Valentine’s Day may be the most romantic day of the year but it’s also the day most of romance scams take place. Just last year, fraudsters took US$1.3 billion from 70,000 Americans, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Romance scammers promise love, care, sympathy, then disappear leaving you with a broken heart and an empty wallet. (Photo: TimOve, Flickr, License)The average loss in each case was $4,400, with those over the age of 70 being the most prevalent victims.
“Romance scammers tell all sorts of lies to steal your heart and money,” according to FTC Senior Data Researcher, Emma Fletcher.
Scammers meticulously watch the information that a person provides on social media and adjust to it, pretending to be sympathetic with the potential victim.
“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,… claiming to be on a faraway military base,… or offshore oil rig worker,” wrote Fletcher.
All falsehoods have the same goal – to extract money from the victim.
The FBI El Paso Field Office also issued a warning against romance fraudsters, particularly around Valentine’s Day, calling on citizens to be careful and protect their hearts and their wallets.
The agency also warned of a new trend in romance scams, in which scammers convince people to transfer money to invest in or trade cryptocurrency.
After winning the victim’s confidence and trust, the fraudster takes the victim to a bogus website or application offering an investment opportunity. The victim frequently pays money, sees some profit on the website, and even withdraws a small amount of cash.
Encouraging them with the fake profit, scammers then lure the victims into investing more.
“When the victim is ready to withdraw funds again, the scammers create reasons why this cannot happen,” and simply disappear from the communication at some point, according to the FBI.
“Romance scammers are liars and thieves, but they’re also master manipulators,” warned Jeffrey R. Downey, special agent in charge of the FBI El Paso Field Office.
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