Cases of online dating scams (online dating or dating services that bring together people who are looking for a partner through websites or mobile phone applications) are common. Anyone can be the target of this scam. Online dating scammers are indiscriminate in their actions, regardless of whether the person being targeted is rich, poor, innocent, or smart. When you're looking for a lover, you're less alert and so it's easy to trust strangers. Love is a tool used by fraudsters to take all your money and possessions. By learning how to spot a scammer, you can protect yourself.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Spotting What's Wrong with Dating Friends
Step 1. Pay attention to the age difference between yourself and your date, especially if you are older than he is
Online dating scammers usually target people who are older than their age. If the swindler is a man, he often targets women in their 50s to 60s. He thought that they were ideal targets because they usually had a lot of treasure and were easier to trick.
Step 2. Look for the following description in the profile of the date suspected of being a fraud:
- Freelancers, self-employed, or skilled workers, such as mining engineers, working overseas
- Widower with one child (or widower only)
- The scammer claims that he lives near your house, is in the same country, or is abroad, but will be back soon
Step 3. Check the scammer's photo
Save a copy of the scammer's profile photo and use Google Images to search the internet for the photo. After that, check the search results. Has the person using the photo previously been reported as a fraud or has the photo used belonged to someone else? If you have enough evidence, report him to a dating website and provide the evidence, including a website link.
Step 4. Check the photos you got from your date
Look for signs in photos that don't match your date's description. For example, check the background of photos, such as landscapes and even clocks or calendars that hang on the wall. Can you spot any signs that don't match her description?
Step 5. Find the discrepancy that proves that your date is trying to trick you
Here are some examples of discrepancies to look for:
- Your date may say that he is away and that his cell phone is not connected to the internet. However, his profile showed that he was using a dating website. This is most likely a sign that he is talking to another potential victim.
- The description of the place of residence written on the date's profile may not match the characteristics of the area where he lives. For example, the fraudster's profile description explains that he lives in Jakarta and says that his favorite place in Jakarta is Gedung Sate. You should be suspicious if he said something like that because Gedung Sate is in Bandung, not in Jakarta.
Part 2 of 3: Spotting the Mistakes Implicit in Dating Friends' Messages
Step 1. Look carefully at the e-mails sent by your date
He or she may send an email (e-mail or e-mail) that contains a lot of inconsistent writing, such as misspelling her name or yours. In addition, his written grammar is very poor and he often repeats things over and over. Watch for the following signs:
- Over time, your date's language and writing skills will deteriorate. He may begin to have difficulty writing writing that has good grammar and punctuation.
- The date makes various mistakes in the story. He may make a story that contradicts the story that has been previously told. For example, he once told me that he was afraid of cats. However, in a later message he tells you that he recently adopted a kitten.
- Dates use pronouns inconsistently. For example, he uses the word "I" to refer to himself. However, in the next message he uses the word "cave" or "me".
- Dates talk about things that have nothing to do with their profile or tell things that don't make sense.
Step 2. Speak over the phone
Talking on the phone can reveal the true identity of your date. When you hear your date's voice on the phone, notice if he has certain accents and talks awkwardly. If the accent doesn't reflect the nation's class, you should be careful. For example, he told me that he lived and grew up in the city of Padang. However, when you talk to him on the phone, he has a very strong Javanese accent. Ask questions that make him have to tell himself in detail and trust your instincts to judge the truth of the story.
- If you want to call your date, pay attention to the number. Be careful if the phone number given does not match the area code where he lives. This indicates that he lives in another country. Compare the phone number with the area code where he lives.
- If you find some irregularities, be careful with the excuses made by him. He may tell you that he recently moved house and doesn't want to change his number because he doesn't want his friends to have a hard time contacting him.
Part 3 of 3: Be Careful With Your Date's Aggressiveness
Step 1. Be wary of your date's aggressiveness
If he asks to immediately change your communication method from email to phone, you should be careful. After that, if he calls to express his love and affection, and within 5 to 6 weeks he says that he has fallen in love with you, you should be very wary.
Getting an aggressive and exaggerated expression of your feelings from someone you've never met means that you need to be careful when communicating with them. If his behavior makes you uncomfortable, you should end communication with him
Step 2. Be careful with date flirting
If he senses that you are being tricked, he will start flirting and try to take your treasure. For example, he will tell you that he plans to move to your city to live life with you. However, he suddenly said that he was having financial problems. He will ask you to help him send money as soon as possible so he can solve the problem. If you don't send the money right away or refuse to give him money, he will start flirting with you by saying: "Why are we in a relationship if we can't trust each other." If he says something like that, it's a good idea to end communication with him immediately.
Think about why your date has plenty of free time to communicate with you via text or email, but can't make time to see you. If you meet such a person, it indicates that he is a fraud
Tips
- Don't give away photos of you or your family as they can be used by scammers to trick others.
- Do not provide personal information. Others can use it to steal your identity and pretend to be you.
- While communicating with your date, he or she may ask for information about your income. This is done to determine whether you are a good target or not.
- Invite him to meet in person. If you can't meet your potential mate in person, that person is probably not real.
- Do not provide specific information such as your home address or landline number.
- If you communicate with your date using email, Google has a feature that can show you the people in their Circles. Circles is a friend group feature offered by Google+. The circle may consist of several different users. However, there is a possibility that they may conspire with their date.
- Don't share your financial information with your date.
- If you suspect that you are communicating with a fraudster, stop communicating with him and report him to the police. Indonesia has a website that can be used as a place to report. You can visit it at lapor.go.id. Other countries have similar websites, such as www.scamwatch.gov.au. owned by Australia.
- Be careful with profiles created from stolen information. Use Google to research some of the information written on your date's profile, especially information that looks odd. If you find this information on someone else's profile, it proves that your date used other people's information to create their profile.
- Save the scammer's photo and try to find out when it was taken or uploaded. You can use Google+ or other software to find photo information. Photos that are 5 years old or older can indicate that your date has bad intentions.
- Your date may ask you to send money via MoneyGram. When you send money through MoneyGram, you cannot track where and to whom the money was sent.
- If your date claims that he or she is a member of the military working as intelligence overseas and can't talk about his job, it's a good idea to investigate the truth. Ask for a photo of him wearing a military uniform and see if the rank on his uniform is the same as the rank he says.
- Use Google Image to find out if the photo given to you matches what he says.
Warning
- Keep in mind if your date looks and sounds so amazing that you can't believe it, it's probably not real and the image is based on a fictional story.
- If you are contacted by a phone number starting with the sequence +4470, +4475 or +6010 or +6013, that phone number may be used by a fraudster. Telephone numbers starting with this sequence of numbers are now frequently used by fraudsters in the UK and Malaysia. Fraudsters usually work in groups.
