“A common tactic is they are the first to message a man or 'like' them. “ operate by preying on men who are seeking love and not readily finding it,” says Michael Lai, CEO and co-founder of, which allows you to rate different websites. While this can happen to people of any age, gender, race or sexual preference, there are certain hallmarks of scams targeting men. “However, once the money is wired, they just continue to ask for more - or disappear altogether.” “An online scammer will ‘ fall in love’ quickly and start asking for money to be wired for airline tickets to meet in person (which never actually happens), a family emergency, and more,” he adds. “You might end up connecting with someone who has a fake profile and is more interested in scamming you rather than having a relationship with you.” “Although it’s commonplace to meet people online, there are always risks associated with dating people you don’t know,” says Justin Lavelle, chief communications officer for background check site. Scammers make use of the massive popularity of online dating to defraud people of their money by posing as potential dating or relationship prospects.Īt the heart of an online dating scam is the notion that today, people are ready and willing to form emotional connections with people they haven’t met, often with only photos and direct messages, emails and texts to go off of. Here’s what you need to know about online dating scams: 1. RELATED: The Safest and Most Dangerous U.S. So what can you, a prospective online dater, do in this situation that doesn’t involve tossing your digital devices in the trash? As it turns out, there are a few rules of thumb to abide by that will significantly cut down on the likeliness that you’ll be swindled at all, let alone lose any money. Basically, scammers have hit the gold mine.Īccording to the FTC, Americans lost $143 million to online dating scams in 2018, making digital dating scams the leading source of fraud in contemporary American life from a raw dollar-amount perspective. It shouldn’t be a surprise that love is an area where scamming thrives, and with the rise of online dating, people are more inclined to fall for a digital avatar before they meet the person behind it. Scams work by taking advantage of people’s pre-existing weaknesses - their fears, their prejudices and their deepest insecurities.

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