CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Looking for love isn't easy.
Finding the real deal is even more difficult these days because of all of the scams. Experts say Valentine’s Day makes it that much worse because criminals know the holiday makes the lonely even lonelier and more vulnerable to scams.
If you’re dating online, don’t fall victim. According to the Better Business Bureau, these are the red flags you need to know about:
- The online relationship moves fast.
Scam artists will try to build a connection with you quickly. You just “met” and they’re already professing their love and making plans for the future. - They want to move the conversation offline.
Scam artists want to get you off of the dating platform to instead get you to share your phone number. Communicating with them via text or phone call removes the safeguards of the dating platform. - You never actually meet in person.
Scam artists will make every excuse as to why they can’t meet you in person. Some claim to be members of the military living overseas or working internationally. This is all meant to make meeting face to face more difficult. - They ask for money.
This is the end goal for the scam artist. Everything a scammer does before sending a money request is to build trust and a connection. This ensures when hen they ask for money, you’ll feel compelled to send it because you believe they’re actually interested in being in a relationship.
Chris Pierson, the CEO of BLACKCLOAK, a cybersecurity company that protects high-profile figures from cyber-stalking, blackmail, hacking, spying, data theft and more, said criminals running these romance scams via dating apps and websites won't ask their unsuspecting victim for a large sum of money upfront.
“You give them your $50, your $100. Then the next request is $300. Next is $500. All of a sudden, it's $1,000," he said. "They're running that scam with 100, or 200 people a week. It really does add up quite nicely for them."
If a victim does fall for the scam, Pierson said there isn’t much that can be done to recoup the costs.
“It's not a credit card that you're supplying to them. It's going to be an actual ACH or wire -- or what we see a lot is the financial apps," he said. "Once you get that dollar amount, and you multiply it times the number of victims that they're talking to, or potential victims, it turns out to be quite a lot of money that they're making."
So what can you do to protect yourself from these types of predators?
- Stick to mainstream dating apps and websites.
These platforms have some safeguards in place to weed out criminals. Pierson warned the mainstream platforms are better but not foolproof. You still need to be vigilant. - Protect your privacy.
Never give out personal information like your address or phone number. - Be skeptical.
Don’t trust automatically. Question everything. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Contact Carolyn Bruck at cbruck@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.