

One example includes the scammer sending money to the victim, who then sends them an Amazon card or another kind of gift card. Rather than trying to get money from the victim, these scammers make you an accomplice in money laundering. Be wary if your match is never willing to video chat or always makes excuses about their camera being broken.Īnother online dating scam doesn't request money from victims, but turns them into "money mules". However, a catfish will not appear in a video chat since they use fake profile images. However, many can fake their accents or put on a specific voice.


Scammers might avoid phone calls or voice and video chats. Sometimes, they'll say that border officials detained them and that they need money for their release. They may claim to need money to buy a ticket to travel to meet you. The inability to meet you may even be the supposed reason they first try to solicit money from a victim. In fact, many scammers use photos of military personnel and soldiers on their profiles. This is also the reason why so many scammers claim to work in another country or be on military deployment-it provides them with an excuse for not being able to meet up. Since the scammer is not the person they claim to be, they don't want to meet in person. Moving the relationship very quickly was also one of the red flags of the Tinder Swindler.Ī common line among online dating scammers is that they want to meet you, but when the time comes, there is always some unexpected issue. You should look out for any matches that are overly flattering and overly devoted early on in your communication when you haven't even met. It's also why people who are vulnerable and isolated are such desirable targets-since they're yearning for a connection. This is all part of the emotional manipulation involved in online dating site scams. Within a short period, they may say they love you and that they feel a very deep connection to you. Online dating scammers tend to move very quickly in terms of professing an emotional connection. A feature like disappearing messages on WhatsApp can be used to make sure there's no permanent copy of your conversations.īe wary of anyone you haven't met that wants to move the conversation to another platform. However, they may also choose to message you via SMS or an app like WhatsApp. Often, scammers will want to communicate via messages on social media apps like Facebook or Instagram.
