Could your Valentine be a scammer?
- Kim Thompson: Better Business Bureau
- January 30, 2018
- 1387
Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and love is in the air. But if your new "friend" is someone you met online, he or she could be a scammer, especially if you still haven’t met in person. Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be wary year round, but especially around Valentine’s Day when it may be tempting to let your guard down with an exciting stranger.
A relationship scam typically begins with a fake profile on an online dating site or social media that was created by stealing photos and text from real accounts or elsewhere. A recent Scam Tracker report stated their romance scam began in the game, Words with Friends.
You meet online, and things just click immediately, so the “relationship” progresses quickly. You email, talk on the phone and trade pictures. Scammers often claim to be in the military or working overseas to explain why they can’t meet you in person.
As the relationship gets stronger, the requests start to change. Your new love asks you to wire them money. It’s not much at first, but then the requests keep coming: their daughter needs emergency surgery, or they need airfare to come for a visit. The payback promises are empty. The money’s gone, and soon, so are they.
Awareness and education are the best line of defense against fraud, and consumers can protect themselves by applying common sense and not letting emotion get in the way. Anyone can fall victim. Fraudsters even coach potential victims to ignore warnings such as this.
Tips to avoid losing money in an online dating scam
Never send money to someone you haven’t met in person, never provide banking information to people or businesses you don’t know, never send money for an emergency situation without confirming that it’s a real emergency, and never send funds from a check in your account until it officially clears, which can take a week or more.
Stop and think. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Know the person you are sending money to. Only send money to people you have met in person. Be suspicious of someone who asks you to send money for an emergency by wire, prepaid money card or gift card.
To learn how to protect yourself, go to “10 Steps to Avoid Scams” at www.bbb.org/avoidscams.
Visit www.bbb.org/canton or call 330-454-9401 to look up a business, file a complaint, write a customer review, report a scam with Scam Tracker, read tips, follow us on social media and more.