As many would agree, affairs of the heart can be, well, heartbreaking. But what happens when the cost of romance is surpassed by the damage it does to your bank account? A recent report by the FBI takes a look at romance fraud and the devastating financial cost it has beyond a broken heart. Its 2019 Internet Crime Report (IC3) finds romance fraud, also known as “confidence fraud,” has been breaking hearts and bank accounts the world over. Nearly 20,000 complaints were submitted to the Agency in 2019, with a total price tag of $475 million in fraudulent damages. The FBI believes the number of filed complaints is likely underreported due to the nature of the crime being too sensitive for many victims to consider making an FBI complaint.
How Much?
Regardless if the fraud is reported or not, the financial damage still happens. In a fraud alert released in August of this year, the FBI warned the number of confidence scams continues to grow. Over 1,000 more incidents were reported last year compared to 2018. Financial damages from this fraud reached almost half a billion dollars last year, up sharply from $211 million in 2017 and $362 million in 2018. Now that’s an expensive date. The FBI finds only business email compromise (BEC) attacks outweigh the cost of romance scams, based on 23,775 reported cases, to the tune of $1.8 billion.
How They Work
Before deciding to take the plunge, it’s important to know how confidence fraud happens in the romance arena. Online gigolo’s (male and female), in particular, are ready and waiting to make a score – with your money, that is. There’s no need to go further than your official app store to download romance apps, including those for quick hookups like Tinder, and for more romantic relationships with Twyxt and Bumble. The strategy these swindler’s use is simple: Say or do anything to gain your trust and eventually, your money. Identity fraud is also an unfortunate companion to many romance scams.
How to Protect Yourself
Keeping your funds safe while your heart is out on a limb is the best strategy going forward. If someone seems too good to be true, common sense tells us danger could be around the corner. If a prospect is reluctant to meet in person or on the phone, your scam-sensor should be flashing red because you’ve just caught a fraudster in action. Asking you to switch to an email or messenger, away from the trusted site you’re (hopefully) on, is a common fraud tactic.
The criminals who carry out romance scams are experts at what they do. If you develop a romantic relationship with someone you meet online, consider the following:
- Research the person’s photo and profile using online searches to see if the material has been used elsewhere.
- Go slow and ask questions.
- Beware if the individual seems too perfect or quickly asks you to leave a dating service or social media site to go “offline.”
- Beware if the individual attempts to isolate you from friends and family or requests.
- Beware if the individual promises to meet in person, but then always comes up with an excuse why he or she can’t. If you haven’t met the person after a few months, for whatever reason, you have good reason to be suspicious.
- Never send money to anyone you don’t know personally.
If you believe you are a victim of a romance scam, stop all contact immediately and file a complaint online at ic3.gov.
Fraud Isn’t Limited to Romance
Friendships sites and community forums are risks too. Just because you’re looking for gal pals rather than romance, doesn’t mean you’re safe from scams. The same rules hold true for these and community forums.
Always do your homework on a potential interest, checking if their photos and/or profile have been reused on other sites. And never, ever agree to send money to someone you’ve never met in person.