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Image of cupid and heartNot 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.

A woman looking at a dating site on her computer.

Sarah
February 05, 2021

In reply to by Lolifever

We met the same guy,Charles Newton USN diver,2 kids a boy and a girl Nanny is taking good care of them while he is in deployment,fiancée died of car accident.sending me plenty pictures and videos of him
Holly
February 06, 2021

In reply to by Lolifever

Can we compare photos and videos of this USN diver Charles Newton,
scammed_cheese
July 01, 2020
Sharing my experience as well. I was invited in Linkedin by a certain Dr. Peter Wang as a connection. I accepted his invitation and long story story short, we became chatmates and eventually got close. Just like what i have read in the other comments here, he said that he grew up in Ukraine, studied in UK and eventually earned his degree there as a doctor. His parents died at an early age, his auntie was the one who took care of him and he was cheated on by his girlfriend. after a month he said he has a trip to Cambodia for a contract with UKAid. When he was there, he told me that something went wrong with the machines he was trying to install there in a hospital and needed money to buy a new or else he wont be paid for the whole contract. I have had initial doubts on him and tried to google him but unfortunately did not find anything at that time. So yes, i was scammed as i sent him money which i thought he needed. Only much later that i learned how to do the reverse image search in Google where i discovered that the profile pic he used (and all the photos he shared with me) belonged to another doctor. I saw all of the photos he shared with me in the instagram account of the other doctor which appeared to be more legit. When i confronted him, he cant answer directly and eventually stopped chatting with me. Its a hard lesson for me and it's still fresh as of this writing. I was really hurt that i cant believe i'd fall for a scammer. May this be a lesson for everyone here.
jdawg
July 01, 2020
i met a woman online from accra ghana. always asked for steam cards, and money, and that she needed food. so many lies be careful. she goes by janet nti......
Miss giggles 13
July 01, 2020
Hi guys anybody chatting to a guy named Stephen Lennon Webb on Tinder uses Lennon .pretends to be US army on a un peace mission in Yemen. Very good looking like george clooney .then claims to love you and wants to marry you but needs to have his exit form shipped to your address then emailed to his camp co ordinate..I played along and the shipment cost was $1539 .I told him to jog on .was quickly deleted ....I wonder why ..just be careful ladies an extremely handsome guy .has lots of photos .
Advisor
July 01, 2020
Hi ladies I was on a dating site when I got a message from Dave telling me he had met his soul mate here and now he was getting off. But he was showing his best friend, Greg, the site and my profile came up. His friend is very interested in me, but he wasn't registered yet. Here is his email and phone #. Naturally, I was curious so I emailed. First Greg sent me pictures so I could approve whether I wanted to continue speaking with him. Then he was the sweetest widower you had ever met. Fortunately, I got another message from another dating site from a guy named Rob telling me the exact thing Dave had said. He had met his soul mate, but his good friend who was a widower and not on this site yet wanted to meet me. Rob gave me his friend's email and phone # as well. This hit me like a brick wall. I realized Greg was part of a scam. I immediately blocked Greg and thanked God for protecting me.
POF
July 02, 2020
anyone knows Giovvani P Ortiz?we met on POF. For 2mo just talk by text phone FaceTime. He never asked for money since he said he financially free and wanna give me support, but never happened. He said he was in SoCal. Then one day got a call for his daddy got COVID-19 plus brain tumors. So basically for these two month just talk about his life families and how much he loved me, want a family with me balabala. For couple of times he wanted to buy my air ticket or something, but when I asked, he did not. He said his father suddenly passed away. His father in Orlando area has 2 McDonald’s and one car wash... I felt something wrong, then asked him to give a physical address l. He gave me a home address belonged to totally someone else. The house also looked different than he showed me before. What his purpose to scam ? No money No sex?
I took the bait
July 02, 2020
Met scammer Winford H Miller. He says he is a Marine deployed in Germany and needs money because of the pandemic. Has a LinkedIn account and is very convincing. Met on POF and moved to WhatsApp. Beware he is very handsome and charming. People can be so EVIL!!!
Thankful I was…
January 22, 2021

In reply to by I took the bait

Thank you for this. I just matched with him tonight and of course we chatted for a very long time. I was leery due to some of the details and a few language goofs, but his conversation skills seemed to be okay. Glad I trusted m my gut and did some research. Searched for the LinkedIn profile you mentioned and it’s definitely the same photos.
Daphnemercado89
July 10, 2020
I chatted with guy named Rummenie Eric Lopez oringinally from madrid spain, grew up in Kentucky and now living in California. He told me he has 2 sons and his wife died in accident. He add me on facebook. He said his work is a military medic and will send a package woth $45000. And due to pandemic I need to pay little amount for the cost to ship in my country. How was the plot? So much for love scam.
edique_iggy
July 10, 2020
I met this man online via LinkedIn named Harrison Soyun. He said he is a 38 year old, lived in Singapore but before he came he was living in Manchester, England. His dad is a Korean and mother a malaysia. We chatted since mid May and he shared few photos of himself - he looked Asian. He is the sweetest man I have ever met, encouraging, loving and positive. He said he cannot wait to spend the future with me and my kids. We have a few call and 3 video calls. He has a british accent I think. One day he told me he had to leave to Romania to help a friend in a water infrastructure project. His friend has been incarerated for domestic violence and hitting his wife. After he took over the project he continued to send photo of him in safety hat, video call when he was onsite. He even spoke to my 12 years old son. Shortly he shared that the friend he was helping had borrowed money from the loan shark and they are mafia. And 1 day the mafia's rivarly went to the project site and created chaos, stole and damage the supplies. As he has been using his bank account to repay the loan shark, the bank contacted him that they have to freeze his bank accounts just to ensure he has not been kidnapped and involuteerily making fund transfers. He said he had only shared this incident with me and his mum's caretaker. One day, he called me and cried to me that his mum's caretaker had related his predicament to his mum and resulted his mum who is in stage 3 pancreatic cancer to collasp and had to be sent to ICU. He asked me for GPB10,000 as a deposit for his mum's hospital procedure and he will repay me with interest once his bank reactivate his bank account. What do you all think of his story?
iamcommand
July 18, 2020

In reply to by edique_iggy

That is a scam. Don’t transfer any money to him. Same person I met in LinkedIn and same story he told me like his mom needs a surgery because she’s in the hospital and have stage 3 cancer. he is an engineer. He also told me that he is having a project in Romania and he have this close friend from WHO who gave that project. He is also sweet and caring but when I keep on reading his messages and connecting the dots I felt that there’s something wrong and when he sent me a video and play it slowly I saw a pregnant woman in his side, its a quick video but I intend to watch it in slow motion. That’s why i decided to investigate him and I saw your post. My gut is always true. Don’t let this man manipulate you with his sweet and caring words. I already blocked him in LinkedIn. Be vigilant.
Anonymous UK r…
July 20, 2020

In reply to by edique_iggy

Hi, edique_iggy, I live i UK and if you're a resident or even a citizen of UK, you are entitled for regular NHS treatment, certainly you dont have to pay for it unless of course you dont use the private health care, but it is not very likely. Certainly it's a scam. Beware. Ignore. Block. Goodluck
Diazzzx
August 15, 2020

In reply to by edique_iggy

Is there anyway I can contact you,as I feel this same guy called me yesterday.do you have a pic of him?
daydream
July 02, 2020
Hello. Does anybody have an experience with a chef who is on a mission from Dallas to Syria? Working for a four seasons hotel to cater for UN employees? He says he is 33 and all alone. His parents have passed away when he was 17 and he is alone from that time.
Nancy drew
July 14, 2020

In reply to by daydream

Sounds like a scam right when I read ” a mission from Dallas to Siberia.” These guys will always claim to be stationed in a foreign country. This sets things up for later when they ask you for money to be wire transferred. Or to be put on a green dot card. Do a reverse search image on his photo. Type his name into a search bar also. I’ll bet you won’t be able to find anything on the name that he gave you. And if you do the picture will not match with the name. You will find The info you are looking for with a little minor investigating . Be very careful and always investigate a love interest who you meet online. These guys are real first class idiots and creeps. They will look for weakness in you so they can rob you. Don’t allow that to happen.
uno
July 02, 2020
I was scammed last year fortunately only £250 but I feel so stupid . Now when I look back and see how he manipulated me I hate him . Goes by the name of Joel cook . Was also talking to another person Doctor Parnell who gave me a sorry about being held in Mexico for accidentally killing a child in a car accident . These people make me feel angry because of the people who vulnerable to them
Dumb Blond
July 03, 2020
I have been using Scrabble GO for 3 months and in that time six guys have attempted to scam me. Anything from ,399 dollar iTunes voucher to 58,000 dollars! All claimed I am or was the love of their life: the names they used were: Major General Tempel. Still on Scrabble altho I reported him. David Daryl. On a rig in Gulf if Mexico. Great liar. Good-looking with inevitable tragically dead wife and son. Guilt tripping into helping him Roberto Orlabdo from LA. Currently in a rig off Africa and without Internet. Very insistent then very abusive; Ruiz Palma. Claimed to be gas tech with boat for exploration. Oligarch. Flat in Moscow. Wife died with breast cancer when child born. Very wealthy but I must prove my love by sending a PS4. Very authoritarian. Beautiful looking and sulky. Finally Robert William. A soldier CSM in Afghanistan. Very convincing. Fake photo. Guy was Nigerian when I confronted him. We are weirdly still in touch as we liked each other! Beware military scammers especially. If they cannot send an email from their US army site they are fake. If they can't send a photo in uniform. They are fake. ..anyon e come across these guys?
Iva
July 03, 2020
I meet with my scammer on fb after he spoke with me on Google hangouts.. First he try speak with me about his childhood.. He toold me he is alone. He don't have family only one daughter. He told me he is us military soldier.Couple weeks he ask me about pay his military vacation or emergency leave... I been suprise.. If i told him i can't. He start attacking me and he told me i selfish and terrible person. His name is Donald Patrick... So unaviablle
Tp
July 03, 2020
James avalos is asking me to contact his nanny who is watching his kid. He send a email to contact her. I think it is a scam.
met on hppn
July 03, 2020
This guys name is Kelvin Anderson 44 years old. Says he works for a military organization. He was sent to Ukraine for 3 weeks. Just send me a link to a fake Discover card page and asked me to login and check his account. I've only been talking to him for a week, so sharing such personal information set off red flags. I noticed that the link he sent me spelled discovercard wrong. Called him out on being a scammer right away. He also claims to be a widow, without access to food where he is, says he was feeling ill. Sent pictures of him in snow, however, its summer in Ukraine. Keeps your wits about you ladies, if your gut tells you run... RUN!
Sunflower123
July 03, 2020
I think my friend might be in a potential scam? Has anyone come across a dr frank smith? Lives in texas but had to go away on contract to South Africa? Has a son in boarding school? Manchester? Same story line as most of the other stories lost his parents etc half German half American?
AngiePolie
July 03, 2020
CAUTION: A guy called himself Daniel James on Linkedin, claiming being an Orthopedics Surgeon at United Nations under contract in Badgdad, Iraq. I told him yesterday before blocking him it is extremely challenging for a foreign scammer to fake an American doctor! I have never been on dating sites and do not use social media, either. I have a Linkedin account though and was approached by this scammer who stole a photo from someone who is very nice looking and probably is a real doctor. I never believed in him basically because of his English which is pretty good and still not good enough to fake a native American doctor. Never spoke with him on phone, as I have been busy enough with my work. I just wanted to see when and how he would start to ask for money. It ended up his personal hospital equipment (did not bother asking what they are) being confiscated at Malaysia custom, on his way to come to see me (what a joke). Then I got a call from Malaysia and rejected it then blocked the number. Before he opened his dirty mouth to ask for money, I blocked him and reported him to Linkedin. So, the scammer is from Malaysia which explains his weird schedule. Claimed his wife died 7 years ago, his only daughter (named Monica) is at high school and lives with a family friend at LA (what kind of parent may do this to their teenage kid), very God fearing (they should because there is a spot in hell reserved for them) . The scammers have scripts which are well written with no grammatical errors. But the scripts do not work when conversations go further and specific. Grammatical mistakes are always obvious to me though I am not a native English speaker myself. By the way, there are a couple of other Linkedin accounts which is very similar to this one. Please be Alert!
BrokenSpirit
July 04, 2020
Fell for an oil rigger by the name of Sam Nguyen in the Gulf of Mexico. He claims to have a 15 year old daughter who loves me and wants me to be her mom. He loves me and wants to marry me after a month and calls me his wife. Asks me to send his daughter gifts and send him gift cards. He can’t get to his money because he is off shore. Makes 800,000 a year. Said he wanted to come visit me and I pay for the ticket and he gets into a car accident on the way to the airport. Now he needs money for hospital bills. I’m so stupid. Says he’s from Canada. Oh and his fake doctor name is Dr. Tim Wesley.
GAC
July 04, 2020
Utterly devastated. I am a highly educated, successful woman who embarrassingly got caught up in an online romance scam. I have been messaging and conversing on the phone with a man who claims to be an engineer of Metallurgy currently on a pipeline job in Alaska. He claims to be from Denmark and relocated to Phoenix about a year ago. Claims he is a widower of 3 years and has a son who attends a college in Maryland...supposedly the reason he relocated to the US. I have been in communication with this man for 9 months. He claimed, early on, to have been caught off guard not having internet service in this remote area of Alaska and he gave me his banking log on info to wire money from his account to pipeline vendors. Then claimed his bank froze his wiring capabilities. for international wire...his bank is supposedly in Acotland where his mother resides. Yes, stupidly, I wired my own funds to the tune of six figures to help him get the necessary pipeline valves, tariffs and other expenses so he could finish his contracted project through BP. This man comes off as such a sweet, loving, God fearing man. He was supposed to be out of Alaska back in Nov....but is still there claiming he now needs funds to do some others required work mandated by BP, the company he said he won the bid from to do the project. I have always had some lingering thoughts regarding scam......but this guy is good! This week he said he is getting funds from an old friend but was shy $17,000. At this point I’m extremely suspicious and went along saying that I would wire the $17K. He suggested his friend wire $70,000 to me, then I ride the 87k to the vendor. I started reading on this platform and learned about Google reverse photo search. To my utter amazement and extreme disappointment, I found out he was using pictures from a well-known Canadian speaker/author’s Facebook page....even baby and childhood pictures! I called him out on it....but to this moment he claims everything he’s told me, other than the pictures, is true and that he is disappointed in himself . He still say he loves me “now and forever”. He is refusing to send me any real pictures of himself and says he feels “unattractive” and wants to wait until he “comes to me” to work it out. I keeping the lines of communication open because it want to mail this guy. I would like to know if this sounds familiar to anyone else and want options I have to have this guy prosecuted. I feel reasonably confident I will not see any of the money back despite his assurances he will pay me back. What recourse do I have?
DC281864
July 04, 2020
I never received a Emerson pay would like to know what it it go to and how can I get it
Valerie Lee
July 04, 2020
Friendship on any site you talk to this person for while and first thing they fall in love with you and ask if you have whatsapp and want you to join delete immediately faker scammer report and delete I sometimes delete 4-5 guys a day
Old Boyfriend
July 04, 2020
does any one know about a building engineer called Jeff from Texas, He is going to close down his company and move to Sweden and merry my girlfriend after they known each other two weeks. Its of course not thru but she is so scamed i cant talk to her,
Myles
July 05, 2020
Be careful also I got scam I met him in a smule app he used the name Mark Thompson and pretend tobe a military doctor.
Tasi
January 15, 2021

In reply to by Myles

My Mark Thompson is a general who has been in Syria for 6 years! He has not parents, his sister died and he isn’t married, but has adopted a child who is 16 and lives in Cyprus while he is in Syria. He said he is in love whit me from the first week. I knew him through Tandem, an app to practise languages. First he asked me for money because his son was ill. I refused it. Now, he said he wants te send me 3,1million dollars in cash from Syria. I cut the communication. I’m sorry for my English, but is not my language
Mrh
July 05, 2020
Has anyone been contacted by Trevor Phillips who says he is a road and bridge construction engineer working in Africa
KiminGA
July 05, 2020
So, after a month of texting, talking on the phone to an Alan Fisher McDonough, supposedly an army physician stationed at a hospital in Germany fighting COVID until he retires August 12th, I found out who the real photos belong to. I did reverse image searches on tons of sites but ultimately Social Catfish is the one that found him. I then contacted the real person via IG and told him his image was being used to seduce women and solicit financial information. Luckily, all I ever gave the scammer was $100 in Steam cards but boy do I feel like an idiot now! I gotta say, he was super slick. Gave me a social security number, a physical address of a home he owned in California, spoke and wrote very good English. He did have an accent but said it was from living all over the world as a child with his Air Force father. We even did a video chat on hangout where I saw him and he was talking but the sound wouldn’t work. I don’t know how he pulled that off. Anyway, be careful people. These people are skilled at what they do!
albie123
July 05, 2020
started with a hello, hi to you. her profile was beautiful pictures of herself 34 years old lives in akron, OH. Beautician. She stole my heart over 7 day period with sending me more photos, poems, says shes falling for me, so believable I fell in love with her. finally she tells me shes not working because of covid thing, falling behind on bill, wondered if i could loan her 1000.00...i did not fall for it, took down her profile on facebook within a minute.
Gemini
July 05, 2020
Has anyone had any encounters with the name of James Tyler, Surgeon from the United Nations Army Base. Supposely lives in San Diego, California and has a daughter age of 12 and her name Michelle in a border school in California. Wife is deceased?
savanna
July 06, 2020
how to search a person using photo?
Good Asia Women
July 06, 2020
I meet him on very famouse dating online. First he was a very nice, very romantic, open minded and understand me. I almost fallin love with him. After a month he said he went to some country for work. After he there for a week, he asked my full name for his payment check. I feel thats weir. I didnot give him my full name and stop all the communication. And I found the other one, almost same with the first one, but this one cannot pay the material for his project because of the bank cannot acsess his accaunt. Weir isnt it. I just leave him right away. To women all ofer the world, please be carefull, take care yourself, be smarth and love sometimes not blind but also need brain too.
Cynthia
July 06, 2020
I have been scammed by a man posing as Santa Margherita who was on a container ship in the Indian Ocean. I fell for the scam and sent Apple gift cards for his transport from the container ship to a hospital in Bangkok. He sent many photos, which I suspect were downloaded from some internet site. He is a total fake. I am recovering some of the money from my bank who recognized the fraud. But nothing can repair the damage done to my self-esteem. He was working in cahoots with a Thai Immigration Officer, Dennis Carpenter, and a Bangkok attorney, named Klahan Channarong. Be aware of these bad actors. I have filed reports with the FTC and with the FBI and my local police department.
anom
July 06, 2020
I have a guy who has had me set up appointment with a realtor to go pick out a home for us. He says his wife died and works on an oil rig in Mexico. He says he is from Texas. I have never met him in person because he is always delayed on the oil rig. He has sent me pics of a Texas drivers license. Please if this sounds familiar to you please let me know.
Don't alexche
July 17, 2020

In reply to by anom

I have been chatting with a good looking guy who says he is from Buffalo but supervising tunnel construction for gas co in Houston. Has a 12 year old son. Wants to get married and buy expensive house and car for me. Hasn’t asked for anything but I can see scan coming. He is a scammer for sure. He goes by Donald or Mc Donald Thomas. He’s in his 50’s. Met him on Scrabble. Heartbroken.
Datadrone
July 19, 2020

In reply to by anom

Hi , sounds like my John. He is a Marine engineer on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico. His wife and child died in childbirth and he is raising his son by himself. He never talks about the boy.....smh.
KatEyez
July 22, 2020

In reply to by anom

May I please ask what name he has given you? I dont know how to exchange pictures, do you?
venuenz
July 07, 2020
Yes I have just been duped as well Goes by the name of Malcom Bryan from San Francisco. Met him on the scrabble Ap. Has one daughter and has been a widower for 8 years. took 2 years off after his wife died in a car crash to spend with his daughter. I checked out his photos and used google search... all over every dodgy dating site you can find. Says he is not on FB or Insta, but have found him there under the name of Louis Dave Anthony. Go look, there are about 6 different profiles. I bought this to his attention and he messaged his daughter who said all the pictures were in her stolen phone from last year One thing though I did get a copy of his passport, which was an interesting sideline. All photos he sent were stolen from other sites. Anyway the usual thing was said when I presented this information to him... I am not a scammer I m not... so I have just blocked him and unfortunately couldnt stop the cash I had already sent last week. Ce la vie, sometimes these things happen for a reason. Havent found it out yet though...
ugh
July 07, 2020
i havent fallen for these, but i recently created a fake account and many people have tried to scam me. ive dealt with all of them in a comedic way, but today it turned more into a threat, and he said that he will hire a hitman against me. i'm not necessarily worried, since i didnt use my name, address, number, country or even picture for this fake account (its one of those fake boomers account and i sort of mock them with it) but i'm wondering if there is a source for these scammers? once i accepted a video call so i could hold up a picture of a meme to the camera, but i heard several men speaking in tagalog in the background. does anyone know of any corporations who do these things?
jackie1987
July 07, 2020
I am in a love scam and it is terrible the experience I'm having four people getting attacked with me saying that they're the same person anybody in contact with somebody by the name of David Lee he also says that he was in the Army and he needed money to come home on and that he wanted to come be with me and buy a house he needed money for this and money for that anybody have encounters with this man
AngiePolie
July 07, 2020
Why my comment do not show up here?
Fireopal
July 07, 2020
Has anyone been approached on Scrabble Go by a Wills G or Graham W? Says he's a marine geologist, then also in construction is widowed with 3 grown children, Lives in Santa Barbara but is currently working in Texas. Send pics of himself, his children, him as a boy and at 20. Says he fell in love with my humour. Chatted for 3 weeks then asked me for money to finish a job he had in Mexico. I said no, asked him to prove who he was by sending a picture with him holding a piece of paper with my name on. He did and I have reversed imaged every pic he has sent and nothing comes up. But I also can't find him anywhere either. I'm beyond trying to figure this one out. And like others Scrabble Go is rife with oil rig workers who are scammers. Caught two and got them before they got me LOL.
Emotional 50
July 08, 2020

In reply to by Fireopal

Hi I think this maybe the same guys am talking to, do you have pictures I have pictures . Let exchange
Mediterranean …
July 08, 2020
I matched with a guy using the name Luca Nicholas, claims he is a ship captain, started chatting 4 days ago, one day he would be in one ocean the next a different one that is not possible. His feelings escalated quickly to I love you, then he asked me what time I finished work this evening so we could chat, told him, minutes before that time he messaged me an sos message saying his ship had broken down and has taken out the comms I was the only person in the world that could help. He gave he an email address to contact which generated an invoice. He gave me his bank account login so I could pay the invoice from his bank account. It failed! He then wanted me to pay the invoice and he would pay me back. I googled the ship, it is moored in another country, I googled the company the invoice came from, couldn't find it. I haven't paid it. He then sent videos of a ship being struck by super high waves and said I was going to be responsible for all his crew dying. I googled wave height on the Mediterranean Sea where he was supposed to be stranded, those wave heights are not physically possible in that sea. Don't fall for it, he claiming to be 36 and his pics look super hot, he rang me briefly once and his voice sounded much older.