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The FBI is warning people that romance scams are on the rise and the cyber criminals often get more active around Valentines Day.
In 2020, during the coronavirus lock downs, romance scams took a reported $281 million from victims who met someone on a dating website or app or on social media. That amount is expected to reach $800 million in 2022.
Romance scams are on the rise because they work. According to the AARP, romance scams are the 2nd most successful online scams. Call it looking for love in all the wrong places.
Here are a couple of romance scams that seem to separate the love-lorn from their money most often:
The victim meets someone online in a dating app or website or on social media. The criminal might pose as a Facebook friend of a friend. Since the victim sees they’re friends with many of their friends, they might believe the criminal is who they say they are.
They strike up a conversation on any messaging app and take a quick interest in making a love connection. They can pose as someone with a lot of money and promise to meet in person at some time in the future.
But, they ask for money in gift cards, asking the victim to purchase a gift card and give them the number. Gift cards cannot be traced. Once the money is received, the potential love interest disappears.
Another scam that seems to target…
