Romance scam

A romance scam is a form of fraud, that is done over the internet. It is done to make a victim send money. This trick is done by someone saying they have romantic intentions towards a victim. The steps are similar to those of other scams:

• They make a profile on dating platforms or social media. They do this to find victims.
• Then they ask several questions, where they try to show interest. They also talk about their feelings, and how they feel love towards the victim
• Suddenly, there are problems, which prevent them from seeing the one they love.
• Then they will ask the one they love to send money. This money is to help them, as they say.

A fake passport used in an Internet romance scam. The deception can be obvious to observers. For example, the photo on this passport does not follow regulations for size or pose. However, victims often overlook these signs.

In all cases, the scammer wants to get the money, and avoid meeting the victim. Sometimes, the scammers will also ask people to commit financial fraud on their behalf.

These scams are often done by organized criminal gangs, who work together to take money from multiple victims at a time.

More money is lost each year to romance scams than to similar internet scams, such as technical support scams.

Stolen images

Romance scammers create personal profiles using stolen photographs of attractive people for the purpose of asking others to contact them. This is often known as catfishing. Often photos of unknown actresses or models will be used to lure the victim into believing they are talking to that person. US military members are also impersonated, as pretending to serve in the military explains why the scammer is not available for an in-person meeting.

Because the scammers often look nothing like the photos they send to the victims, the scammers rarely meet the victims face to face or even in a video call. They deceive their intended victims by making plausible-sounding excuses about their unwillingness to show their faces, such as by saying that they cannot meet yet because they are temporarily traveling or have a broken web camera.

Criminal groups

Criminal networks defraud lonely people around the world with false promises of love and romance. Scammers post profiles on dating websites, non-dating social media accounts, classified sites and even online forums to search for new victims. The scammer usually attempts to obtain a more private method of communication, such as an email or phone number, to build trust with the victim.

Because the scammers are working in groups, someone in the group can be online and available to send e-mail or text messages to the victim at any hour. The rotation between different scammers, all claiming to be the same person, is difficult to detect in text-based messages, whereas it would be obvious if a different person showed up for a face-to-face meeting or in a video or telephone call.

Targeted people

Gender and age demographics of victims of online romance scams in 2011

Many victims are in their 40s to mid-60s, seeking a companion. Elderly people are often targeted, because they are more likely to have assets, such as retirement funds or homes, that can be stolen.

Sensitive people are more vulnerable to online dating scams, based on a study conducted by the British Psychological Society. According to their results, sensitive and less emotionally intelligent people are more likely to be vulnerable to online dating scams.

Pig butchering scam

In pig butchering scams, scammers will first contact and attempt to gain trust with victims- often with elaborate fake identities presenting as attractive and preying on a victim's desire for companionship. Scammers will then introduce a seemingly profitable cryptocurrency investment opportunity that they encourage victims to make increasing investments into. Finally, once a substantial amount is collected or when victims try to collect funds, the scammer will become unreachable to the victim, leaving them with no way to recover funds.

Many of the perpetrators are also victims lured from abroad under false pretenses and then forced to commit the fraud by organized crime gangs.

See also

• Pig butchering scam
• 419 scams
• Advance-fee scam
• Badger game
• Catfishing
• Scam baiting

Other websites

• Phishing at Curlie

• Catfished's channel on YouTube. Romance scam victims come to a team of investigators to determine whether their romantic partner is genuine, or a scammer. The investigators determine the real source of the pictures the scammer used, geographical location and other information, to help give the victim clarity.