Online Romance scam

Online Romance scam? What? Is there even such a thing? I am afraid to say the answer is yes. And a big yes at that as well. This is one scam that has been on the Internet for quite some time now, and yet it seems to only get stronger!

So what is those online romance scam anyway? There are many variants to it, but basically, they use a picture of a very beautiful women or good looking guy to grab your attention and they try to establish a connection with you. These people are real professionals. They can go for few months without making any demands or requests.

But after a while, their story almost always seems the same. It is either that they have gotten into trouble and need your help in the form of money, or they would like to go to your country to stay with you for a while, but they don't have any money. So in the end, all they are looking for is your money.

They don't create a website, but instead they are very active in online communities and dating websites. Recently though, most of the people have been coming from Russia. You might receive some e-mails from them asking to be friends. Sometimes, it can come from an online community that you have never even heard of let alone joined. If you do receive it from a source that you have never heard of, never ever reply to it.

It means that they are getting your e-mail address from another source, which means that you can expect to receive a couple more of these types of e-mails in the future. Either create a new e-mail, or place those urls to your trash folders and ignore them.

Although most will just ask you to send them some cash, there are some very dangerous "seasoned pros". These "pros" are extremely cunning, and they try to get to know you better to find your week spot. After a few months of constant communications, they might strike.

There are many variances of what they will do afterwards, but I will show you examples of some of the most well known methods that make online romance scam a very dangerous thing in the Internet. Some might try to get your credit card number. It might seem like something obvious, but after a few months of psychological advantage, they could easily trick you into giving them your information.

Also, from the same method, it could also lead to identity theft. They claim that they are going to visit you so they also have your address. It is something that does happen quite frequently, which is shocking. So why does this happen so often? Simple, most people think that they will never get tricked by such "simple" techniques. But the truth is, there is nothing "simple" about it. Online Romance scam is all about psychology. Those that are good and experienced in it, can trick even some of the hardest people if those people are not careful.

There have also been cases where the innocent people were tricked into doing some of those scam artist's dirty work. There have been cases of where they were told that their best friend or relative was going to their country and asked if they could stay with the victim. In a few cases, the people were either there to do some illegal business or even prostitution. It is surprising, but there has been incidents like this.

Although there are quite a few other different types of dangers that could happen, I am sure you see the main point here. There are many good websites for dating that are legal, but the problem is that they are open for anyone to join. And that means that many of those "pros" will also join it. Please be very careful at those dating websites so that you never become a victim of those online romance scam.

Online Romance scam: Return to the Online Danger main page
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