How do romantic scams work?
Almost everyone in the world now uses dating sites or online dating applications. But just as there have been many success stories of internet-born couples, there are also cases (moderate or severe) of online dating scams.
Known as romantic scams, they occur when you believe you have established a connection or correspondence with someone or a Prato escort through a dating site or app, but are actually dealing with an unknown who is exploiting a false profile, with the aim of manipulating.
Which Of The Online Dating Scams Are Most Common?
Most dating scams start out pretty naïve. Scammers create fake profiles that look as real as possible and wait for victims to start trusting them. You have to be careful not to get hooked by the scammer, even if it is not always easy to recognize that you have one in front of you. The possibilities are limitless, but among the best known variants are:
Military romantic scams
With military romance scams, scammers can use the name and photos of a real soldier or create a totally made-up profile.
These scams start with help messages, in order to build a strong emotional connection, and then come to requests for money, perhaps to help them pay for a flight home or because they need military treatment.
Scammers may work with multiple accomplices who pass themselves off as doctors or lawyers and can manipulate the victim for or even years.
Intimate activity scams
After an intense period of courtship, victims are asked to connect via webcam so they can see each other while chatting. But mysteriously… the scammer's webcam is broken. Do not waste time praising the victim's appearance and convincing her to undress and perform other sexual acts.
The problem arises when the scammer reveals his identity, claiming to have made a video recording of those intimate scenes and threatening to post the recording online unless the victim sends money.
Once the victim obeys, unfortunately, the demands increase until the victim decides to interrupt the cycle by asking the appropriate institutions for help.
Fake dating sites
Scam dating sites are dating services that claim to offer real dating opportunities but are, sadly, inundated with scammers. Some untrustworthy sites ask you to create a specific profile to extract your personal information. While they may seem legitimate at first, they will quickly reveal they're true colors, after becoming a member for a while. You may receive an offer for a free premium membership or some other exclusive benefit in exchange for completing a survey. You should also pay attention to the flow of requests for appointments immediately after creating your profile: if you start receiving an avalanche of messages when you have not even managed to upload a photo of yourself, it is likely that you have come across such a scam.
Photo scams
In this case, the scammer encourages the victim to submit their contact details in exchange for intimate photos of the scammer, when in reality, the scammer is fishing for personal data, or it could even be a bot trying to gain access. to the victim's data. This is a genuine financial fraud.
Credit-for-sex (or credit-for-sex) scams
With this kind of scam, a stranger tries to befriend the victim through social media and convinces her to buy a gift card in exchange for a sexual encounter and favors.
What kind of victim is the scammer looking for?
Online scams are a type of crime on the rise.
Anyone can fall victim to romantic scams, but it is older people who often suffer the largest financial losses. Not surprisingly, the elderly are the main victims of scammers, who target them because they are more manipulable and because they own properties and pensions.
About two-thirds of the victims of sentimental fraud are believed to be women, with an average age of 50.
How to protect yourself from romantic scammers
Here are 12 tips for avoiding the dangers of online dating:
- When using social media sites, don't accept friend requests from unknown people.
- Avoid sharing too much personal information on a dating site or with someone you chat with. Scammers can use basic details such as your last name to commit identity theft.
- Use reputable dating sites like Escorta.com and communicate through their messaging service. Scammers will want you to quickly switch to text messages to make money claims.
- Don't be afraid to ask questions of your potential partner and beware of any inconsistencies you notice.
- Be wary of too flattering messages. Paste the text into a search engine and see if the same words appear on websites where other romantic scams have been reported.
- Avoid sending compromising photos to strangers.
- Stop contacting immediately if you start to suspect that the individual may be a scammer.
- If you agree to meet a potential partner in person, let your family and friends know and specify where the meeting will take place. Make sure it's a public place.
- Never send money, gift cards, or reveal your bank details to someone you've never met live.
In conclusion
An important way to stay safe online is to use a comprehensive antivirus solution to protect yourself from hackers, viruses, and malware.
Online dating scams often prey on vulnerable users. But it is not uncommon for many unsuspecting people to fall victim to catfishing. Remember that you can get around romantic scams by instead creating authentic connections with real people that you can seamlessly meet live.