Be careful with virtual relationships, because every day there are more cases of Internet fraud with love as bait. eye!
The Internet is very good, it has changed our lives, but it has ruined some people. And it is that due to the anonymity that is maintained on the network, it is very easy to tell lies and even steal, even in the romantic sphere.
We interviewed Juan Carlos Reyes Muñoz, director of Antifraude®, a computer fraud prevention and investigation firm, and asked him about the romance scam, what it is and how to avoid it. Read her answers very carefully, they can save you from being a victim of fraud!
What types of online romance scams are the most common?
“You have to start from the fact that online romance scams are based on the exploitation of feelings: either by fraudulent websites -those that ask you to pay for a registration using your credit card, offering you guaranteed contacts with false profiles of women or casual sex- or other websites that allow you free access but in order to access the information of the people you are interested in you must become a member by paying some money. The fraud in this case is on the side of the owners of websites posting fake profiles with fake photos and fake information and they even hire people who respond to user requests.”
“Many real and serious websites work by requesting a membership, for this reason it is difficult to determine which could be real and which could be a scam, although it is possible to identify things such as the quality of the site, of the photographs, the spelling and other signs that could indicate that they are fake websites. There is also the name of the site, which is recognized and reliable will give more confidence to buy online.”
“The bulk of the fraud for this type of romantic scam is on the side of the people who respond to user requests. In any case (both on fake sites and real sites) there is the possibility that the person who responds to romantic messages is hired to do so and responds from various profiles, or simply seeks some kind of profit with his new «partner». They are generally people who will somehow seek ask you for money by appealing to your feelings in the face of some critical situation, health, abuse, etc. Once you send them money, they disappear. The risk is that if personal data has been exchanged, this could even end in kidnapping and extortion (real cases have been seen).”
How to identify if I am being a victim of a romantic scam on the internet?
“It’s really simple: if when you come into contact with someone, that person starts showing you feelings in a hurry, be suspicious. If they say they want to meet you shortly after making contact, be wary. If they promptly tell you that they are in a stressful situation, be suspicious. If they openly ask you for money, be suspicious!”
“They will always try to gain your trust, they will promise trips to meet you and they may even ask for money to go meet you. If you don’t send money at first, the messages will become more and more desperate and urgent. Special attention should be paid to the wording of the messagesthey can be written in quite poor language or take data from the internet (news or events).”
«Additionally, try not to include the new person in your social networks: photos and personal information are used to establish your standard of living.»
Why, if so much preventive dissemination is done, do people continue to fall?
“Initially, because the diffusion is not as much as one would expect. Every day there are new sites offering everything from casual sex to the love of your life, and as I mentioned before, when it comes to primal feelings versus loneliness, sometimes you don’t even think about the risks So everyone tells you. Desperation plays an important role, because if you are a person without affection to whom another person responds emotionally, you can create emotional mirages that will lead you to artificial and dangerous situations.
If it is happening to me, what should I do?
“Cut all ties. As a general rule, personal data should not be given to someone you do not know, it should be ALWAYS assume it may be a scam at the beginning, especially not to provide address information, vehicle, or financial or credit card data. If you haven’t, just cutting the link would work. But if you already did, you’re in the middle of a pseudo-relationship and you’ve already sent some money, cutting that link may not be as easy and is the point where extortion risk could exist. Thus, it is best to take precautions, change email addresses and contact information that have been compromised.”
Can you tell us about a case?
“We heard of a case of a woman who entered an online dating network and was attracted by a gentleman who quickly gained her trust. He started asking her to see each other on camera and suddenly asked her to show her breasts and even get naked. All her videos were recorded by the man who after this began to blackmail her saying he would post photos and videos of her if she didn’t agree to connect with him at certain times and to perform certain acts online. This case ended up in the hands of the corresponding authorities.”
“The other case, even more typical, was that of a man who, after several chats with a woman through an American online dating site, she asked him for money to visit him, a total of USD $2,000. He sent her the money through a money order service and never heard from the lady again. Later it was identified that the photographs of his profile had been taken from the internet and there were multiple records of men around the worldor that they had been deceived in the same way. Then it was concluded that it was a website controlled by the Central European mafia and that the people who responded to the messages there were not women…”
Has something like this happened to you? Have you been or do you think you are the victim of a love scam? Tell us your case and Share this with your friends, It will surely help you to be forewarned!