5 Common Online Dating Scams: How to Stay Safe Online
Cindy Ellis - October 7, 2022
The world of online dating is often confusing and difficult to navigate, and the presence of scammers on dating apps mixed with real, interested individuals makes it all the more difficult. Dating scams run rampant in today’s world of online dating, and even the most internet-cautious individual may accidentally get swept up in one of these scams.
Our article aims to help you understand the five most common online dating scams and will give you tips on how to spot an online dating scam so you can keep yourself safe.
The Realities of Online Dating
In today’s world, online dating is one of the most popular ways to meet people, but that doesn’t mean that it comes without drawbacks. Many individuals today, women especially, view online dating as potentially dangerous, and while many people still utilize these apps, like Tinder, there is always a high priority placed on ensuring the safety and truthfulness of the people that you are meeting.
The reality is that scams are prevalent online, and dating apps or websites aren’t safe from people who want to take advantage of the vulnerable for their own gain. It’s important to be informed about common online dating scams, stay informed about the people you are meeting via background checks and other research, and know which warning signs to look out for as you navigate online dating.
Common Online Dating Scams
There is no shortage of online dating scams, but some types of scams are more commonly seen than others. We give you a rundown of the five most common scams and what they might entail so you can more easily recognize them.
1) Military Dating Scams
The military dating scam is pretty much what it sounds like – a scammer or scammers will create fake dating profiles using photos of individuals in the military that they’ve pulled from websites or other online pictures. The scammer will use these profiles to get matches and typically speak about being near the end of their deployment or careers. More often than not, they will portray themselves as older, with adult children or no children, and divorced or widowed.
The person you are speaking to will often use military jargon, base names, and complex terms to attempt to convince you that they are, in fact, a soldier.
As you get more familiar with the scammer, they will start asking you for money and other items to be sent to wherever they are stationed, using excuses like they need reliable internet, flights home, or need a way to get around military limitations on certain items. These scams will continue for as long as possible while the scammer continues to get a reliable source of money, all the while avoiding meeting in person, as they are supposedly in a different area.
The U.S. Army has noted that these scams are becoming increasingly popular, and you can read more about their advice on this here.
2) Catfishing
Catfishing is when an individual creates a fake dating profile using the pictures of someone they found online, a public figure, or a little-known celebrity. These individuals are often chosen due to the amount of publicly available videos and pictures that the scammer can use to trick their victims into a false sense of security.
In more extreme cases, pictures of very popular celebrities have been used to trick the elderly into sending large amounts of money to the scammer. Younger generations are less likely to fall for these and may instead encounter fake profiles full of a random individual’s picture.
Catfish scammers work to build a relationship with their victim, always putting off meeting in person but still asking for money, gifts, and trust. It can be incredibly devastating for individuals who have fallen victim to a catfish scammer to learn that they have been duped. And while catfishing itself (the act of creating a fake profile) isn’t a crime, it can lead to other related crimes such as identity theft and fraud.
3) Fake Dating Websites
A fake dating website is solely created to collect your personal information, such as names, birth dates, phone numbers, email addresses, and more. The scammers behind these websites will then use the information for identity theft or to gain access to your financial information.
Always be wary about new dating sites that you haven’t heard of before or that are offering free premium trials for extended periods, as this is typically how scammers attract new victims to their websites.
It helps to perform an internet search regarding the legitimacy of a dating website before signing up and potentially revealing any personal information.
4) Malware Scams
Malware scams typically occur after you have matched with an individual on a dating website and spend some time talking. The scammer behind the profile you are talking with will most likely offer more information or try to direct you to a different website.
The link they offer is often misleading and will take you to a website that contains malware and spam in an attempt to take your personal information. With this information, scammers can try and access your email accounts and financial information or use your identity for fraud.
Never click on a link that an individual sends via a dating website, especially if it happens within the first few messages.
5) Intimate Activity Scams
Intimate activity scams depend on the scammer behind the dating profile matching with an individual and either building a relationship or luring the person into sending intimate pictures or videos over. The scammer may even propose a video call or something similar and will secretly record whatever intimate behavior is happening on screen. Once the scammer has videos, photos, or recordings, they will tell you what they’ve done and ask for money in exchange for not sending said material to your friends and family members or posting it online.
Never send money to these types of scammers, as they will keep asking for more in increasing amounts until you stop paying. Some scammers will not follow through on their threats, while others might, even if you do send them money. However, the moment you send money to one of these individuals, you put yourself in a worse position. For more information on how this particular type of dating scam works, you can read this article.
How to Spot an Online Dating Scam
In today’s world, online dating scams are becoming hard to spot, and even the wariest individual might miss the warning signs that their online match is secretly a scammer. Below, we give you a few things to look out for that could indicate your online dating match is trying to scam you.
- They attempt to move away from the dating app or website almost immediately; this is done to get you to use the scammer’s preferred website or to send you to a malware website.
- They use poor grammar and English.
- They seem to be talking to you based on a script, not engaging with what you are saying.
- Their dating profile looks too good to be true; attractive people are out there, but if a profile is full of high-quality model-like pictures, run a quick reverse image search and see if you can find the identity of the person in the pictures.
- They are constantly telling you sob stories, asking you for money, or speaking to you about the trouble they are in. Scammers use this method to try and make you feel guilty or want to help them, thus getting you to send money.
- The stories they tell you are inconsistent, improbable, or just straight-up don’t make sense. This can happen when a scammer is running multiple profiles and conversations at once. After all, scamming is a numbers game most of the time.
- They live far away or are never available to meet up in person. This is one of the biggest signs you are being scammed or catfished—the person on the other side of your match never wants to meet, talk on the phone, or have a video call.
- Conversations turn romantic or intimate quickly. Online dating veterans know that this can happen on apps without it being a scam. Still, a person who consistently and continually tries to turn the conversation intimate or keeps asking for photos, videos, or an intimate video call might be attempting to blackmail you.
Don’t Be a Victim to Online Dating Scams
Remember, always practice safe dating behaviors and stay aware when matching, speaking, or meeting up with new individuals, as you never know what a person will truly be like at first. To add a step of safety to your online dating activity, utilize a search tool such as the one on Information.com to get any background information available on a person, verify their identity, and vet their safety before proceeding further.
