How to Protect Yourself From an Online Dating Scam
More and more people are looking for love online. A large chunk are those age 50 to 64, and dating services aimed at baby boomers are expected to grow the most over the next five years.
You know who else is prowling around websites and apps, looking to score? Scammers. Last year, more than 15,000 victims lost some $210 million in “confidence frauds” and romance scams, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The lesson: Meeting people online comes with risks. And the way to protect yourself or someone you love isn’t as simple as “Don’t be foolish.” Smart people fall prey to scams.
Scammers don’t limit their hunting grounds to old-school dating sites like Match.com. They’re trolling for victims on any number of apps, even ones that aren’t associated with dating, such as the Scrabble-like online social game Words With Friends, according to the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker.
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Most important: Check your Facebook privacy settings. Make sure only friends can see your posts. You may feel comfortable sharing certain things, but just know that even “friends of friends” is a massive population of people which could easily include scammers. Also, don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know, even if they try to explain why you should recall them. You could put your whole friend network at risk.
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Use reverse Google image search to see if your match’s photos have been recycled from other websites. Look up employer names and any other details you can search for. Be aware that anyone can create a LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter profile, even if names and titles look legitimate.
Scammers try to move their targets off the platform where they met as soon as possible, says Patti Poss, a senior attorney with the Federal Trade Commission. Someone may say their subscription is ending, or that they don’t use the site much. That may be an excuse to start using standard text messages, email—or the phone. Remember that a phone call doesn’t mean someone is legit. Scammers can and do call their targets; sometimes they even send gifts. Another red flag? Professing love superfast. “Slow down,” Ms. Poss says. “Don’t let them rush you.”
Look out for grammar and spelling errors. (English often isn’t a scammer’s first language.) Paste portions of messages into Google, and see if you get any hits: Scammers sometimes repeat the same lines. A previous target may have posted the information online.
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What often happens before a planned meeting is suddenly they have to travel internationally. Then it’s emergency time: Their child is sick. They were injured in an accident. A business deal went south. Something bad happened, and they can’t access their money. Or maybe they just need money for a plane ticket to come see you. Lies. Lies. Lies.
When asking for money, scammers might want iTunes gift cards—either the physical cards or a picture of the code on the back. Don’t fall for that or any other shady-sounding forms of payment. Assistance can take a variety of forms. A scammer might ask you to accept a shipment and send it elsewhere or to accept money into your own account and then wire it somewhere else.
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“File complaints with anyone you think might be working on this,” says the FTC’s Ms. Poss. “Get it in front of your state attorney general, the federal folks, the criminal folks, the payment processor and the FTC.” She also recommends the BBB’s Scam Tracker.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-protect-yourself-from-an-online-dating-scam-1521129300
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