Is your online date a fraud? An IT security blog offers signs you might be falling for a fraudster – read more at http://www.welivesecurity.com/2015/02/12/six-valentines-online-dating-scams/.
A sign you’re not talking to the person you think you are is an unwillingness to speak on the phone. Nigerian and Eastern European fraudsters will pretend to be 20-something women from the US, Australia and Britain – a pretense they can’t keep up over the phone. Similarly, watch out for anyone who’s super-keen to get you off the site where you met and talking over email or text: most dating sites can monitor conversations for likely fraudsters – telltale signs like exchanging bank data, for example – and they don’t want their cover blown.
While romantic novels might be full of dashing, handsome, mysterious gentlemen who just arrive in town one day, in the current age it’s practically impossible to have no online history. If they’re savvy enough to be online dating, the chances are they’ve got at least some social media presence. If you’re Googling your potential heartthrob (admit it, we all do), and they’ve only recently joined Facebook and Twitter, your suspicions should be raised. Check the details match what they’ve told you, and see if their friends or followers look like genuine people.
Most of the fraudsters will push you to get off the original site to talk via email or text messages, while avoiding phone conversations. Most dating sites can monitor conversations for likely fraudsters – telltale signs like exchanging bank data, for example – and they don’t want their cover to be blown. Also Nigerian and Eastern European fraudsters will pretend to be 20-something women from the US, Australia and Britain – a pretense they can’t keep up over the phone.
