For Scammers, It’s Not About Love, It’s About Your Money

Romance is in the air as Valentine’s Day approaches. But for scammers, it’s not about love. It’s about gaining access to your money.

Romance fraud exploits intimate relationships for personal gain. Some common types of romance fraud include love bombing, catfishing, and inheritance.

• In “love bombing,” the scammer will take their time earning a person’s trust before expressing messages of love and asking for money. One such scammer, “Tony” cost AARP Pennsylvania Volunteer Kate tens of thousands of dollars. “Tony” reached out to her on Facebook with a friend request.

“We got friendly very quickly and moved off Facebook onto an app so we could talk to one another. And we spoke for a few months before he ever asked for any money, so there was a layer of trust,” said Kate who now warns others about the devastation of romance scams through AARP’s Fraud Watch Network.

• On dating sites, a “catfishing” scammer will create a fake online profile using an attractive fake photo. Once a person matches with this phony profile, the scammer moves the relationship forward quickly. He or she will express their love and ask to take the conversation off the dating app and use Snapchat or WhatsApp. Then this “perfect match” will begin asking for personal information or money.
  
• After developing a romantic relationship with someone, a scammer will convince them that they are going to receive a large inheritance, but they need to pay unexpected expenses that they can’t afford. By holding out the idea of future wealth, the scammer begins to ask for money to pay for the expenses regarding this non-existent inheritance. Once the money is in the scammer’s hands, he or she disappears.

“Romance scams can happen to any gender and are devastating financially and emotionally,” said Mary Bach, AARP Pennsylvania Volunteer and Chair of the Consumer Issues Task Force. “These scammers are very skilled at creating personas and exploiting a person’s vulnerabilities. Remember, if someone never attends a video call or other means of live interaction, it should raise concerns about their true identity.”

Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Pennsylvania Fraud Resource Page at aarp.org/pafraud.