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 I have a question? After I by tonya
I'm not sure what you are saying. Do you mean that you sent money to this man, and then changed your mind and cancelled the payment? And now he is bothering you and saying you must pay him?
Do you think he is a scammer? If he's a scammer, he is probably trying to scare you. He hopes he will scare you, and you'll send money to make him go away. But if he's a scammer, he may not really go away. If he knows you will pay, he might hang around and keep bothering you and demand more money.
You don't have to send a scammer money, and you don't have to answer his emails or texts. You can block him completely. If he really sends you legal papers, write back here again.
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This story this person is telling your mother sounds like a scam. Scammers often play on emotion; they say they are working far from home, are all alone in the world, have a child, need money, and have only their new love to help them avoid disaster. You could invite your mother to read some of the other comments people have sent to this blog.
An online love interest who asks for money is almost certainly a scammer. Scammers often want to leave the dating site immediately and change to personal email or private messaging. They may claim love very quickly after meeting to build attachment.
There's a danger in helping a scammer with his money. Some scammers use people to help them transfer stolen money. They don't reveal that the money is stolen - they tell a story to hide the purpose for the transaction. They ask their new sweetheart to use her bank account, or open a new account, receive and transfer money. If you do this for a scammer, your name is on the bank account and on the money transfer forms. If you get involved with one of these schemes, you could lose money and personal information, and you could get into legal trouble.
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