FBI – Looking for Love? Beware of Online Dating Scams
Looking for Love? Beware of Online Dating Scams
Millions of Americans visit online dating websites every year, hoping to find a companion or even a soul mate. But today, on Valentine's Day, we want to warn you that criminals use these sites, too, looking to turn the lonely and vulnerable into rapid money through a diversity of scams.
These criminals—who also troll social media sites and talk rooms in search of romantic victims—usually claim to be Americans traveling or working abroad. In reality, they often live overseas. Their most common targets are women over 40, who are divorced, widowed, and/or disabled, but every age group and demographic is at risk.
Here's how the scam usually works. You're contacted online by someone who shows up interested in you. He or she may have a profile you can read or a picture that is e-mailed to you. For weeks, even months, you may talk back and forward with one another, forming a connection. You may even be sent flowers or other gifts. But ultimately, it's going to happen—your new-found “friend” is going to ask you for money.
So you send money…but rest assured the requests won't stop there. There will be more hardships that only you can help alleviate with your financial gifts. He may also send you checks to cash since he's out of the country and can't cash them himself, or he may ask you to forward him a package.
So what truly happened? You were targeted by criminals, very likely based on private information you uploaded on dating or social media sites. The pictures you were sent were most likely phony lifted from other websites. The profiles were fake as well, cautiously crafted to match your interests.
In addition to losing your money to someone who had no intention of ever visiting you, you may also have unknowingly taken part in a money laundering scheme by cashing phony checks and sending the money overseas and by shipping stolen merchandise (the forwarded package).
In another recently reported dating extortion scam, victims usually met someone on an online dating site and then were asked to stir the conversation to a particular social networking site, where the talk often turned intimate. Victims were later sent a link to a website where those conversations were posted, along with photos, their phone numbers, and claims that they were “cheaters.” In order to have that information eliminated, victims were told they could make a $99 payment—but there is no indication that the other side of the bargain was upheld.
While the FBI and other federal playmates work some of these cases—in particular those with a large number of victims or large dollar losses and/or those involving organized criminal groups—many are investigated by local and state authorities.
We strongly recommend, however, that if you think you've been victimized by a dating scam or any other online scam, file a complaint with our Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov).
Before forwarding the complaints to the adequate agencies, IC3 collates and analyzes the data—looking for common threads that could link complaints together and help identify the culprits. This helps keep everyone safe.
Here are some tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of an online dating scam.
Recognizing an Online Dating Scam Artist
Your online “date” may only be interested in your money if he or she:
- Presses you to leave the dating website you met through and to communicate using individual e-mail or instant messaging;
- Professes instant feelings of love;
- Sends you a photograph of himself or herself that looks like something from a glamour magazine;
- Claims to be from the U.S. and is traveling or working overseas;
- Makes plans to visit you but is then incapable to do so because of a tragic event; or
- Asks for money for a diversity of reasons (travel, medical emergencies, hotel bills, hospitals bills for child or other relative, visas or other official documents, losses from a financial setback or crime victimization).
One way to steer clear of these criminals all together is to stick to online dating websites with nationally known reputations.
FBI – Looking for Love? Beware of Online Dating Scams
Looking for Love? Beware of Online Dating Scams
Millions of Americans visit online dating websites every year, hoping to find a companion or even a soul mate. But today, on Valentine's Day, we want to warn you that criminals use these sites, too, looking to turn the lonely and vulnerable into quick money through a diversity of scams.
These criminals—who also troll social media sites and talk rooms in search of romantic victims—usually claim to be Americans traveling or working abroad. In reality, they often live overseas. Their most common targets are women over 40, who are divorced, widowed, and/or disabled, but every age group and demographic is at risk.
Here's how the scam usually works. You're contacted online by someone who emerges interested in you. He or she may have a profile you can read or a picture that is e-mailed to you. For weeks, even months, you may talk back and forward with one another, forming a connection. You may even be sent flowers or other gifts. But ultimately, it's going to happen—your new-found “friend” is going to ask you for money.
So you send money…but rest assured the requests won't stop there. There will be more hardships that only you can help alleviate with your financial gifts. He may also send you checks to cash since he's out of the country and can't cash them himself, or he may ask you to forward him a package.
So what truly happened? You were targeted by criminals, most likely based on individual information you uploaded on dating or social media sites. The pictures you were sent were most likely phony lifted from other websites. The profiles were fake as well, cautiously crafted to match your interests.
In addition to losing your money to someone who had no intention of ever visiting you, you may also have unknowingly taken part in a money laundering scheme by cashing phony checks and sending the money overseas and by shipping stolen merchandise (the forwarded package).
In another recently reported dating extortion scam, victims usually met someone on an online dating site and then were asked to stir the conversation to a particular social networking site, where the talk often turned intimate. Victims were later sent a link to a website where those conversations were posted, along with photos, their phone numbers, and claims that they were “cheaters.” In order to have that information liquidated, victims were told they could make a $99 payment—but there is no indication that the other side of the bargain was upheld.
While the FBI and other federal playmates work some of these cases—in particular those with a large number of victims or large dollar losses and/or those involving organized criminal groups—many are investigated by local and state authorities.
We strongly recommend, however, that if you think you've been victimized by a dating scam or any other online scam, file a complaint with our Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov).
Before forwarding the complaints to the adequate agencies, IC3 collates and analyzes the data—looking for common threads that could link complaints together and help identify the culprits. This helps keep everyone safe.
Here are some tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of an online dating scam.
Recognizing an Online Dating Scam Artist
Your online “date” may only be interested in your money if he or she:
- Presses you to leave the dating website you met through and to communicate using private e-mail or instant messaging;
- Professes instant feelings of love;
- Sends you a photograph of himself or herself that looks like something from a glamour magazine;
- Claims to be from the U.S. and is traveling or working overseas;
- Makes plans to visit you but is then incapable to do so because of a tragic event; or
- Asks for money for a diversity of reasons (travel, medical emergencies, hotel bills, hospitals bills for child or other relative, visas or other official documents, losses from a financial setback or crime victimization).
One way to steer clear of these criminals all together is to stick to online dating websites with nationally known reputations.