We all deserve happiness and connection. Whether starting fresh after a breakup or coping with loneliness, many people turn to online dating sites and apps hoping to find a partner. While the internet has opened new avenues for people to connect, it has also enabled scammers to exploit those whose are vulnerable.

What Is a Romance Scam?

Romance scams are, unfortunately, common on dating sites and apps. The scammers create fake profiles, often using stolen photos, to build online relationships with victims. They may communicate for weeks or even months, with the goal of gaining the victim’s trust to access their personal information and their money.

Eventually, the scammer may confess they want to finally meet in person, but claim they cannot due to financial hardships or distant deployments with the military, for example. These stories are scams, meant to extract money by playing on the victim’s emotions. The scammer may ask for cash to buy a plane ticket or help with alleged hospital bills.

No matter the reason, their end goal is theft through manipulation of someone’s loneliness and desire for love.

The Prevalence of Romance Scams Amongst Adults

In 2022, victims lost a staggering $1.3 billion to romance scams.

Most people who have fallen for these scams are between the ages of 35-60. Ages 60 and up are the ones losing the most money, but younger adults are targeted the most.

Red Flags that Indicate You’re Talking to a Romance Scammer

They’re Love Bombing

When dealing with loneliness or heartbreak, you may find yourself more open to finding and meeting new love interests. Scammers carefully target vulnerable individuals on social media and dating platforms. Their tactics are calculated to exploit common emotional needs and attachments. Initially, they may do things such as “liking” all your pictures, or emphasizing shared interests during conversation. This is designed to make you feel connected and understood by this stranger.

As they continue engaging with strategic flattery and affection, you may quickly begin idealizing this mysterious person despite knowing little about them. The scam is dependent on eliciting an intense emotional bond before you have time to rationally evaluate the situation.

Once you have fallen for the fabricated persona, they can further manipulate that attachment for personal gain.

They Seem too Good to Be True

Scammers can often make themselves seem too good to be true, which is why the  victim may become enthralled by them. They can convince victims to let down their guard. As the connection intensifies, so does the scammer’s control and influence. Victims are essentially falling in love with a fictional character fabricated solely for exploitation, which is exactly what the scammer wants to happen.

They Have Vague Communication

As the relationship begins growing, the victim may start asking  the scammer questions, such as where they live, their schedule, things of that nature. The love scammer then begins dodging questions or turning the attention of the conversation back to the victim. But the biggest takeaway from this is knowing that the scammer is taking the attention off themselves to help avoid having to explain things in detail.

They’re Always Unavailable

Scammers often make themselves unavailable when victims try to meet in person. They may claim that work is too busy, they can’t get leave, they’re dealing with personal issues, or they’re too embarrassed to meet out of fear the victim may reject them.

At first, these excuses seem reasonable. However, if the victim tries to FaceTime or video chat for just a few minutes and the scammer still refuses with similar excuses, it can a red flag something is wrong. A genuine love interest would likely find a few minutes, even during busy times, to chat over video if they cared for the victim. Persistent unavailability can suggest the scammer is hiding something and avoiding ever meeting face-to-face.

They Have Financial Issues

Scammers often manufacture financial troubles to exploit their victims’ empathy. First, they build a connection and earn the victim’s trust over time, despite never meeting in person. Eventually, the scammer shares a sob story about losing their job, needing money for medical treatment, or not having enough funds to finally meet the victim. They ask the victim for help, hoping to take advantage of their feelings.

The scammer requests money through gift cards, wire transfers, electronic transfers, or checks. They come up with believable reasons why they need these forms instead of cash. A victim falling for the scam is just happy to help the person they care for get through a rough patch or meet at last.

But no matter the form, the money sent can end up funding more scamming operations rather than actually helping a person in need. The scammer often quickly disappears after receiving the funds. Their financial troubles were just a hook used early on to eventually extract money once the victim’s guard was down.

They Attempt to Isolate You

Scammers often attempt to isolate victims from concerned friends and family. When the victim explains the suspicious situation, their loved ones rightly warn them not to trust the scammer.

In response, the scammer tries to sow doubts about these friends and family. They say things like “they don’t understand our connection,” “they just want to come between us,” or “what we have is real love.”

This emotional manipulation isolates the victim further. It aims to undermine outside perspectives and keep the victim trapped in the scammer’s web of lies. The scammer wants the victim to rely only on their words so they can continue exploiting the victim’s trust and affection.

You Have a Gut Feeling

Scammers are experts at making victims feel like the most important person in their world. They shower praise and affection, making the victim feel treasured. But it’s critical to look past the sweet words at the actual relationship track record.

Healthy new relationships do not generally involve constant financial requests to deal with life’s ups and downs. So, if a supposed love interest has refused to video chat or meet in person but keeps having crises requiring money, it should raise alarms.

When something feels off in your gut, pay attention, even if the scammer’s words resonate emotionally. Do not let requests for money without reciprocal effort on their part drag on. Though painful, you should cut contact at the first signs of deception. Allowing it to continue may only enable the scammer to keep manipulating your longing for affection.

Bottom Line

Falling victim to romance scams can be devastating, both emotionally and financially. However, being aware of common tactics and warning signs can help you protect yourself and loved ones. Approach new online relationships with caution, watch for inconsistent stories and unavailable contacts, and resist requests for money. Should you suspect a scam, cut off contact immediately and alert the dating site or authorities.

If you end up providing personal information to a scammer, IdentityIQ identity theft protection services can help by alerting you in real-time when someone suspiciously uses your financial or identity information.

As technology advances, the tricks scammers use to get your personal data and money have also become more complex and corrupt. Hacking into computers has been a thing for decades, but what do you know about the process of cloning mobile phones?

What is Phone Cloning?

Phone cloning is when an exact replica of a mobile phone is created. This includes copying the international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number. That means the phone’s identity is duplicated and put into another phone. Most times, phone cloning is created when you transfer old data from an old phone to a new one.

But, scammers have started to clone phones to access people’s personal information and steal from the victims.

How Does a Phone Cloning Scam Work?

Early on, it was thought your phone number was the way to access your important information. We receive text messages from banks, places where you make payments such as your car insurance or other businesses to verify your identity. The phone number can be ported to a different mobile device whereas the scammer now has gained access.

Scammers also can pretend to be the victim after stealing personal information from them and call their cell phone provider to gain access to their personal information. If the person from the cell phone company falls for a lie, the victim’s phone and personal information is sent over to a new device where the scammer can proceed with his fraudulent activities.

Another way for scammers to clone phones is to physically steal the victim’s SIM card out of their phone. The SIM card has a unique ID and stores the victim’s personal data. Once they have access to that, they can put the SIM card in another phone or device. This can lead to the scammer being able to access the victim’s financial information, medical records, investments, or anything they normally access daily that the scammer can make a profit from

How to Help Prevent Phone Cloning Scams

Limit the Personal Information You Share

Be extremely cautious when sharing any of your personal information online. If you are speaking to someone online about investments, money, or anything along those lines, research that person first and their company before sharing any of your sensitive personal information.

Also, be leery that if you are talking to someone who claims they are someone you are close to, reach out to that person directly to see if they are in fact who you are talking to. Scammers like to act like they are someone you are close to or know, so you freely tell them information about yourself because you trust them. Always question them before revealing any type of personal information.

Some people like to post their information on social media and pin drop or link their current location with pictures and addresses. You may not have realized that now someone who has had eyes on your profile has identifiable information they can use for identity theft.  Be very mindful of what you are posting and make sure none of your personal info is in any posts.

You should get in the habit of regularly checking the protection, privacy and security features on your phone and apps. The built-in security normally has updates that you should do every time you are asked. This is so you can continue to keep your information private and keep scammers from trying to access it.

Protect Your Accounts

Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for your cell phone. Most phones have facial recognition, which has become normal. But there is still the code to unlock your phone or thumb or fingerprint access as well. The more security, the better. If a scammer or a hacker gets a hold of your phone, if they do not have that information, they can be less likely to access your phone.

Change your passwords on the apps on your phone every couple of months. Sometimes scammers are just waiting for the right moment to attack, but without the password they are less likely to be able to access your information.

If you start noticing suspicious activity on your account, report it immediately.

Don’t Fall for Phishing Scams

In the event you receive text messages or emails from a company or someone wanting to help with your account or stating your account has been compromised, do not give them any of your information. They might be scammers trying to get you to let your guard down so that they can use your information fraudulently. Do not click on any links in emails, those links can have malware and other viruses to corrupt your smartphone.

Check the websites, email addresses, and phone numbers they are calling from to see if they are legit. It’s always best to go to the company or organization’s official website and contact them directly.

Monitor Your Personal Information

You can monitor your personal information – such as your name, address, email address, Social Security number, and more – with IdentityIQ identity theft protection. IdentityIQ identity and credit monitoring alerts you in real-time if there is possible suspicious activity involving your financial or personal information.

FAQs

How can I reverse phone cloning?

Reversing a phone that has been cloned is a lengthy process. But it is possible. You need to call your mobile provider to tell them what has happened. Law enforcement should also be contacted, so a report of the fraud is documented

What is a port-out scam?

A port-out scam is when a scammer transfers a victim’s phone number to another phone provider. After the scammer accomplishes that, they can access authentication codes and other personal information that was on the phone to take the victim’s identity or access financial and other personal information. Having a strong personal identification number (PIN) can help stop the scammer from accessing the phone.

Bottom Line

Make sure that you are changing your passwords on your apps every couple of months, do not share your information online, and never access or click on emails or strange text messages that you do not know. Updating your privacy and security software is also a great way to stay protected.

Monitoring your identity and other personal information is essential. Using IdentityIQ identity theft protection services help you monitor your personal information, so you can be alerted for possible suspicious activity.