Love may be blind, but you shouldn’t be when it comes to crime!
Romance scams or online dating scams are a type of theft wherein a person gets tricked into believing they’re in a romantic relationship with someone they met online. However, the person on the other side of the screen is a cybercriminal using a fake identity to trick the other person into giving them their trust to ask or blackmail them for money, per Norton’s article.
We have gathered a handful of info for you can keep in mind to avoid becoming a victim of a romance scam.
How Romance Scams work
According to the International Criminal Police Organization’s (INTERPOL) post on the matter, a romance scam starts when a scammer establishes an artificial romance with someone through a dating app like Tinder or Bumbler. The victim then gets investment tips from the scammer, who encourages the victim to join a scheme that seems legitimate.
The scammer can also ask the victim for money at this point. Usually, their modus operandi consists of asking for money due to a personal emergency such as an ill family member, a failed business, or a mugging, per Scamwatch. The scammer can also tell the victim that they want to meet their victim in person but would need money from them to do so.
Regardless of their methods, once the victim caves into the scammer’s pleas for help or invests a significant amount of money in the scammer’s investment scheme, all contact between the victim and the scammer…