Love-related fraud schemes is a multimillion-dollar industry costing over $40 million loss. Look at these tips by Cyber-Forensics.net to protect against lovers cum scammers.
Love scams have seen a disturbing trend in the past few years. With reports indicating a triple-fold increase in the victim's rate between 2016-2020, organizations are revealing losses amounting to $304 million across the United States alone.
Another report published by Pew Research Center mentions online love scams have seen a marked increase in recent years. The amount cheated has also grown from $12 million in 2015 to $33.1 million in 2020.
Cyber-Forensics.net, a cyber forensics service for online scam victims, says, “criminals create a strange online identity and use it to lure someone into a relationship and steal hearts and money.”
“I lost everything”- A 50-year-old badly scammed finance professional Anna reported. She joined the online dating app Zoosk after surviving a four-year abusive marriage. She met a Bulgarian food importer online, Andrew living in London, and was instantly smitten.
About five weeks into the online relationship, Andrew asked Anna to lend him money due to a work crisis he faced. Reluctant to help her online lover, Anna transferred a massive sum to him only to realize Andrew was a character invented by a criminal gang to extort her.
Fund recovery specialist Peter Thompson notes Anna’s case is just the tip of the iceberg. The stigma around love scams is more than people report. He says “online dating makes frauds easier,” but a few tips can help targets avoid becoming victims to love scams and speed up the fund recovery process if they have been scammed.
Tips to Avoid Becoming Love Scam Victims
◉ Know When the Love Interest is Too Good To Be True: The picture of a scammer shows an attractive individual who is financially successful, overshares an elaborate detail about their life, and is willing to enter into a relationship immediately.
When anyone comes across such a user profile, take a step back. A reverse image search of the particular profile maker can help a lot.
If the image pulls multiple profiles associated with the pictures, the possibility is that it's a scammer or someone else's picture has been stolen.
◉ Scammers are in a Hurry To Get Off The Site: The gold-diggers quickly move from communicating online to dating via email or over the phone, saying they want to take the relationship to another level. However, fund recovery service expert Peter Thompson says “In reality, love scammers want to take their fraud to another level”.
◉ Scammers Express Inability to Meet in Person: While Covid-19 may have added advantage for scammers to state the situation as an excuse for why they can't meet in person. They often say they are located overseas or cannot meet because of their military status and stress the need to continue talking through online mode.
◉ Scammers Confess their Love Too Quickly: The relationship goes from starting as friends to confessing they want a serious relationship in weeks. The con artists might refer to a future together and confess their love quickly. They know how to make the victim feel special.
◉ Online Scammers Constantly Talk About Trust: In addition to confessing their love too quickly, scammers introduce the word "trust" into their relationship and emphasize it constantly. They talk about how vital it is to know they can trust their love interest. This sets the scene to ask for financial help later on.
◉ Scammers Use a Hard-luck Story to Emotionally Trap Their Victims: A love scammer might share a tale of being down on their luck from the past few years or say they are stuck in a foreign country. They have a sick relative or a family member who needs immediate financial help. These stories are a hint at upcoming financial frauds.
What To Do If Scammed Into Love Scams?
When someone or a loved one has lost money due to such types of online scams, they should call the local police department, federal-state enforcement, fraud recovery specialists, and their consumer protection hotline. And ensure to do the following:
- Check Bank Details: After falling victim to a love scam, monitor bank account activities carefully. This will allow the victims to identify any fraudulent accounts opened in their names. Another thing is to add a fraud alert to the credit report. This will help prevent scammers from using a customer’s identity to create a similar credit account.
- Note the Details of the Scam: Losing money to a love scam can be stressful. But to stop reliving the same experience, document the details of the fraud before losing track of information. Also, make sure to keep a trail of emails, messages, or any other digital assets linked to a bank account.
- Contact Relevant Government Agencies: Once all the details have been documented, find the relevant authorities and report the matter to them. In the U.S.,victims can report the case to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- Hire Fund Recovery Services: Additionally, if someone has been financially exploited and looking to get their money back, they should report the matter to a fund recovery specialist. But refrain from paying up-front fees to people who claim they are funds recovery experts unless proven. Make sure to review their performance and consider paying an amount after stolen money has been retrieved.
Cyber-Forensics.net is a credible name in the field. A lot of online reviews and testimonials offer a good base.
About Cyber-Forensics.net
Cyber-Forensics.net is committed to providing the most accurate tracing service for victims of online scams. Cyber-Forensics.net empowers and simplifies the process of tracking down the cyber-criminals and assists in recovering the funds and creating an atmosphere for a negotiated settlement. Cyber-Forensics.net commonly deals with Bitcoin scams and Forex withdrawal problems. For more information, please visit http://cyber-forensics.net/.