Love is in the air, but Cupid has some competition this Valentine’s Day with scammers taking aim at your heart and pocketbook only to leave you feeling embarrassed, taken advantage of, and possibly thousands of dollars in debt.
You are sweet and charming, but how often has someone fallen in so deeply and madly in love with you before you have ever met? When your online connection is too connected, moving too fast, consider it a red flag.
On the contrary, it is also common for scammers to correspond with you for months at a time, building your trust and confidence.
Normally on dating sites, you exchange messages through their site, but when you are quickly asked to move your conversation someplace more private, like personal email or an outside messaging service, consider this a red flag. The fraudster wants to lure you away from the site just in case they are caught and can look for more victims later. Correspond through the dating site until you feel like you know your new interest well enough to take it to the next step of personal email.
Con artist Cupid can come up with multiple reasons why they can’t meet you in person. They say they’re in the military stationed overseas or just had to leave on a last minute business trip, visiting sick relative, car needs repair, etc. The excuses are endless and consider this a red flag.
One of the most important communications skills you should implement is listening. You may find it wonderful that your new online love interest wants to know everything about you, but that could just be a con artist looking for solid background information on their next victim. You should know as much about their friends, relatives and background as he or she knows about you. Be particularly cautious when the love interest tells you more about their economic woes than they do about their family, friends, or job.
“I Need Money”
By the time the con artist asks you for cash, money order, or other forms of non-traceable forms of transferring money, he or she has probably won your heart and trust. They don’t need money for a plane ticket to see you, have emergency medical bills or desperately need automobile repairs, they are just trying to rip you off.
Con artist Cupid might want you to be their “money mule” so they will send you a check that needs to be deposited in your bank account with instructions to forward back a portion of it. These checks are counterfeit, but you won’t know that for a couple of weeks, holding you responsible for all the fees and the money that was transferred out.
Many people believe they cannot fall victim to such a scam. That they are too smart or educated to be taken in by a con artists tricks. Unfortunately, people from all different social and economic backgrounds have succumb to this scrupulous, emotional scam.
Until next month… Stay Aware and Stay Safe.
