Florida is now second in the nation when it comes to the number of victims and the amount of money stolen in what are called “catfishing” scams. Rebecca D’Antonio of Orlando discovered the insidious nature of this type of fraud the hard way. “At first with his pictures he looked to me like he was very sexy,” D’Antonio said. She was talking about a man who called himself “Matthew.” D’Antonio met him through an online dating website. She thought she’d found true love with a man who said his wife had died and he was a single dad raising a 5-year-old son. “We just had a lot in common. We liked to try new foods. It was like there was definitely a connection,” she said. We aren’t showing you the photos of the man and his son that he frequently shared with her because the pictures were stolen from someone else’s social media pages online. He strung D’Antonio along during a year-long relationship, in which he never agreed to video chats, FaceTime, virtual calls or meetings in person. His emails included lines like, “Everything blue in this world reminds me of your sweet, deep eyes. I miss you more and more.” Some of his text messages read, “I got so much love for you” and “you have restored happiness back into my life.” Then “Matthew’s” messages turned to money. He persuaded her to send wire transfers with excuses like lost or stolen credit cards and medical bills needing to be paid.D’Antonio’s bank accounts dried up, her credit cards were maxed out, and facing eviction and bankruptcy, she told “Matthew” she was considering taking her own life.“I was like, you don’t understand how scared I am and how alone I am. I’ve got pills. I’m not afraid to use them. I will commit suicide because I don’t know what else to do,” she told him. “I will never forget his response, ‘Well you have to do what you have to do,'” D’Antonio said. By that time, D’Antonio had given him more than $100,000. She was the victim of “catfishing” or “social catfishing” in which someone creates a fake identity on dating websites or social media pages to lure victims and tries to hook them into giving them money. They may also try to gain your confidence through relationships to persuade you to give personal information, which they could use for identity theft.“It’s a massive amount of money, and we still say, ‘The internet is the wild wild west,’” said David McClellan, founder and CEO of Socialcatfish.com said. His online company promotes fraud protection and safety.McClellan says the pandemic forced people to work remotely and generated loneliness that fueled these kinds of scams to the tune of $547 million nationally last year, up 80%, according to FBI and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data reviewed by Socialcatfish.com. Florida ranked number two in the U.S. with $70 million stolen. The average loss was $40,000 and targeted 1,738 victims in 2021.“We saw even during the pandemic and last year, people 20 years and younger were the fastest-growing segments for these scams, but people aged 45 to 65 actually lost the most amount of money per scam,” McClelland added. You should be aware of the catfishing warning signs: someone asking for money, electronic fund transfers, gift cards, asking for social security, driver’s license and bank information, and someone refusing to agree to virtual calls, facetime and video messages.D’Antonio was lured and doesn’t want you to get caught. “Love yourself enough to walk away,” D’Antonio said. If you believe you are a victim, a wise action plan includes reporting the scam to the FBI and FTC. You could also report it to the online dating or social media platform.Contact your bank if your account has been compromised or accessed and warn family and friends that they could be targeted.
Florida is now second in the nation when it comes to the number of victims and the amount of money stolen in what are called “catfishing” scams.
Rebecca D’Antonio of Orlando discovered the insidious nature of this type of fraud the hard way.
“At first with his pictures he looked to me like he was very sexy,” D’Antonio said.
She was talking about a man who called himself “Matthew.”
D’Antonio met him through an online dating website.
She thought she’d found true love with a man who said his wife had died and he was a single dad raising a 5-year-old son.
“We just had a lot in common. We liked to try new foods. It was like there was definitely a connection,” she said.
We aren’t showing you the photos of the man and his son that he frequently shared with her because the pictures were stolen from someone else’s social media pages online.
He strung D’Antonio along during a year-long relationship, in which he never agreed to video chats, FaceTime, virtual calls or meetings in person.
His emails included lines like, “Everything blue in this world reminds me of your sweet, deep eyes. I miss you more and more.”
Some of his text messages read, “I got so much love for you” and “you have restored happiness back into my life.”
Then “Matthew’s” messages turned to money.
He persuaded her to send wire transfers with excuses like lost or stolen credit cards and medical bills needing to be paid.
D’Antonio’s bank accounts dried up, her credit cards were maxed out, and facing eviction and bankruptcy, she told “Matthew” she was considering taking her own life.
“I was like, you don’t understand how scared I am and how alone I am. I’ve got pills. I’m not afraid to use them. I will commit suicide because I don’t know what else to do,” she told him.
“I will never forget his response, ‘Well you have to do what you have to do,'” D’Antonio said.
By that time, D’Antonio had given him more than $100,000.
She was the victim of “catfishing” or “social catfishing” in which someone creates a fake identity on dating websites or social media pages to lure victims and tries to hook them into giving them money.
They may also try to gain your confidence through relationships to persuade you to give personal information, which they could use for identity theft.
“It’s a massive amount of money, and we still say, ‘The internet is the wild wild west,’” said David McClellan, founder and CEO of Socialcatfish.com said.
His online company promotes fraud protection and safety.
McClellan says the pandemic forced people to work remotely and generated loneliness that fueled these kinds of scams to the tune of $547 million nationally last year, up 80%, according to FBI and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data reviewed by Socialcatfish.com.
Florida ranked number two in the U.S. with $70 million stolen.
The average loss was $40,000 and targeted 1,738 victims in 2021.
“We saw even during the pandemic and last year, people 20 years and younger were the fastest-growing segments for these scams, but people aged 45 to 65 actually lost the most amount of money per scam,” McClelland added.
You should be aware of the catfishing warning signs: someone asking for money, electronic fund transfers, gift cards, asking for social security, driver’s license and bank information, and someone refusing to agree to virtual calls, facetime and video messages.
D’Antonio was lured and doesn’t want you to get caught.
“Love yourself enough to walk away,” D’Antonio said.
If you believe you are a victim, a wise action plan includes reporting the scam to the FBI and FTC.
You could also report it to the online dating or social media platform.
Contact your bank if your account has been compromised or accessed and warn family and friends that they could be targeted.
