When someone believes they have connected or found a match using an online dating site or app, but the person they are interacting with is actually an impostor using a fake profile, this is known as an online dating scam, romance scam, or romance fraud.
The scammer gradually builds confidence by manipulating or gaining confidence of the victim in order to either request money from them or gather enough personal data about them to steal their identity.Anyone can become a victim of a romance scam, but older people are more likely to lose money. Due to their increased likelihood of possessing assets like homes or retirement savings that they can steal, scammers prey on the elderly.
Like other internet scams, romance scams typically follow a similar pattern. Here’s how they usually operate: A cybercriminal creates fake profile on a dating app or website. The cybercriminal then makes contact with a possible victim,they know how to keep a conversation going, and begins building a rapport. During this stage, romance scammers concentrate on winning their victims’ trust by claiming to love them. Typically, scammers request that the conversation be moved from a dating app to WhatsApp.
The scammer may frequently say that they are abroad or too far away to meet in person.Once the scammer has earned the victim’s trust, they will either fabricate a story to justify their request for cash or gift cards, ask for personal information that might be used for identity theft, or blackmail the victim using their private photos. The scammer disappears and delete their profile after the scam is completed and they have extracted as much money as they can from the victim.
