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.
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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
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In reply to I also had almost fallen prey by Synergy
In reply to I’m currently chatting with a by ChrisKA
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In reply to Barry Eckenwiller scammed me by koeks
In reply to Barry Eckenwiller scammed me by koeks
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In reply to I met a guy on facebook.He by BrooklynNY
He claims his name is kayland Berger, goes by Kay Berger, with an email address of bergerkay119 @gmail.com, an text mail phone number of 817-668-8634, on “Hangout” as Kay Berger… I meet him “Plenty of fish”…. This is what he sent via email about himself.. I'm 58 years old but very young at heart and physically. I was born and raised from a Catholic home at Linz.. I was married for 14 years. I'm widowed for 9yrs now looking for that special woman of my dreams to bring back the joy and happiness I have been missing since I lost my late wife (companion). I have one adopted daughter called Adjoa who lives in Austria now with my Aunt, she’s black and in college at the moment, I adopted because my wife couldn't bear kids... I 'm a retired Automotive engineer; I worked specifically on Trains; I'm financially stable and living without stress..
In reply to He claims his name is kayland by I got away, ho…
In reply to He claims his name is kayland by I got away, ho…
In reply to My guys name was Mark by Sassylady51
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In reply to The man i am talking to is by Doubts2
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In reply to Hi Roxanne, by Loulou2934
In reply to I was scammed by the man I by Thu Toronto
You could contact the Western Union Fraud Hotline at 800-448-1492 and explained what happened. You could also report this to the banks you used to transfer the money. If you met this person on a dating site or social media site, you could report the person's account to the website administrator.
In reply to Hi Roxanne, by Loulou2934
In reply to Hi Roxanne, by Loulou2934
In reply to Hi I'm talking to someone by Sadie
In reply to Hi I'm talking to someone by Sadie
In reply to Hi Roxanne, by Loulou2934
In reply to Hi Loulou, by Hanna
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In reply to Hi Loulou, by Hanna
In reply to so I met this guy on by runner-almost …
Pagination