Around 34% of Indian respondents don’t use dating apps as they fear that they might get duped by fraudsters, revealed a survey by Kaspersky. 43% of people also said that they do not trust people on dating apps. Meanwhile, 27% of the survey respondents revealed that they were actually targeted by cybercriminals and 36% of the respondents added that even after getting contacted by scammers, they somehow managed to avoid getting attacked.
Dating apps can become a bridge between two people and they can be used to meet new people but it comes with their own set of challenges which includes misusing the apps by scamsters to dupe innocent people for money. Kaspersky pointed out that scamsters show interest in these dating platforms as they know that people on these platforms are looking for a personal connection and it can be exploited.
According to the survey, users must have come up with issues such as catfishing (33%), malicious links or attachments (38%), or have found that their identity had been stolen (36%).
Around 42% of respondents who managed to avoid an attack were able to identify a fraudster with a suspicious profile that eventually looked fake; were extremely careful and never sent money to dating applications (48%), or paid attention to suspicious messages (37%). Almost 29% of respondents of the survey revealed that they became suspicious when the scammer refused to get on a video call.
Lack of privacy can become a serious concern for dating apps. 26% of the respondents found out that they are worried about their personal data getting circulated online. And 24% of users said they deleted dating apps because they wanted to keep their personal information private.
“Dating online can be perceived as a risky adventure, as at the beginning of the acquaintance you don’t know anything about each other. However, keeping an eye out for some red flags can help you stay alert and pay attention to your digital match’s behavior. If they ask for money or personal details during the first or second day of online dating, it’s better to consider whether it’s safe to continue communicating. Additionally, security measures can be a helpful way to keep your online dating experience safe and enjoyable,” said David Jacoby, security researcher at Kaspersky.
“Anyone who registers on a dating app is, in principle, willing to open up and reveal personal information to a certain extent. After all, getting to know each other requires a willingness to share details about yourself. If this openness – and a little bit of the defenselessness that comes with it – is exploited, the injuries will run deep. In an analog meeting, one can hope to recognize whether someone has good or bad intentions. But here, too, it is possible to be wrong, because experienced scammers can disguise themselves incredibly well,” Jacoby added.
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