‘Romance scams’ costing potential lovers big bucks
Online romance scams targeting the vulnerable are costing potential lovers money, especially this time of year.”Where a romance scam differs than others (is there are) lots of conversation, text messaging, maybe phone calls, could even be FaceTime, but usually lots of conversations,” said Angie Barnett, president and CEO of Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland.Romance scammers are using social media to find their victims, tricking them with a “Love Bomb” and running off with their money. “Once they do that and they establish trust, establish ‘I’m in love with you,’ have relationships, they tell you about their family, they tell you about their lives — and, all of a sudden, they need money,” Barnett said. | VERY LOCAL: ‘I was totally sucked in’: Inside an international Facebook love scamShe said scammers will make up a plausible, emotional reason you need to send them money, like an accident or family emergency.”They’re going and saying, ‘I want to build a future with you,’ and they’ll give a reason why you need to invest in cryptocurrency. So, they’ll send you all the information, and of course, once you invest in that crypto, you will not have access to that account, you’ve lost the money, they can access it and they drain it,” Barnett said.There have been scenarios in which people can’t get their money back and have no recourse, including the “Sugar Momma” scam.”They’ll offer to pay for your companionship, and they’re not asking for any types of favors, they’re literally saying, ‘I just want somebody to be part of my life. I’m going to send you a check, and what I want you to do is deposit that check,'” Barnett said. Then, scammers ask people to send money to a person or organization but then take the money, and victims are left with their bounced check and no money. “The FBI estimates, at any one time, 250,000 people is online searching — 25,000 people are online pretending to be somebody they’re not,” Barnett said.Barnett said romance scams should be reported to the FBI; however, many people don’t report it, believing the romance was real even if they’re out large sums of money.The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center said it received more than 19,000 complaints about confidence/romance scams in 2022 with reported losses of almost $740 million. In Maryland, 350 victims reported losing $15.6 million in 2022. Of those reports, 120 victims were older than 60, losing $10.5 million of the reported total losses.
Online romance scams targeting the vulnerable are costing potential lovers money, especially this time of year.
“Where a romance scam differs than others (is there are) lots of conversation, text messaging, maybe phone calls, could even be FaceTime, but usually lots of conversations,” said Angie Barnett, president and CEO of Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland.
Romance scammers are using social media to find their victims, tricking them with a “Love Bomb” and running off with their money.
“Once they do that and they establish trust, establish ‘I’m in love with you,’ have relationships, they tell you about their family, they tell you about their lives — and, all of a sudden, they need money,” Barnett said.
| VERY LOCAL: ‘I was totally sucked in’: Inside an international Facebook love scam
She said scammers will make up a plausible, emotional reason you need to send them money, like an accident or family emergency.
“They’re going and saying, ‘I want to build a future with you,’ and they’ll give a reason why you need to invest in cryptocurrency. So, they’ll send you all the information, and of course, once you invest in that crypto, you will not have access to that account, you’ve lost the money, they can access it and they drain it,” Barnett said.
There have been scenarios in which people can’t get their money back and have no recourse, including the “Sugar Momma” scam.
“They’ll offer to pay for your companionship, and they’re not asking for any types of favors, they’re literally saying, ‘I just want somebody to be part of my life. I’m going to send you a check, and what I want you to do is deposit that check,'” Barnett said.
Then, scammers ask people to send money to a person or organization but then take the money, and victims are left with their bounced check and no money.
“The FBI estimates, at any one time, 250,000 people is online searching — 25,000 people are online pretending to be somebody they’re not,” Barnett said.
Barnett said romance scams should be reported to the FBI; however, many people don’t report it, believing the romance was real even if they’re out large sums of money.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center said it received more than 19,000 complaints about confidence/romance scams in 2022 with reported losses of almost $740 million. In Maryland, 350 victims reported losing $15.6 million in 2022. Of those reports, 120 victims were older than 60, losing $10.5 million of the reported total losses.
