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Don't Lose Your Heart & Your $$$ to Scammers
They
met online. He said he was a friend of a friend. The woman, in her
50s and struggling in her marriage, was happy to find someone to chat
with. “He was saying all the right things,” she remembered. “He
was interested in me. He was interested in getting to know me better.
He was very positive, and I felt like there was a real connection
there.”
That
connection would end up costing the woman $2 million and an untold
amount of heartache after the man she fell in love with, whom she
never met in person, took her for every cent she had.
It’s
called a ROMANCE SCAM, and this devastating Internet crime is on the
rise. Victims, predominantly older widowed or divorced women targeted
by criminal groups usually from Nigeria are, for the most part,
computer literate and educated. But they are also emotionally
vulnerable. And con artists know exactly how to exploit that
vulnerability because potential victims freely post details about
their lives and personalities on dating and social media sites.
Trolling
for victims online makes this type of crime easier than ever before.
The criminals work as a group and act as a person, pretending to be
anybody you want them to be. They can be anywhere in the world and
victimize people. The criminals will reach out to a lot of people on
various networking sites to find somebody who may be a good target.
Then they use what the victims have on their profile pages and try to
work those relationships and see which ones develop.
The
criminals who carry out romance scams are experts at what they do.
They spend hours honing their skills and sometimes keep journals on
their victims to better understand how to manipulate and exploit
them.
Remember,
for them, a romance scam is a criminal enterprise. They will always
return to a victim because in their world, once a victim becomes a
victim, they stay a victim, because they send money. Victims will
often be placed on what’s called a “sucker list.” Their names
and identities are shared with other criminals, and they may be
targeted in the future, even with the same scam.
DON’T
BECOME A VICTIM
To
stay safe online, be careful what you post because scammers can use
that information against you. Always use reputable websites, but
assume that con artists are trolling even the most reputable dating
and social media sites. If you develop a romantic relationship with
someone you meet online, consider the following:
• Research
the person’s photo and profile using online searches to see if the
material has been used elsewhere.
• Go
slow and ask lots of questions.
• Beware
if the individual seems too perfect or quickly asks you to leave a
dating service or Facebook to go “offline.”
• Beware
if the individual attempts to isolate you from friends and family or
requests inappropriate photos or financial information that could
later be used to extort you.
• Beware
if the individual promises to meet in person but then always comes up
with an excuse why he or she can’t. If you haven’t met the person
after a few months, for whatever reason, you have good reason to be
suspicious.
• Never
send money to anyone you don’t know personally. If you don’t know
them, don’t send money. You will see what their true intentions are
after that.
If
you fall prey to a Romance Scam, please report it with the FBI at:
https://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx/
Press Release Provided
By the Riverside Police Department
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