he needed someone to talk to. I cut ties with this person before he could scam me. Be Ware ladies!
In reply to I met a guy in social by BEWARE!!
In reply to i am tera 22 reporting the by Tera 22
Beware Tera hes a Scammer trying to test you by saying lots of Sweet n Loving Words to you to do what he wants to do get his phone number and investigate him. GOOG LUCK
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In reply to If you gave the scammer your by FTC Staff
My husband feel for a Nigerian romance scam. After several months, the scam artist gave a sad story about her mother, inheritance, etc. They wanted him to open a PayPal account and a checking acct. They were sending $1700 to his checking account. Except it went into our Wells Fargo account.
He doesn't believe my daughters and I that it is a scam. So he went ahead thinking he is helping her mother in Brazil. He used MoneyGram as they told him to do. The bank hasn't contacted him yet for the $1700 bounced transfer. How long does it take for the bank to receive notice from PayPal? Will they continue to ask him to transfer money or will they just steal money from our checking account?
I am one step ahead of this criminals. I changed our checking account. Closed it at Wells Fargo. Opened a new checking account at Wells Fargo in my name and my daughter's name. What happens next? Cut him off?
In reply to My husband feel for a by Helpless
If your husband tells someone your bank account number, they can withdraw additional money.
You may want to warn your husband that if he deposits a bad check into his account and transfers funds, he will lose money and can get into legal trouble too. Some criminals develop relationships with people online, and then use them to help transfer funds through banks in the US.
It can take weeks for a bank to discover that a check is fraudulent. A bank may make some funds available on a check within a few days, but that does not prove that the check is good. This FTC article has more about fake checks.
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In reply to Ma'am Bridget Small, It's too by Thanks17
Pagination