- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
# CifraDelDía: $ 143 million in scams on Valentine's Day in 2018 0:58
(CNN) - Online romance scams are growing at a dizzying pace, raising millions of dollars from unsuspecting victims across the United States.
Some of the scams go on for months or years and leave the victims crushed emotionally and financially. This week, federal officials announced that Americans lost $ 201 million from online romance scams in 2019, almost a 40% jump since 2018.
Love in times of social networks 2:29This way you can avoid having your heart and your money stolen:
They claim to be in certain professions
Romance scammers start with fake profiles using someone else's identity. Their supposed location is never in their city: they claim to be deployed in the army, working on an oil platform abroad or a doctor integrated in international groups, says the Federal Trade Commission. That way, they can ask for money to pay seemingly legitimate costs, such as travel visas, plane tickets and hospital bills.
Did you know...? Romance can be expensive 1:51They insist on anonymous money transfers
When they request money, scammers rarely use a regular money transfer process, such as a checking account. They choose gift cards to convert them into cash. “Gift cards are for gifts, not for payments. Anyone who demands payment with a gift card is always a scammer, ”said the Federal Trade Commission.
After obtaining the gift card number and your PIN, you can immediately recover the money charged and the process is difficult to reverse.
"Once they have done so, the scammers and their money disappear, usually without a trace," says the FTC. “So never send money or gifts to a love interest that you have not known. It is a romantic scam. ”
They move fast in the relationship
Romance scammers don't always start with dating apps. There are those who start on social networks, and Facebook Messenger is especially popular, says the FTC.
The FTC warns people who distrust any online relationship where someone wants to leave the dating site immediately and use personal messages, if the person rushes a lot to say they are in love or if the person asks for money without before they have met face to face.
All of the advice discussed here comes from the Federal Trade Commission website, which monitors fraud reports in the United States.
Fraud
