![]() ![]() By posting photos downloaded from the internet, they give strength to their story, saying they are serving in a combat zone or foreign country, most often a West African country, and give excuses for needing money for a leave permit, or medical care, to return to their home country, or to help their children.Ĭomplying with these requests often places the victim at risk financially, and opens them up to the possibility of becoming a victim of identity theft. In some cases they go to great lengths to impersonate military personnel from overseas forces, preying on a lack of knowledge around military processes and impersonating a real soldier. They will weave complicated stories about why they can't meet in person, and ask you to send money or provide financial aid so they can travel to meet you. Moving quicklyīefore long, the cyber criminal makes a request for money. However the pattern usually follows that after this initial introduction, often through very personal, intimate conversations via Google Hangouts, instant messaging or email, the scammer attempts to manipulate and exploit their potential victim by preying on their emotions and appealing to their sense of empathy. Thankfully a spam filter picked this up and the message was never responded to. This is the first communication sent to someone in an attempt to build a relationship quickly. Romance scammers try and make you fall in love with the persona they have created, and quickly profess their love for you - their target victim. Scammers are criminals who create believable stories to convince you to give them your money or personal details. Scammers succeed because they look like the real thing and catch you off guard when you're not expecting it. The ACCC Scamwatch advice is to understand that scammers target everyone - all of us are vulnerable to a scam at some time. So how do you avoid this heartache and financial devastation? And while these figures are heart breaking any way you look at them, romance scams are particularly devastating to victims, not only do people lose out financially, they also take an emotional toll - which can have a lasting psychological impact on people. Millions of dollars is lost to these kind of scams. Showing their ability to adapt and diversify, a new trend is for criminals to contact people through apps like Google Hangouts, and online games such as Words with Friends, and Scrabble to ensnare unwilling victims with promises of companionship and love. In fact social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook had the highest losses with over 33 per cent of money lost through these sites. And if that doesn't alarm you enough, you may be surprised to hear that it wasn't only the traditional dating websites through which people were targeted. Losses by people in the 45-64 age group represented 63 per cent of the total money lost. The ACCC Scamwatch reports show that people in their prime of life are most affected. Just imagine how many bunches of roses or boxes of chocolates that money could buy! Scammers typically create a fake online profile designed to lure you in In 2019, Australians lost more than $28.6 million to scammers through dating and romance scams, with people aged between 45-64 the most affected - losing $18 million. ![]() Valentine's Day is celebrated in different ways around the world, but be mindful of scammers looking to con you out of your hard-earned money in the name of love - or so they say. ![]()
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