Using web platforms to find your future partner can be extremely risky, especially if you frequent mail-order bride websites. Nowadays, scammers use these sites to extract money and sensitive information from their victims while pretending they’re romantically interested in them.
Perhaps the biggest issue with these scams is that they seemingly come out of nowhere. Just imagine conversing with someone for several weeks, which ends up in said person stealing your money. Not only do you have to deal with the financial loss, but you also need to tackle the heartbreak.
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6 Effective Ways to Recognize a Romance Scam
Unlike a regular person, people doing scams are top-tier manipulators. They can recognize small cues in your behavior that would tell them whether you’re the right material for this kind of hoax. After that, they’ll slowly start gaining your trust by saying and doing the things you would expect from them.
The good news is that it’s relatively easy to spot one of these insidious attackers. If you think about it, some of their requests are rather bold and most people wouldn’t ask you something like that. You should be especially careful if you haven’t made physical contact beforehand.
That being said, here are the 5 main tricks that scammers use to trick their victims on mail-order bride websites and regular dating platforms.
1. Quick to Say “I Love You”
For scammers to be efficient, they need to quickly drain money from one person and then switch to another victim. Because of that, the dating period has to be as short as possible. Even if artificial, they need to create a bond with their victims that would increase their trust.
One of the most common ways they get to you is by professing their love after several weeks of online dating (sometimes even less). As you could guess, it’s really hard to develop genuine emotions toward a person without seeing them live.
2. They Avoid Meetings
Many scammers come from countries different from your own. Furthermore, they will never put their face on the screen and, instead, they use images of hot young guys and girls. Using pics of some random web hotties also helps them catch the attention of more users.
Despite all the positive feedback and even professing love, they don’t actually want to meet you. This might seem normal if you’re living in different countries or states, but it will become suspicious if the scammer is in the vicinity. So, the best way to determine if a person is for real is by inviting them out for a date.
3. Scammers Ask for Money
One thing that is common for all scammers is that they always have some sort of excuse for why they need money so badly. In fact, whenever someone’s asking you for financial assistance, that’s a good indication of a hoax.
For example, they might ask for money for a sick relative, get funds from a war-torn country, pay for a funeral, and so on. These guys tend to be clever about their requests, so keep your eyes peeled. Whatever the case, avoid any financial transactions while dating online, and don’t give your credit card data to anyone.
4. Bots That Drain Your Wallet
Human scammers aren’t the only ones you should be worried about. Automated robots are another massive peril and they’re particularly common for online brides’ websites. Owners of these platforms install software that would chat you up in an attempt to get as much money as possible through messages and gifts.
Basically, these robots will interact with you as if they’re real humans. They will be endearing and will try to keep you engaged as long as possible. However, as these sites charge you for each message sent, you can quickly get into a financial hole. Many guys talk to these robots without ever realizing they’re getting duped.
The best way to address this issue is by trying to differentiate between humans and robots. The software can’t formulate sentences in the same way as humans and doesn’t use slang. Furthermore, their answers are often incoherent. The faster you notice an automated robot, the faster you’ll stop paying for unnecessary conversation.
5. Off-Site Activities
No matter the type of business you’re doing online, you need to stick to reputable intermediary sites. For example, if you’re looking for freelance work, you should always execute transactions on the platform without taking your business elsewhere. A similar rule goes for online dating.
Every once in a while, a scammer will ask you to continue your chat on an instant messaging service or social media. While chatting in a separate channel, they might send you a link that will take you to a commercial site that seems legit. When you get to this platform, they will extract all your information, including your credit card number.
So, while it’s normal to eventually transition to Instagram or WhatsApp, you should still avoid clicking on any links they provide. Most importantly, you shouldn’t leave personal info on third-party sites.
6. Nude Images
Sending you nude images isn’t necessarily a scam, but it’s definitely a way to take your hard-earned money. Many girls nowadays use dating platforms as an extension of their OnlyFans, trying to sell as much content as possible. The worst thing yet is that you’re probably not chatting with that woman and instead, you’re interacting with her sales team.
Last Thoughts
The best way to maneuver the dating minefield is by using common sense. First and foremost, you shouldn’t give money to anyone, nor should you share sensitive data. Furthermore, you should pay attention to any suspicious behavior, regardless of its form.
Always remember that if an offer is too good to be true, it’s probably a scam.
