Avoiding Romance Scams: What to Look Out For

Understanding Romance Scams

These scams occur when bad actors connect with their victim via social media and gain the trust of their victim after communicating for an extended period of time. Typically, after gaining the trust of their victim, the bad actor will indicate that an emergency has occurred and request gift cards or a transfer of funds to execute their scam. 

Common indicators:

• Requests to communicate with you via text or personal email, offline from the original site or app.
• Consistent excuses for not being able to meet in person or not being able to provide additional photos of themselves.
• Admission of strong feelings or love after a short amount of time.

Tips to stay safe:

• Don’t send money to anyone you haven’t met in person.
• Ask questions and look for inconsistencies in responses received.
• Try a reverse-image search of profile pictures.
• Talk to close friend or family member about your new companion to see if they have any concerns.

If you believe you’re the victim of this scam, do the following:

• Immediately cease your communication with the bad actor.
• Report the bad actors profile to the dating or social media app where the initial contact was made.
• If financial information was provided, contact the associated companies to request new accounts be opened.
• If personal information was provided, consider contacting the credit bureaus to freeze your credit.