Is It Really Your Boo, Or Is It Boo Sheet?
20 Ways to Spot a Romance Scammer in the Act:
Don’t give money to someone on the Internet that you’ve never met in person.
Scammers try to establish a relationship very quickly, gain their victim’s trust, and sometimes propose marriage.
Don’t give out your personal information to someone that you are talking to online.
Nobody legit will ever ask you to help—or insist that you invest— by sending cryptocurrency, giving the numbers on a gift card, or by wiring money. Anyone who does is a scammer.
Ask questions. If a person seems too good to be true, they probably are.
They are a wealthy gold/ diamond miner and they need you to wire them money to get to the US.
If they need money to come to the US to marry you.
Criminals often claim to be wealthy, or from affluent, prominent families, with business interests requiring they travel extensively outside the country.
Do not transfer money even during “emergencies”
Be suspicious if the person fails to show up for multiple attempts to meet or always has an excuse not to meet
Do not send explicit photos or videos. They can use such content to threaten you for money.
Watch out for conflicting stories and excuses.
If someone tells you to send money to receive a package, you can bet it’s a scam.
Talk to friends or family about a new love interest and pay attention if they’re concerned.
If they have a job overseas, this is a huge red flag that they might be a romance scammer since they usually use this as an excuse to not see you or video chat with you.
If someone is moving the relationship super fast, be cautious by slowing the relationship down.
Don’t get too serious with someone without at least video chatting with them or meeting them in person first.
If someone you do not know is randomly contacting you out-of-the-blue on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter this usually means they are a scammer.
Your new romantic interest sends you a picture that looks more like a model from a fashion magazine than an ordinary snapshot.
The scammer will ask for money. Payment for travel expenses, medical bills, or other emergency expenses
Who is More Susceptible to Romance Scams?
If you’re divorced, widowed, or depressed, then you are more likely to fall for a romance scam on a social media platform or a dating website. This is because a lot of victims get married to their spouses in their twenties, but thirty years later have to deal with them passing away due to an illness, an accident, or another unfortunate circumstance. Once their spouse is gone, they become lonely since they were used to being around their spouse every day, and want to find a new companion to keep them company. In fact, 43% of the romance scam victims we polled said that loneliness was the number one factor in them being scammed.
More About Romance Scammers
Romance scammers tell all sorts of lies to steal your heart and money, and reports to the FTC show those lies are working. Last year’s romance scam numbers looked a lot like 2021 all over again, and it’s not a pretty picture. In 2022, nearly 70,000 people reported a romance scam, and reported losses hit a staggering $1.3 billion. The median reported loss: $4,400.
These scammers pay close attention to the information you share, and don’t miss a beat becoming your perfect match. You like a thing, so that’s their thing, too. You’re looking to settle down. They’re ready too. But there is one exception – you want to meet in real life, and they can’t. Reports show their excuse is often baked right into their fake identity. Claiming to be on a faraway military base is the most popular excuse, but “offshore oil rig worker” is another common (and fake) occupation. In short, there’s no end to the lies romance scammers will tell to get your money.
Reports show romance scammers often use dating apps to target people looking for love. But reports of romance scams that start with unexpected private messages on social media platforms are even more common. In fact, 40% of people who said they lost money to a romance scam last year said the contact started on social media; 19% said it started on a website or app. Many people reported that the scammer then quickly moved the sweet talk to WhatsApp, Google Chat, or Telegram.
You may have heard about romance scammers who tell you they’re sick, hurt, or in jail – or give you another fake reason to send them money. But did you know that many romance scammers operate by offering to do you a favor? They may claim to be a successful cryptocurrency investor who’ll teach you how it’s done. But any money you “invest” goes straight into their wallet. In another twist, they might say they’ve shipped you a valuable package (not true), which requires you to send money for “customs” or some other made-up fee. It’s all a lie. You send the money, and the package never turns up.
Reports also show that scammers who convince you to share explicit photos will then threaten to share them with your social media contacts. It’s called sextortion, and these reports have increased more than eightfold since 2019. People aged 18-29 were over six times as likely to report sextortion than people 30 and over. About 58% of 2022 sextortion reports identified social media as the contact method, with Instagram and Snapchat topping the list.
The way romance scammers take your money is another important piece of the story. People reported sending more money to romance scammers using cryptocurrency and bank wires than any other method: together, they accounted for more than 60% of reported losses to romance scams in 2022. While not the costliest payment method, gift cards were the most frequently reported – 24% of people who reported losing money to a romance scam in 2022 said it was taken using gift cards.
AARP. (2023, August 3). Romance Scams. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/romance.html?cmp=KNC-DSO-FRAUD-Ongoing-RomanceScams-8859-GOOG-ONGOING-RomanceScams-Exact-NonBrand&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1OmoBhDXARIsAAAYGSEVaLR4dVRwZM1t0AhkxztqBAq32XnXFlEjdnNnpzJXp3Qxtcb-fIMaAtL-EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Bokma, A. (2023, March). Avoiding Romance Scams: Watch Out for These 7 Red Flags. Adult Lifestyle Communities. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://adultlifestylecommunities.com/avoiding-romance-scams-watch-out-for-these-7-red-flags/
Fletcher, E. (2023, February 9). Romance scammers’ favorite lies exposed. Federal Trade Commission. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2023/02/romance-scammers-favorite-lies-exposed
Jones, E. (2023, February 7). Watch out for these romance scam red flags. Verify. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/scams-verify/romance-scams-red-flags-how-to-avoid-protect-yourself-where-to-report/536-b376d283-5f2c-4eeb-8911-93c9f0103e09
Orcutt, A. M. (2021, April 7). Romance Scammers: The History, Money, and Statistics Behind Romance Scams. Social Catfish. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://socialcatfish.com/scamfish/romance-scammers-the-history-money-and-statistics-behind-romance-scams/?campaign=googleads&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1OmoBhDXARIsAAAYGSGZ6EJkAxvhesTEprRrRYMMQBfA5-72rYbLAn2oK5LH54YORFQ4kYoaAihkEALw_wcB
United States Secret Service. (n.d.). Romance Scams. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://www.secretservice.gov/investigation/romancescams