Online Dating Scams To Look Out For

Unfortunately, scammers stop at nothing, not even your love life. These thieves are so good at what they do because of their ability to gain your trust. Using the websites or apps for dating is a vulnerable place for most, and scammers know that. Below you will find online dating scams to look out for and ways to prevent yourself from falling prey to them!

Fake Profiles

This is something that is more common than you think. Fake profiles are usually real people who pose as someone other than themselves. These scammers will create an image they know will gain attention. For example, Tinder will show a photo and short bio for all its users; this makes it easy to fake an identity. Some may call this catfishing, but it can much further than that.

Catfishing is know as a way to lure (someone) into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona. Once this person lures in a victim, they have the power to swindle and steal private information from them. Google Image Search can help find the source of online profile’s photos.

Scripted Love Letters

Nobody wants to believe that the person they are romantically talking to is a liar. Feeling validated is a great feeling, and this is something scammers are very aware of. They tug on your heart strings in hopes of eventually gaining enough personal information from you to steal money, passwords, or even worse, your identity.

Now-a-days there is a way to check if a message sent on a dating site is genuine or not. Simply copy and paste the message into any search engine and see if this text was put on the web before. There are also sites like, ScamWarners, that have pages of commonly used text, phrases, and messages by scammers.

If you find any indication the message sent have identical or similar langue in other links, this is a serious red flag!

 “Soldiers” Asking For Money

Photos of military men and women are known to be used on dating sites. Scammers pull these photos from the web and use them to their advantage. This tactic is used to get credit card information or to get the victims to send money. They pose as military claiming to need money to get back into the United States to see/date the individual they are scamming.

It is a fact that under no circumstances does a U.S. Military member need to come up with their own cash for medical care, administration fees, and/or transportation.

Asked To Move Conversation To Another Place

Scammers look for victims on several different platforms, which can get confusing. If they ask you to start talking to them through a specific messaging platform, other than text message, this is a cause for concern. Organization is important for a serial scammer, and getting all their victims in once place makes things even easier for them. Common apps used are Kik, Viber, and WhatsApp.

Be Your Own Detective

Does this person have mutual friends with you? Contact those you have in common to be sure it is a real individual.

Does this person have other social media profiles that match up to the one you found on a dating site or app? If not, don’t assume they are just new to social media. Be very wary of these types of profiles.

Does their profile(s) give very little evidence they actually exist? Look around for family photos or photos/outings with friends.

Were people wishing them happy birthday on their social media pages? A real person will have real friends that want to make them feel special on a day like their birthday. Most of the time, if this turns up empty, you’re dealing with a scammer profile.

Have you been a victim?

If something like this has happened to you, report it! The FBI has a place to report internet crime. There are so many online scams to look out for! Lastly, if you are afraid the person who hijacked your information may still have access to it, call My Computer Works today!

877-629-6972

My Computer Works can help you avoid situations like this! We are your friends in the tech support business. Check us out on the Better Business Bureau, we are A+ rated! You can also check out our reviews here!