How do you spot a romance scammer? Signs of romance scammers

Not a day goes by without news of yet another victim of scammers from dating sites. Basically, we are talking about the fact that the victim has lost a large amount of money.

But a potential fraudster can be recognized by photographs and a profile. Our correspondent, with the help of experts, tells us how to do it.

The first thing that users of dating sites pay attention to are photos. It is clear that no one will pay attention to a low-quality, blurry picture. Fraudsters take advantage of this and upload carefully retouched pictures, deliberately staged.

Some were made in the studio, and some were made abroad. Moreover, there are always details in the frame that indicate the viability of a potential groom: a watch, a tie, logos on clothes, an expensive, prestigious car, a clearly European landscape in the background.

Most of these characters are also frankly athletic – abs, biceps, shoulders. This is not just an attractive appearance, it is a demonstration of sexuality, some kind of dominance, and of course, physical strength. All this is an unambiguous appeal to a potential Cinderella who believes in a fairy tale: “I am wealthy, handsome, sexy and waiting for you”.

Some figures do not bother with the correct photoshoots but simply steal other people’s photos. They can easily misappropriate advertising images that were taken completely legally and for other purposes – for example, for advertising costumes or perfumery.

A model almost fell victim to such a scam. He has been working in the modeling business for several years, regularly taking part in various photography. Once pictures with his participation appeared on a dating site, and without the knowledge of those who took them.

“Friends told me that they saw my profile with photos in one of the dating apps. They sent me screenshots. I immediately recognized the pictures, it was an advertisement for one of the magazines. But everything else did not correspond to reality: they made me older, richer, the name was different, and I did not get to know anyone, and even more so through the Internet. My friends and I sent a complaint to the technical support of the resource, and the account was deleted,” he explained.

Application form

Scammers do not write detailed biographies for dating sites. Usually, everything is quite concise, but the main triggers are indicated: a profession that brings a large stable income (financier, businessman, investor, developer), the status of a divorced person, and the absence of children. This still further emphasizes the solvency and lack of financial obligations to anyone.

A particular emphasis is on the love of travel, even now, when the worldwide possibilities are severely limited. By the way, if you ask such a character a question about where he is going now and where he is traveling, he will not give a clear answer. But the expectation is not that the lady will start asking questions but that it will bribe her, and she will agree to further acquaintance. Here the fairy tale about Cinderella, which the handsome prince found and now takes on a romantic journey, is played out.

In addition to his love of travel, the status of a wealthy man is also emphasized by an expensive, elite hobby. These most often include golf, horse riding, antique hobby.

“All this is done to attract as many naive girls as possible. The calculation is, as a rule, either on the young and inexperienced or on women, as they say, according to the logic of the scammers, have already despaired of finding their happiness and are ready to cling to anyone who just beckons. And if he is a handsome, rich man, then they can do a lot – for example, get into debt, and we learn about such cases regularly. Of course, not everyone falls for these tricks. Girls who have developed critical thinking have a good deal of skepticism and cynicism when dealing with such characters, as they say, they go into a counterattack: they ask a lot of uncomfortable questions for them, find out something, provoke. It is rather difficult to “dissolve” them. Fraudsters see that it is impossible to make a victim out of such a girl, and they “merge”,” explains a psychologist.

Private messages

Those looking for victims on dating sites start communication with banal, corny, overly sugary compliments. A prime example: “Hello. You look good. For such a girl, trips to the cinema, theater, or just a cafe are probably scheduled for a week in advance. I guessed? Leave your phone number for dinner this week.”

This can be written to any girl – both a student and an experienced lady. As complementary and impersonal as possible so that there is an opportunity to make a “fan mailing”. But the most important thing is that scammers try to get their counterpart’s phone number by all means.

Databases are freely available on the darknet. In them, by phone number, you can find out everything about a person – from his name and surname to the state of finances. Most fraudsters are interested in a person’s financial situation. It gives an idea of credit history, debts, income, property, bank accounts. And if a candidate has no financial problems, then she is taken into development. The ultimate goal of such a scheme is either to force her to part with her money or to force her to take a bank loan for a considerable amount and give the funds to her boyfriend, with whom he will subsequently disappear.

In the modern world, it is almost impossible to protect your data. But you can protect yourself from potential scammers: do not give them your phone number, conduct all correspondence in the application.

Personal assistant

Fraudsters in the dating generally write that an assistant organizes all their meetings – he calls up the girl, finds out preferences, orders a table in a restaurant, buys flowers, etc.

This detail, perhaps more eloquently than others, emphasizes the financial status of a man. On the one hand, he has so much money that he hires his staff; on the other hand, he does not waste time on everyday aspects, but at the same time, tries to be empathetic, attentive, and helpful.

In real life, this “helper”, at best, may be a marriage agency, which will tell you that this particular rich groom is busy, but for money, they will pick up another for you.

Let’s think logically: why would a wealthy and busy person who has personal attendants get to know each other through a website? His social circle is wide enough, so he has many opportunities to arrange his personal life on his own, without dating sites. In extreme cases, such a person will turn to a legal marriage agency. It is naive to believe that a middle-aged businessman has retained a sensitive romantic

As for those who most often fall for the bait of scammers, then, according to the expert, they are mostly romantic young ladies who see only good in people. And they just see, not noticing the shortcomings.

Seeing only good things is, to a certain extent, infantilism and a lack of life experience. In any person, there is something good and something bad. You need to be objective about this. If a girl sees only good things, then, most likely, she either shrugs off the negative, preferring not to notice, or she simply does not know what it is.

Separately, the expert notes that girls and women who have little life experience are naive, inattentive, and do not pay attention to details most often fall into the hands of such scammers.

There are such professions, representatives of which, on duty, communicate with many people, face various spheres, situations. It is clear that this gives a certain imprint: for example, critical thinking develops. Therefore, such a girl will ask many questions, find inconsistencies, pay attention to it, and it will be difficult to promote her. Business, self-confident women, as a rule, do not come across – they are good at analyzing information, have a lot of experience. In addition, they live a busy life and will not grieve over a random acquaintance from the Internet,

Soft, intelligent, compliant women give in to deception. They often cannot show their tough position to fight back, even if they see that the situation is going somewhere wrong – they are simply afraid that the refusal will offend the man and he will leave her.

Of course, there is a hole in the older woman, but you can still protect yourself. The most important thing in communicating with any stranger is not to rush. Do not rush to give him your phone number, do not rush to tell a lot about yourself, do not rush to run out on a date, do not rush to give money, even under the pretext of “borrowing”. In general, dating is not a situation where speed is important.