What started as a virtual flirt obviously ended with a rude awakening for one woman and the loss of several thousand euros. It was a love scam on Facebook!
A short chat or a nice email from a stranger – so-called love or romance scamming starts harmlessly. The scammers look for victims on online dating sites or social networks such as Instagram or Facebook and scour the member lists there. A short online invitation to chat serves as an initial contact for many people.
In order to make themselves interesting to potential victims, romance scammers create unusual life stories - and they always leave a serious impression.
Scam men pose as engineers, architects, sociologists, designers in the oil industry, veterinarians, computer specialists and US soldiers.
In the photos on the scammer profile, female victims are presented with an attractive white person - but the images are stolen. And even if the “new guy” claims to live in America or in other European countries, he is probably based in West Africa. However, the victims don't notice this because these chat acquaintances speak perfect English or use expensive translation tools for their emails.
Scam women prefer to pose as nurses, doctors, orphanage workers, teachers, actresses and businesswomen of all kinds.
The women in the pictures on networks and dating sites are extremely attractive. But these images are also mostly stolen or photographed solely for scamming. This can be seen in photo series with similar poses and clothing. Many women pretend to be Russian. But they can also come from South America, Thailand, Africa or Europe. All scamm women also have a perfect command of the English language, and sometimes even the German language.
Romance scams via Facebook
In the specific case from the Freudenstadt district, the first contact between the injured party and the fraudster took place via Facebook. They exchanged mobile numbers and then chatted via WhatsApp, among other things. Through clever communication over time, the alleged flirting partner persuaded the woman to transfer a four-digit sum, totaling several thousand euros, into an account twice.
Both parties remained in contact for weeks and the fraudster apparently succeeded in further developing the emotional bond between the victims and him. However, when the vile and highly professional sleazy comedian again demanded money in the form of prepaid cards, the woman became suspicious and she finally called the police on Monday. The responsible police station has taken over the investigation.
Tips and hints:
How do I recognize a romance or love scammer?
1. When contacting us:
Scammers get email addresses via networks or dating sites. A brief email in English with an invitation to chat serves as a lure. Since the scammers often work with German email addresses, it is rarely obvious that there is a scammer behind the nice lines. Stay away from chat names with unusual characters (e.g. percent signs) - these send software with your messages that can harm the computer.
2. On the language:
The scammers usually communicate in good English. Insiders assume that around 95 percent of English-speaking contacts on German dating sites are romance or love scammers. However, there are also many who speak perfect German.
3. On the pictures:
Scam women prefer to lure their victims with beautiful photos in which they are often scantily clad, while scam men often use photos of uniformed men.
4. The content of the emails:
After the first contact, scammers bombard their victims with lengthy letters full of bombastic vows of love. They are easy to recognize by their exuberant declarations of love and expressions of love. But there is another way: emails that appear serious should arouse interest. Scammers often want to know everything about their victim: hobbies, former partners, children, friends, and belief in God always plays a role. Important: The scammers soon refer to their new partners as “husband” or “wife” and make marriage plans. That's why the request for a visa or a joint account seems justified.
5. For connections to West Africa/Russia/Southeast Asia:
Whether it's a business trip or family problems, there are many reasons for a connection to Nigeria, Ghana, etc. Women, on the other hand, often live in Eastern European / Southeast Asian / South American countries.
6. For requests for money / visa / sending parcels or letters / joint account:
There are many reasons to ask the victim for money. If they refuse to send money, fraudsters will find other ways. This includes forged checks that are supposed to be deposited in Germany. At the moment there is a strong desire to be invited to Germany. Here the fraudsters not only want to live at the expense of their victims, but also continue to work on behalf of the Nigeria Connection. The fraudsters also manage to cleverly abuse the victims for their own purposes, for example by sending them letters or packages to third parties. Scam women often beg for invitations to Germany. The fraudsters often pretend to want to open a joint account with the victim and ask for copies of ID cards. The data is used to forge passports.
OUR TIP:
Enter the name of your internet acquaintance with the addition “Scammer” into Google, for example. In many cases, the search engine can confirm suspicions. If you were sent an image, you can use reverse image search to get additional information about the image.
It also makes sense that you use an alternative email address for online contact exchanges or for digital correspondence with a stranger. This way you can avoid having to delete your main email account in the event of fraud.
What to do if I've been scammed?
– Block the person
– Ignore requests
– Secure evidence
– Get help: Report this to your police.
Source: Pforzheim Police Headquarters
Related to the topic:
Love scamming: woman cheated out of a four-figure sum - police warn of fake soldiers
Love scamming: keep your eyes open when looking for a partner online
Military love scamming
Scamming - everything you need to know
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