FBI: Beware of Internet Scams

In the run-up to Valentine’s Day, the FBI warns of online romance-related scams.

The agency says hundreds of victims have been scammed out of millions of dollars in the Bay Area, and the scam often starts with what appears to be a harmless online love affair.

“These people are professionals,” said San Francisco FBI Special Agent Robert Tripp. “They are very good at what they do. They practice and they have scripts that they use on their victims.”

Agents say the scammers are connecting with someone on social media. After gaining their trust over the course of weeks and months, they ask them to send money for investment. Then they disappear.

Attackers sometimes request cryptocurrency because it is almost impossible to track it, or ask to transfer money abroad.

“We have relationships through our legal attachés with overseas law enforcement so we can recover records that help us run our cases, and in some cases we can actually recover funds,” Tripp said.

The FBI has good news in the San Francisco area: Fewer people are being targeted than before.

In 2021, there were 720 casualties in the Bay Area. Last year there were 490 of them.

Two years ago, victims lost $64 million. In 2022, the amount lost was $46 million.

“Of course, this is a very significant decrease, but nevertheless, this is a very large number,” Tripp said.

Agents aren’t sure why the number is dropping. Perhaps people coming out of self-isolation are looking for love in safer places or have fallen for a scam.

The Bay Area in Santa Clara had the most casualties at 132, but Alameda County victims lost the most money: $9.6 million. The most targeted group were people over 60 years of age.

“Especially older women,” Tripp said. “The ratio of female victims to male victims is about two to one. However, I want to state that we see victims in every age group and in every demographic group.”

If you believe you are being scammed, contact your bank to let them know that you may have been the victim of a scam and file a complaint through the Internet Crime Complaint Center and the FBI website.