FBI Issues Alert on ‘Sweetheart Scams’ After Marylander
Image by Muhammad Ribkhan from Pixabay
A lot of people are using the internet to find love. There are a lot of websites now that are dedicated to finding you your soulmate but the FBI is warning people to be very careful. There is a rise in ‘sweetheart scams’ and people are losing a lot of money. We are talking about a reported $200 million in 2019 alone. But the good thing is, they can be avoided when you know what they are and what they can look like.
What is a Sweetheart Scam?
Have you ever heard of the phrase, love is blind? Unfortunately, this is a true saying and it can mean that you lose a lot of money. A sweetheart scam, which can also be referred to simply as a romance scam, is when a fraudster convinces someone to send them money after pretending to love them. They befriend the victim through social media or online dating websites, convincing them it is true love. Then they will either ask for large sums of money or ask them to share their bank details. Unfortunately, a lot of people are blinded by their new romance that they fall for the scam.
How Can I Avoid a Sweetheart Scam?
But we are not saying to stop using dating websites. You just have to be careful about who you are talking to and what you are doing. Thankfully, there is a lot more help these days when you have been caught in a sweetheart scam. For example, Payback can help with lots of fraudulent investments, such as sweetheart scams and with forex trade scam recovery.
But there are ways you can avoid a sweetheart scam from happening to you. Firstly, watch who you are talking to. If their profile seems fake or too good to be true, get them to add you as a friend on social media to verify their identity. In particular, be very suspicious of something that seems very attached and loving toward you but you have never met in person. Try to meet them and know they are real. If they never want to meet up with you, this might be a sign that they are not who they say they are.
A lot of scammers will get to the point straight away. They will become impatient and want money almost immediately after starting a conversation. So, if someone starts to ask a lot of personal questions and does not want to get to know the real you, this could be a sign that this is a scam. Take your time to speak to someone you meet online. Follow your gut feeling and if something feels wrong then it probably is.
The best thing you can do is share very little personal details on your dating profile. When you are talking to someone, only tell them the basics. You can go into more detail when you meet them and verify that they are a real person.