Valentine’s Day offers the chance to celebrate love for your significant other, but sadly it’s also a time of year where criminals try to exploit lonely singles using online dating apps.
Scamwatch received nearly 4000 reports of dating and romance scams last year – a 20 per cent increase from the year prior – with losses of over $24.6 million recorded.
Data revealed women were four times more likely to report losing money compared to men, with females reporting a total financial loss of almost $20 million in 2018.
Comparatively, men reported a total loss of almost $5 million.
People aged 45 to 64 were the bulk demographic affected by the scams, with social media is the most common contact method used to engage victims.
ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said scammers were also increasingly expanding to dating apps like Tinder, with losses from apps increasing to more than 300 per cent in the past two years.
“Scammers tend to go where people are, and in the dating world that increasingly means on social media and dating apps,” she said.
Romance scammers actively engage with victims, slowly building an online relationship before asking for money to come and meet them in person.
Other common requests include borrowing money help cover costs associated with illness, injury, business expenses, duty or customs fees, legal costs or family costs.
The woman sent the 32-year-old foreign national more than $200,000 after he told her a sob story relating to the loss of close family members.
The ACCC said while the prospect of finding love on Valentine’s Day is exhilarating, people should be wary of red flags.
“Be careful if someone you don’t know makes contact on social media and presents themselves as a ‘too good to be true’ catch. It’s likely they’ve done some research on you beforehand to find out things about you to create an instant bond,” Ms Rickard said.
“On apps, it can be trickier as the whole point is meeting new people. However, nearly all romance scammers will eventually reveal their intentions, which is getting your money.
“If you’ve only ever known the person online or through an app, don’t give them money. You may think you love them and want to help, but they’ll just break your heart, and deplete your bank account.
“If you have any doubts about someone you have met online or through an app, doing a Google search on their name and pictures can often reveal scammers.”
McAfee cyber security expert Raj Samani added people should be careful of what information is set public on social media because scammers will look to exploit this.
“Social media users need to consider what and how much information they’re sharing. Restricting who’s able to view personal information, such as your date of birth, will help ensure that only people you know and trust are able to access details which can put your identity at risk and be used by cybercriminals to conduct fraudulent activity,” he said.
Tips to protect yourself online from a dating scam:
– Use a Google Image search to check the profile picture of the person you’re talking to is genuine.
– Be suspicious of people who live overseas or have constant excuses on why they can’t meet you – often this is a red flag.
– Be careful when people profess strong feelings early on. Scammers want you to fall in love with them so they can abuse your trust and feelings to get money out of you.
– Don’t ever give money to someone you have only met online.
– Don’t share intimate photos or use webcams in an intimate setting. Scammers use these photos or webcam recordings to blackmail their victims.
Other scams to be wary of:
