Date or be deceived? How romance scams target hopeless romantics

LOS ANGELES – Many hopeless romantics may be in a hurry to find a valentine as Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but they may not be aware that romantic scammers are out to prey on lonely widows and singles.

According to Social Catfish, a California-based online investigative service, a record $547 million was lost in the United States last year.

The FBI defines a romantic scam as a type of fraudulent activity where the perpetrator, usually using an online dating platform, gains the victim’s trust through affection and romantic charm in order to steal money or personal information from them.

“The intention of the scammer is to build relationships as quickly as possible, win over the victim and gain trust. Scammers may propose marriage and schedule a face-to-face meeting, but this will never happen. Eventually, they will ask for money, “read part of the FBI website.

According to Social Catfish, these are the best tips to avoid romantic scammers:

Here are the top 5 states where romance scams happen the most:

In response to the prevalence of such tricks, Match Group Inc., the parent company of the popular dating apps Tinder, Hinge and Match, has launched a new campaign to warn and educate daters about online scams.

On Jan. 10, the company said that users of Tinder, Hinge, Match, Plenty of Fish, Meetic and OurTime in more than 15 countries will begin receiving messages with tips and common steps to look out for to help spot potential online scams. .

The councils were created with the assistance of law enforcement and financial exploitation experts. These will be shown via in-app messages on Tinder and Meetic, while notifications will be sent to Match, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and OurTime users.