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and more Americans are turning to dating websites and mobile apps in hopes of
finding love and companionship. A Pew Research Center study revealed that
nearly 60 percent of U.S. adults consider online dating a good way to meet
people, and Match.com, one of the most popular dating sites, says people 50 and
older represent its fastest-growing share of users. But seeking romantic bliss
online can have a major downside: Cyberspace is full of scammers eager to take
advantage of lonely hearts.
The con
works something like this: You post a dating profile and up pops a promising
match — good-looking, smart, funny and personable. This potential mate claims
to live in another part of the country or to be abroad for business or a
military deployment. But he or she seems smitten and eager to get to know you
better, and suggests you move your relationship to a private channel like email
or a chat app.
Have you seen this scam?
·
Call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline: 877-908-3360
·
Report it on AARP’s Scam-Tracking Map
·
Sign up for Watchdog Alerts for more tips on avoiding
scams.
Over
weeks or months you feel yourself growing closer. You make plans to meet in
person, but for your new love something always comes up. Then you get an urgent
request. There’s an emergency (a medical problem, perhaps, or a business
crisis), and your online companion needs you to wire money quickly. He or she
will promise to pay it back, but that will never happen. Instead, the scammer
will keep asking for more until you finally realize you’ve been had.
Phony
suitors also seek out targets on social media, and they are increasingly
active. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 25,000 reports
about romance scams in 2019, a nearly threefold increase since 2015. Victims'
losses totaled $201 million, almost 40 percent more than in 2018 and the most
for any type of consumer fraud.
The
older the victim, the heavier the financial toll, according to the FTC — the
median individual loss for people aged 70 and over was $10,000, compared
to $2,600 for all victims.
Warning Signs
·
Your new romantic interest sends you a picture that looks more
like a model from a fashion magazine than an ordinary snapshot.
·
The person quickly wants to leave the dating website and
communicate with you through email or instant messaging.
·
He or she lavishes you with attention. Swindlers often inundate
prospective marks with texts, emails and phone calls to draw them in.
·
He or she repeatedly promises to meet you in person but always
seems to come up with an excuse to cancel.
Do's
·
Do take it slowly. Ask your potential partner a lot of
questions, and watch for inconsistencies that might reveal an impostor.
·
Do check the photo, using Google’s “search by image” feature. If
the same picture shows up elsewhere with a different name attached to it,
that’s a sign a scammer may have stolen it.
·
Do be wary of flirtatious and overly complimentary emails. Paste
the text into a search engine and see whether the same words show up on websites
devoted to exposing romance scams.
·
Do cut off contact immediately if you begin to suspect that the
individual may be a swindler.
·
Do notify the dating site or the maker of the dating app on
which you met the scammer.
·
Don'
·
Don’t feel a false sense of safety because you’re the one who
made first contact. Scammers flood dating websites with fake profiles
and wait for victims to come to them.
·
Don’t reveal too much personal information in a dating profile
or to someone you’ve chatted with only online. Scammers can exploit details
like your last name or where you work to manipulate you or to commit identity theft.
·
Don’t ever give an online acquaintance intimate photos that
could later be used for extortion.
·
Don't send cash to someone you've chatted with only online or
put money on a reloadable gift card for the person — you’ll never get it back.
AARP
Fraud Watch Network
AARP’s Fraud Watch Network can help you
spot and avoid scams. Sign up for free “watchdog alerts," review our scam-tracking map, or call our
toll-free fraud helpline if you or a loved one
suspect you’ve been a victim.
More Resources
·
Report a suspected online romance scam to the FBI's Internet
Crime Complaint Center and the FTC.
·
The U.S. Army has a detailed fact sheet on spotting romance scammers
posing as American soldiers posted abroad.
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