Protect Your Heart and Your Wallet from Romance Scams

Scammers often target victims during holidays. It’s important to be vigilant and cautious when making online purchases or sharing personal information, especially around Valentine’s Day.

Common Romance Scam Strategies

• False Love Relationships: Romance scammers will use emotional manipulation to lure you into a false love relationship, also known as Catfishing. They create fake online profiles posing as someone looking for love. They may even use real photos of other people on social media or dating apps and websites. They’ll send compliments, make you feel special, and express a strong interest in getting to know you. They gain your affection and trust and then tug at your heartstrings with fake sob stories about how they urgently need money for an emergency, hospital bills, or travel. Or they might ask for personal financial information or a loan, using the relationship as a cover for their true intentions.  
• Fake Websites/Apps: With many consumers looking to buy Valentine’s Day gifts for their significant others, romance scammers may ask you to visit a fake website or app with the intent of stealing your personal information. They may send a link asking you to purchase a gift for them or to claim a gift for yourself. In another twist, they might say they’ve shipped you a valuable package, which requires you to send money for “customs” or some other made-up fee. It’s all a lie. You send the money, and the package never turns up.  

Recognize the Red Flags

Never send money or give personal information to anyone you have only communicated with online or by phone. Be wary if an online love interest tries to:  

• Chat with you using personal email, text, or phone immediately after meeting them online. 
• Isolate you from friends and family or request inappropriate photos or financial information that could later be used to extort you. 
• Meet you in person, but then always comes up with an excuse as to why they can’t. If you haven’t met the person after a few months, for whatever reason, you have good reason to be suspicious. 
• Ask you to send them money or make a deposit to an account you don’t recognize. Scammers will ask you to send money to them a variety of ways including checks, providing banking information, pre-paid credit cards, gift cards, cryptocurrency, and wiring money. 
• Set up a new bank account or take out a loan. 
• Purchase items through a fraudulent website or app. 
• Invest in a too good to be true investment, especially with digital assets like crypto.