In today’s fast-paced world, it is understandable how people are too busy to meet someone organically. Online dating is a great tool for getting to know a person better and finding a suitable partner. Unfortunately, online dating is also particularly notorious for causing romance scams and tricking victims out of money and sensitive information.
What is an Online Dating Scam?
An online dating scam takes place when someone uses a fake identity online to gain the trust and disposition of another person under romantic pretenses. Typically, the scammer will be trying to manipulate people into sending them money or financial information, such as their bank account number.
To avoid online dating scams, it is important to avoid sending any personal information or money to the person you are talking to until you have confirmed their identity. Even at that point, you should be wary if they are asking for things such as money very early on in the relationship.
Realizing You Were the Victim of a Scam
If you have sent your virtual partner money, gift cards, Bitcoins, jewelry, or other assets, and you haven’t heard back from them in a while, you may have been the victim of a scam. It can be difficult to believe that someone you have gotten close to would do such a thing, but romance scams can catch the best of us off guard.
Keep All Evidence
Even if you are very upset, you should avoid deleting anything that you would consider to be evidence of the scam. This includes emails, texts, phone logs, messages on the dating app, photos, transaction histories, etc. Moreover, you should take a photo of the person’s profile as well. Even if it is fake, it may provide some clues. Hopefully, the authorities can use the evidence to get your money back, or at least to catch the scammer.
Report the Scam
Next, you should report the scam to your state consumer protection office. They will work towards putting a stop to the scam artist’s criminal activity so that they never harm anyone else again. If you lost money or possessions to an online dating scam, you should report this to your local police department. They will focus more on retrieving what you lost, if it is possible to do so.
Call Your Bank and Credit Card Company
If you act quickly enough, you may be able to cancel your financial transactions before they reach the scammer. Most wire transfers can only get canceled for up to 30 minutes after you authorize them. However, if you purchased items using your credit card, you may be able to call them and explain the situation. Scams are common enough that most credit companies will be flexible and cancel the transactions right away. Depending on whether the scammer has access to your bank or credit accounts, you may need to cancel your cards and order new ones.
Contact the Dating App
Dating apps try to implement safeguards to prevent romance scams from occurring, but unfortunately, these are not foolproof. In addition, navigating conversation away from the site means that you will lose the protection of these safeguards. When you are certain that you were talking to a scam artist, you should contact the dating service and let them know. They will ban the account and be on the lookout to prevent such scams from happening again.
Conclusion
If you were the victim of a scam, do not blame yourself. Criminals are well-established in telling people exactly what they want to hear. They have likely scammed many other people and become experts at it. Do not dwell on the relationship that never existed, as they do not deserve any more of your time or thoughts. Instead, focus on picking yourself up and moving on stronger and wiser than you were before.
