Scammers break hearts, leaving lonely online daters penniless

More people are using dating apps to combat loneliness but not all users are going on dating apps to find love.

As we’ve become more dependent on technology, it’s natural that we would start incorporating tech into our love lives.

Finding a match has never been easier with the plethora of different dating apps now available at the click of a button.

A survey conducted by Norton, the brand behind digital security software like antivirus, found that nearly half of the people from 12 different countries have used a dating app or online dating service.

Along with an increase in dating app usage, the digital security brand identified an increase in dating scams.

One in four online daters reported being the target of an online dating scam, with scams like catfishing and romance scams being the most common.

Romance scams involve a bad actor forging a romantic relationship with a victim to extort them. One recent case involved a French woman who sent $850,000 to a scammer who she believed was Brad Pitt.

Catfishing happens when a bad actor tricks their victim into believing they’re someone else by creating a fake online profile. One recent case of catfishing involved a married woman who tricked her husband into thinking he was speaking to cartel members to stop him from having an affair.

Scammers tend to prey on unassuming, vulnerable people, and that’s why dating apps might play a big part in their schemes.

Nearly a quarter of people surveyed said that loneliness leads them to make risky decisions when it comes to online dating. This vulnerability might play into the hands of scammers.

But, while scammers are skilled at deceiving their victims, there are some warning signs and tips that can help you avoid online dating scams.

How to detect dating scams

You can start by asking for a recent photo of the person to verify their identity. If they refuse, put it off, or protest, then they might not be genuine.

Another way to verify whether a person is real is to ask if they have social media that they’d be happy to share with you.

But if they send what appears to be a fake social media account or a stock image you can use tools that let you see where that photo has come from if it is indeed fake.

Another red flag could be if you’ve been speaking for a long time and they are still refusing to meet you in person.

If you are sent a link from someone you haven’t been speaking to for long, do not click the link. Scammers will send you links, which may lead to malicious sites that may execute malware on your device.

Another scam commonly used by bad actors is sextortion, where the victim is lured into sending or performing sexual acts, which are then used against them.

If you’re asked to video chat, make sure that you think before you act as the person on the other end could be recording you. However, video chat could be a way of helping you identify a person.

There’s also a chance you could be speaking to a bot if the person you’re speaking to has predetermined or “canned” responses, Norton says. Bots often lure you into clicking links that lead to explicit or malicious sites.