February is the month of love, but it's also a prime time for romance scammers. Learn how to identify the warning signs and protect your heart and wallet from online fraud. Picture: Pexels.
By: Christo de Wit
February is the month of love, but this does not mean that romance scammers stop scamming for Valentine’s Day. They pretend to love you, but they only love your money, and they want lots of it.
No matter how you plan to spend Valentine’s Day, it’s important to recognise the warning signs of romance scams — and find out quickly if you should be walking away from potential love interests or friendships.
You can protect your money (and your feelings) by educating yourself about their online fraud tactics and how to stay safe.
Luno, warns that romance scams involve building an emotional connection with victims over time and using this false trust to convince them to part with their money.
These scams often begin with a fraud perpetrator creating a fake profile that portrays a life of luxury. The scammer then establishes communication, frequently bombarding victims with messages of affection and understanding.
Scammers are skilled in emotional manipulation, preying on the need for human connection. They might send you frequent messages, voice notes, or even make phone calls, gradually creating a sense of intimacy and trust before they convince you to send them money.
With crypto-related romance scams, the scammer’s goal is to subtly introduce cryptocurrency into the conversation, often portraying themselves as wealthy crypto traders. With carefully crafted narratives, they lead victims to believe that investing in crypto is an expression of their love and commitment.
Luno has several controls in place to identify these accounts and to act on fraudulent accounts.
Although we continuously partner with banks and other industry players, customers should be extra cautious when sending crypto to another person, as crypto transactions are not reversible. The response time is key in these attempts and the money usually has already been sent to another bank or platform. We continuously collaborate with authorities and we report fraudulent accounts daily to try and have them removed from social media or take down fictitious websites.
What to look out for
Red lights should start flashing when the relationship moves fast - if someone professes their love very early on, it’s a sign to be cautious. Watch out if you are lured off a dating site to instant messaging or social media early on and the other person prefers chatting instead of video calling, which they cannot do ostensibly because of phone or laptop problems. Many romance scams start with unexpected private messages on social media platforms, not only dating sites.
The scammer also promises to visit and then cancels at the last minute due to an emergency. In addition, he or she will also ask you to send money until his or her investments pay out, instruct you to use specific payment methods such as wire transfers or to send crypto, persistently offer to help you buy and trade crypto, ask you to share personal information and even asks you to commit financial fraud on his or her behalf.
How to avoid falling victim to a romance scammer
● If you meet someone online, set up a video call early on and communicate via video call regularly. Do not believe them if they say they can’t do this.
● Don’t be fooled by jargon designed to make you think the person has some unique knowledge or ability related to crypto. Many people are still learning about crypto, and scammers are taking advantage.
● Never send money to people you meet online, and when you are being pressured, you should be extra wary.
● Never share personal details, such as login details, ID numbers, account numbers, or passwords.
● Never send compromising pictures that can be used to blackmail you.
● Look carefully at the person’s presence on the internet. Try a reverse image search of profile pictures. If the details don’t match up, it’s most probably a scam.
● If it feels suspicious, stop communications immediately by blocking the person on all your social media platforms.
* De Wit is the country manager for South Africa at Luno.
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