Valentine’s Day is a day for romance, but it can also be an
opportune time for scammers to take advantage of those looking for love online.
Better Business Bureau is urging consumers to proceed with caution before
letting their hearts – and their money – get stolen.
Perhaps you’ve seen the documentary “Catfish,” or the MTV reality
show of the same name. The Urban Dictionary defines a catfish as “someone who
pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media to
create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.”
Relationship scams can happen to anyone. You meet a great person
online, everything seems to be going great but you aren't able to meet yet for some
reason (distance, military deployment, work travel, etc.). Suddenly your online
love interest has an emergency and asks you to wire money. If you do, he or she
may continue to find more reasons to ask for money from you…or may disappear. Sometimes the catfish’s
victim is asked to receive funds from the victim of another scam and rewire it
to the catfish.
BBB
and Western Union have partnered to offer consumers tips on how to avoid scams.
Here are some ways to stay safe from relationship scams:
Be on your guard. Only send money to
people you have met in person. Be especially cautious with people you meet
online, even if you correspond with them via email or phone. Be especially wary
of anyone who asks you to leave the dating website immediately to continue your
conversation through email or IM, as this allows fraudsters to carry out their
scam without the dating site having a record of your encounter.
Be cautious if someone claims to be local
but is currently out of the country. Fraudsters could be operating from overseas, making it more difficult for authorities to track
them down. Never give your banking information to people that you have not met
in person or businesses that you don’t know.
Always verify every emergency situation
before sending money. Fraudsters can trick their victims in a variety of
ways. Sometimes they instantly express feelings of love and other times they
lead their victims on for a while. No matter how much your relationship might
seem like the real thing, you should be suspicious if someone starts asking for
information like credit card, bank or government ID numbers or to send money.
For
more information on scams, check out BBB Scam Stopper at www.bbb.org/scam. Like us on
Facebook facebook.com/UtahBBB
or follow us
on Twitter twitter.com/UtahBBB
The Better Business Bureau of Utah is a 501 (c)(6) not-for-profit corporation serving the entire state of Utah. The organization is funded primarily by membership dues from more than 2,800 local business and professional firms. The BBB promotes integrity, consumer confidence and business ethics through business self-regulation in the local marketplace. Services provided by the BBB include reliability reports on companies and charitable organizations, general monitoring of advertising in the marketplace, dispute resolution services, and consumer/business education programs. All services are provided at no cost to the public, with the occasional exception of arbitration. Visit www.utah.bbb.org or call 801-892-6009.
