While dating sites can be a good place to meet new people and find a romantic partner it’s easy fall victim to dating scams involving con artists as seen in the Tinder Swindler documentary, according to Carey van Vlaanderen, chief executive officer at ESET Southern Africa.
As February is the month of love it is crucial that online daters know how to protect themselves in the digital dating space.
While it is difficult to establish current reliable figures, romances scams in South Africa and globally are likely to be under reported because of the personal nature of the crime and victims’ feelings of embarrassment.
Some terrorist groups have used romance scams to target South Africans to finance their criminal acts, according to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric).
Online dating scams are also used by fraudsters to launder the illicit proceeds of crime.
Don’t fall for the rom-con
When using online dating platforms, be cautious of pictures that look too good to be true. To check if the picture is authentic, do an image search on Google.
Other red flags include requests for personal information like your ID number, requests for money to help the person out or declarations of love very early in the relationship.
A new trend in 2022 was an increase in reports of romance scammers luring consumers into fake cryptocurrency investment schemes.
Falling for deception
According to Van Vlaanderen, a common way that online scammers operate is by using emotional manipulation to get a victim to send money, gifts, or personal information.
“Another common, and extremely traumatising, form of deception is sextortion. This begins as a seemingly normal relationship before the scammer pressures the victim into sending intimate photos or videos which are used as material to blackmail the victim,” Van Vlaanderen said.
Here are 5 ways that people can protect themselves while dating online:
– Be alert to manipulation. If the person mentions money worries or uses financial trouble as a reason not to meet face to face, they may be a scammer.
– Think twice before leaving verified dating apps to message privately. Not only does this give the fraudster access to your cellphone number, but dating apps also provide mechanisms to report scammers and unsafe behaviour.
– Don’t send a person money regardless of how convincing their story may be.
– Never share any information that may compromise you, including photos or videos.
– If you decide to meet someone in person that you have met online, be sure to set up the meeting in a safe, public place and inform a trusted friend or family member of your arrangements.
IOL Business