Love is (Not) In The Air: Romance Scam

What it is: Romantic scammers adopt a fake identity – usually online – and work to create trust and affection with a potential victim until the targeted person is comfortable sharing personal information or sending money. 

How it works: Many times, the victims are older people who may be lonely and emotionally vulnerable, but these scams have the potential to affect anyone – men and women, young or old, low-income or affluent.

In a typical scenario, the scammers research potential victims online, using social media profiles and dating sites to find their target and gather information about a person’s life and personality. They are very skilled at manipulation and will invest significant time to cultivate the victim’s trust and interest.

Once a potential victim becomes invested in the relationship and believes their love interest is sincere, the scammer will use one of many creative ploys to extract money, either once or over time.

Protect yourself:

• Be very wary if you decide to accept a stranger’s request to connect on social media. At the very least, be sure to check out their profile to see if it looks legitimate.
• Slow down! Whether online or in person, take time to get to know the love interest and make sure they’re telling you the truth about who they are.
• Never wire money or send cash or gift cards to an online love interest.
• Watch for these red flags:
  • If the relationship pace seems rushed, like a “whirlwind romance,” pay attention. Romance scammers profess love quickly, often without even meeting you in person.
  • A romance scammer may say they’re planning to visit you, but the visit doesn’t work out for some reason. The reason could seem very legitimate.
  • Most scammers first test the waters by claiming a crisis or emergency – such as being sick, hurt, in jail or stranded ­– which your “short-term loan” could fix for them.
  • If you meet on a dating site, the scammer may try quickly to lure you off that platform, asking to use personal email or text to communicate (which makes it easier for them to access your personal information).
  • Common faked occupations, which lend credibility to the scammer’s inability to meet in person, include deployed military service member and offshore oil rig worker, among others.

If you think you’re being scammed, take action:

The Federal Trade Commission offers these tips for outsmarting a potential romance scam if you suspect it’s happening to you:

• Stop communicating with the person immediately.
• Talk to someone you trust. Do your friends or family say they’re concerned about your new love interest?
• Search online for the type of job the person has plus the word “scammer.” Have other people posted similar stories? For example, search for “oil rig scammer” or “US Army scammer.”
• Do a reverse image search of the person’s profile picture. Is it associated with another name or with details that don’t match up? Those are signs of a scam.

If you fall victim to a romance scammer, report your experience to whichever online dating or social media site you were on and file a complaint with the FTC.