February is here and love is in the air! Avoid heartache and be cautious who you trust your heart to as scammers work to find new victims. “The scammer’s intention is to establish a relationship as quickly as possible, endear himself to the victim, and gain trust,” said the FBI in a recent press release. “Scammers may propose marriage and make plans to meet in person, but that will never happen. Eventually, they will ask for money.”
There are stories everywhere about people falling for romance scams. In late January this year, a 43-year-old man living in Canton, MA confessed to stealing over $1 million by running romance scams.
The biggest red flag is if they ask for money, according to Jon Clay, vice president of Threat Intelligence at Trend Micro. They either try to make their victims feel for their plight, or request funds for a trip to visit them. Many will use stock photos and generic biographies in their dating profiles. Online search engines allows you to search an image for it’s origin so you can see if it came from a generic website like Getty Images. Try to keep communications on the dating app, also. Scammers will try to move the conversation to texts or calls which are more difficult to monitor. If you ever suspect an online relationship is a scam, stop all communications and report it to the FBI’s internet Crime Complaint Center at www.IC3.gov.
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