Looking for love on the Internet in 2016? Signs your online sweetie may be a scammer
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(BPT) - <span>Everyone’s looking for love, and many of them are doing it online – the numbers prove it! Nearly 50 million Americans have tried online dating, and 20 percent of current committed relationships began online, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.statisticbrain.com/online-dating-statistics/" rel="nofollow">StatisticBrain</a>. Online dating is now widely accepted as a great way to meet someone, but if you’re not careful, you may find more than your heart gets stolen in an online romance.</span>
<span><span>In 2014, online fraudsters bilked romance-seekers out of nearly $87 million, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2014_IC3Report.pdf" rel="nofollow">Internet Crime Complaint Center’s report</a> for that year (the latest available). Interestingly, the report also shows online fraud complaints spiked in March and April — the months immediately following Valentine’s Day in February.</span></span>
<span><span>If you’ll be looking for love online this year, remain alert for signs that the other party in your relationship may not be who they say they are. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/fraudawareness/fraud-types.html" rel="nofollow">Western Union</a> points to common signs of a romance scam, including:</span></span>
<span><span>* You meet online and the “relationship” progresses quickly, with email and phone conversations. You may trade pictures, too, but haven’t yet met in person.</span></span>
<span><span>* Your “love interest” begins asking you to wire money — they need airfare to come meet you, their child has a medical emergency, they need money to expand their business in a foreign country. The requests come with promises of repayment.</span></span>
<span><span>* In a fairly recent variation of the romance scam, the scammer may pose as a member of the American military, stationed overseas.</span></span>
<span><span><a target="_blank" href="https://www.fbi.gov/sandiego/press-releases/2013/looking-for-love-beware..." rel="nofollow">According to the FBI</a>, other signs of an online dating scam can include:</span></span>
<span><span>* You meet on a dating website, but the other person urges you to leave that site and communicate through social media, personal email or instant messaging.</span></span>
<span><span>* The other person moves quickly, professing love too soon in the relationship.</span></span>
<span><span>* He or she sends a photograph that looks too good to be true, as if it comes from a glamour magazine.</span></span>
<span><span>Experts agree that any request for money, and especially a request for a money transfer, should raise alarms. Western Union advises you to never send a money transfer to someone you have never met in person, and to be suspicious if someone asks for your financial information, like a credit card number or sensitive information, like your Social Security Number.</span></span>
<span><span>If you’ve sent money to someone via Western Union and suspect you’ve been scammed, call the company’s fraud hotline at (800) 448-1492. If the funds haven’t been paid out to the receiver, you may be able to stop the transaction. If the money has already been paid out, file a complaint and file a report with your local law enforcement agency. Scammers take advantage of good, intelligent people all the time. As you’re dating online, it’s important to know the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/fraudawareness/fraud-types.html" rel="nofollow">types of scams to watch for</a>, and to take steps to protect both your heart and your hard-earned money.</span></span>
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