Love is in the air, and finding that special someone is top of mind. Knowing the signs of a romance scam can save you from a broken heart and from losing thousands of dollars.
Romance Scams are among the costliest scams reported to the Better Business Bureau, with victims losing tens of thousands of dollars or more. Many begin with a connection on a dating site or app. Everything seems innocent and sometimes conversations go on for months. But then, the love interest starts asking for money for flights to visit, or help with finances. Once the money is received, the love interest disappears. Victims are often in too deep to realize they are falling for a scam.
“Many victims say they felt the other person was telling the truth and had no reason not to trust them,” says Lisa Frohnapfel, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau Serving Western Michigan. “But once someone starts asking you for money, that is the red flag you need to pay attention to.”
Romance scams are rarely reported, due to the emotional impact of the scam and the embarrassment felt by many victims. In recent years, one West Michigan woman lost $134,000 to a scammer. She realized she had been scammed when her love interest never arrived at the airport to visit.
Red flags to watch for:
Rush to get off the site. Scammers (often known as Catfishers) will try to quickly move the conversation to email, text or messaging app. This avoids monitoring programs set up by dating sites.
Moving fast. A scammer will start talking about a future together and tell you they love you quickly. They often say they’ve never felt this way before.
Don’t want to or can’t meet. Be wary of someone who always has an excuse to postpone meeting because they say they are traveling or live overseas or are in the military.
Suspect language. If the person you are communicating with claims to be from your home town but has poor spelling or grammar or uses phrases that don’t make sense, that’s a red flag.
Hard luck stories. Before moving on to asking you for money, the scammer may hint at financial troubles like heat being cut off or a stolen car or a sick relative, or they may share a sad story from their past.
How to avoid romance scams:
Never send money or personal sensitive information to someone you’ve never met before. This includes addresses, Social Security numbers, or other forms of identification. Never give someone your credit card information or bank account information to book a ticket to visit you, or allow them to deposit money into your account.
Ask specific questions about details on a profile. A scammer may stumble over details or have problems remembering their own back story.
Do your research. Many scammers steal photos from the web to use in their profiles. You can do a reverse image lookup using a website like tineye.com or images.google.com to see if the photos on a profile are stolen from somewhere else. You can also search online for a profile name, email, or phone number.
Report scams to the BBB Scamtracker
Learn about other forms of romance scams at bbb.org/romancescams
