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Romance Scams: Broken Hearts, Empty Pockets

Life & Finances

A woman looking over messages on their phone.
An openness to love can make individuals vulnerable to romance scams, where scammers exploit emotional connections for financial gain. Here's how to protect yourself.

Romance Scams: Broken Hearts, Empty Pockets

Love and romance have a universal appeal, from timeless quotes in classic movies to the hope of finding true love in real life. Unfortunately, this openness to love can also make individuals vulnerable to romance scams, where scammers exploit emotional connections to manipulate their victims into providing financial support, often leaving them penniless.

Romance scams often begin with an unsolicited communication that could be in the form of a random text message, instant message in an online game, or friend request on social media.  The scammer often portrays themself as a well-educated, successful and caring individual.  Shortly after contact is made, there is an intense outpouring of affection by the scammer, creating a sense of deep emotional connection for the victim. The scammer will be quick to declare their love, and often introduce conversations of marriage very early.

There are increasing reports of scammers portraying themselves as royalty, wealthy millionaires, oil rig workers, and even philanthropists doing charity or curing incurable diseases in other countries.  Once a strong emotional connection is in play, scammers will often start engaging in discussions about finances. The requests start small, and then followed by a large monetary request.  These often fall into two categories:

  1. Crisis – family emergency, a close family member has become ill, and the scammer is struggling with meeting the financial demands to assist with healthcare and then eventually funeral expenses.
  2. Opportunities – a one in a lifetime financial or career opportunity has presented itself, and the scammer, for various reasons, doesn’t have access to their funds or the funds of grant or another subsidy.

The victim is often more than eager to assist as a result of the trust and emotional connection.  Reports indicate victims often will cash out investments, sell their homes, and dip into their retirement savings.  Romance scammers will request that the money be sent through channels that are difficult to get back to victims.  These include asking for gift card PINs, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency.

The scammers often maintain the emotional connection as long as money continues to flow. However, once the victim is financially depleted, the scammer vanishes, leaving the victim penniless and potentially homeless, forced to rebuild their financial security.

 

Tips to avoid being a victim of a romance scams include: 

  • Be suspicious of unsolicited contact through electronic channels.
  • Never send money, gift cards, or bank transfers to someone you’ve never met in person.
  • Never disclose bank account information to someone you’ve never met in person.
  • If you do meet someone online, be suspicious of constant excuses for why in person meetings are not possible.
  • Conduct a reverse image search on any pictures shared.
  • Pay attention to spelling and grammar in written communication.
  • Be suspicious of investment opportunities, especially ones too good to be true, these often involve a cryptocurrency component.
  • Confide in family and friends if you grow suspicious.

 

If you’ve been or someone you know is being affected by a romance scam, you can urge them to:

  • Stop all contact with the scammer immediately.
  • Contact your local credit union for assistance in protecting your account. It may be too late to recover any funds; however, your credit union will work with you to see if there is any recourse.
  • Organize records of communication with the scammer.
  • Reporting the incident to relevant local authorities.
  • Submit a complaint to FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at: https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FileComplaint and Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/.
  • Seek support from trusted family and friends.
  • Seek education on different scam strategies to reduce your chances of being victimized again.

At Sound Credit Union, we are committed to safeguarding members information and empowering members with awareness of scammer tactics to better deter and avoid being a victim.

 

External Resources:

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/romance-scams

Federal Trade Commission (FTC): https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-romance-scams

Department of Homeland Security: (DHS)https://www.dhs.gov/hsi/insider/romance-scams-protect-yourself