As romance scams continue to spread across the world, Cyber-Forensics.net, a leading fund recovery company, has issued alerts for vulnerable dating app users.
More and more consumers are falling prey to online romance scams. Latest reports by the Federal Trade Commission, people have reported losing a staggering amount of $1.3 billion in 2021, which accounts for nearly 80% higher compared to 2020.
Another leading agency, Cyber-Forensics.net, a cyber forensics service for online scams victims, notes “reported median loss in 2021 by consumers was $2400,” And the most significant reported losses to romance scams were paid in bitcoin: $139 million in 2021”.
How do Romance Scams take place?
Cyber-Forensics.net explains, “Romance scams involve cybercriminals creating fake identities online, particularly on dating apps, and establishing close relationships with victims. Their main objective is to siphon or steal money from their targets eventually. These fraudsters gain the trust of their victims gradually and lure them into investing in fraudulent schemes.”
How Unsuspecting Scammers Churn Out Thousands of Dollars from Vulnerable Social Media Users?
Scammers use sugar-coated language to lure their victims into investing in cryptocurrencies and similar trading applications. They persuade the victims to download and install malicious and fake crypto trading apps, only to collect personal data, get access to the users’ mobile phones and even manipulate bank account details. These financial frauds are often supported by malicious viruses that can take control of a user’s device.
This is what a 24-Year-old Tennessee woman experienced when she reported losing over $ 300,000 last year to a man she met through a dating app called Hinge. The scammer convinced her to invest her life savings into a fake crypto exchange site. The victims’ story caught worldwide attention when The New York Times reported the incident.
Chief analyst Timothy Benson, working at Cyber-Foresics.net explained that online dating scams are yet another avenue that scammers are exploring. Money-swindlers spend quite a bit of time developing a trustworthy relationships with their potential victims. So much so, that the victims start to consider the scammers as close friends and they do not see any issue in investing money into these schemes suggested by the scammers.
More so, these lovers-cum-scammers promise positive returns from those investments. Interestingly, victims initially earn positive returns, thus feeling safe to invest more. And that is when all the funds are siphoned off, making the user a victim of a Romance Scam.
How to Stay Alert & Recover Money after Romance Scams?
Cyber security experts are issuing alerts regarding the dangers associated with the ‘Romance Scam,’ which originated in Asia and is now spreading worldwide.
In addition, financial institutions are sharing stories of victims as a cautionary measure.
Account recovery specialist Peter Thompson recently investigated a report which contained some critical insights into international romance scams and international trading scams.
Further investigations led by the firm are now suggesting investors, traders, dating app users, 1) to stay alert of prevalent dating scams. They recommend 2) reading news and practicing a safe internet browsing approach.
Additionally, the experts suggest 3) online daters to utilize tools that can help identify the person behind the social networking site IDs. By using such approaches, consumers can avoid ending up compromising their personal information to pretentious lovers-cum-cyber thugs.
Cyber-Forensics.net, which is also the, has urged investors, crypto enthusiasts, and the public, in general, 4) to avoid clicking on any link that is not verified.
They also recommend people to 5) download applications only via verified app stores and refrain from any financial interaction that might have stemmed from social media platforms or online dating apps.
In fact, according to the FBI 2020 Internet Crime Report, as many as 35000 victims got scammed via social media.
Cyber firms encourage people 6) to run cyber forensic scans on their devices to reduce the risk of potential scams.
How to report a romance scammer?
When someone believes they have been scammed into sending their finances to someone online, the first and foremost protocol is to report the issue to local authorities. An explanation of how the online scam took place and how the perpetrators got to their potential targets can prove beneficial to investigators in retracing how the scam occurred. Also, it saves emotional distress for victims to relive the experience every time they are asked to explain what happened.
As the world faces a growing number of romance scams, the best thing to get money back is to talk to fund recovery services. Firms like Cyber-Forensics.net are equipped with tools and equipment to ease the fund recovery process.
About Cyber-Forensics.net
Cyber-Forensics.net is the world’s leading fund recovery company that offers fund tracing and recovery services to the victims of online scams including romance scams. It works around the clock to assist consumers and corporate clients across the world who are facing or at the risk of facing online financial scams. For more information, please visit http://cyber-forensics.net.