What is a Romance scam or Dating scam?
Romance Scam which is also known as Dating scam is one of the most common and widespread scams today. In this type of online scam, a person is tricked by a scammer who pretends to be in a romantic relationship with the victim. The scammer or cybercriminal creates a fake identity in dating apps or social media online and tricks the victim by gaining the victim’s trust and ultimately asks or blackmails victims to give money.
Some Facts about Romance Scams
- In 2019 FBI reported that the Romance scam was the 2nd most reported crime of that year.
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which is dedicated to helping American traders reported that over 25000 consumers filed cases of romance scams in the year of 2018.
- 2020 saw the biggest rise in Romance Scams and FTC reported that $304 Million was lost in these scams. The trend is continuously going up and we can see a new big figure in the year 2021.
- Not just people aged between 20 and 29 or 40 to 69 fell victims of online dating scams but people above age 70 are also the victims.
How to be safe from Romance scams
The first and most important preventive measure is not to send money to anyone whom you did not meet in person. Even if they send you money first, you should not send money because it might be a part of the scam. Do not be too fast in your relationship. Scammers know the trick and they are able to make anyone fall in love in a very short period. So be cautious. Be slow and ask questions. One good trick is to perform a reverse search for the photos provided by the person in question. If the other person’s image is associated with another name or details, beware, don’t match up. He might be a Romance Scammer.