The growing popularity File a scam complaint of online dating coupled by the anonymity has led to an increase in Internet dating scams. It is terrible enough to rip an already lonely heart – but to rip the heart as well as owner’s bank account? Talk of extreme brutality, and yes, heartlessness.
Internet dating scams come in various forms and the perpetrators are always creating new ones. An obvious one is the scam dating site. This is simply a fly-by-night operation, out to sell as many memberships as possible and then disappear without offering service.
Such a scam site will almost certainly cost far less than a typical dating site, while promising to deliver similar offer better service. Well, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.
A variation of scam dating sites is the pornographic site disguised as a dating site or, more often, an adult dating site. Usually, such a site will use images of attractive “members” to lure you in.
Some knowledgeable prostitutes have discovered that it is more profitable – and much safer – to post a profile on an adult dating site than to work the streets. Better still for the prostitute, she (and in some cases he) has a global market.
But Internet dating scams begin to get more complex when they go international. The most common one is Russian mail-order bride scam. This one targets people from first world countries (the USA being prime target).
Most Russian Internet dating scams start with the man being contacted by an attractive young woman. Often, but not always, the man is much older than the woman. The scammer is counting on such a man being gullible due to being flattered by the thought of a young attractive woman showing interest in him.
After a few emails, the woman claims to be in love with the man, and wants to join him in his country. She requests money for a passport, visa, air ticket and traveling expenses (at the same time or in stages). She suggests wire money transfer or other irreversible means of sending out money.
Once the man sends the money, two things may happen. The woman might simply disappear. Or there might be a family “tragedy” for which she needs extra cash from the hapless man. She might also claim to be held an airport happen for various reasons. The objective is to milk as much money as possible out of the poor guy.
This type of scam is typically carried out by Russian men or syndicates who hire women (for very minimal fees) to use there profiles and pick the money up for them.
Unfortunately, this scam is also helped by attitudes and stereotypes. The perception of Russian women as desperate to leave their country is one example. So is the assumption that everybody wants to immigrate to the west, especially the USA.
There is also the Nigerian (and lately Ghanaian) scam. Nigerian scams are a little harder to detect in that most con-artists are usually well-learned people who usually do their homework; and they can be unusually patient.
You get contacted by a “US citizen” working in foreign country. Once the contact is and some level of trust established, the scam artist asks you to cash money orders for him/her. The money orders are fraudulent and you are left to pay your bank of the amounts paid. Sometimes the scammer is not after money. They are after shipping help, for goods bought with stolen credit cards.