Romance scams occur when a criminal adopts a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust. The scammer then uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to manipulate and/or steal from the victim.

The criminals who carry out romance scams are experts at what they do and will seem genuine, caring, and believable. Con artists are present on most dating and social media sites.

The scammer’s intention is to establish a relationship as quickly as possible, endear himself to the victim, and gain trust. Scammers may propose marriage and make plans to meet in person, but that will never happen. Eventually, they will ask for money.

Scam artists often say they are in the building and construction industry and are engaged in projects outside the U.S. That makes it easier to avoid meeting in person—and more plausible when they ask for money for a medical emergency or unexpected legal fee.

If someone you meet online needs your bank account information to deposit money, they are most likely using your account to carry out other theft and fraud schemes.

What makes romance and dating scams so devastating is that their victims are vulnerable, lonely people who often have a hard time handling the shame when the scheme collapses.

Many choose to suffer in silence, embarrassed to report their losses to the authorities or talk about them to friends/family.

According to the FTC, in 2019 alone, victims lost more than $450,000,000.00 to romance scams.

Since then, the numbers have likely grown even direr.

Compared to 2018, in 2019, romance scams netter cybercriminals 40% more money.

According to the same FTC report, in 2019, more than 25,000 consumers filed reports with the Commission in the US alone.

The global size of the romance scam “market” is difficult to ascertain.

To some, it may come as a surprise that most victims of romance scams are women.

Romance scammers are not picky, however.

They will target anyone, from any walk of life, as long as they suspect the victim may have savings or access to money that they can steal.

If you suspect an online relationship is a scam, stop all contact immediately. If you are the victim of a romance scam, file a complaint on the Apex ChargeBack homepage .

Tips for Avoiding Romance Scams:   

• Be careful what you post and make public online. Scammers can use details shared on social media and dating sites to better understand and target you.
• Research the person’s photo and profile using online searches to see if the image, name, or details have been used elsewhere.
• Go slowly and ask lots of questions.
• Beware if the individual seems too perfect or quickly asks you to leave a dating service or social media site to communicate directly.
• Beware if the individual attempts to isolate you from friends and family or requests inappropriate photos or financial information that could later be used to extort you.
• Beware if the individual promises to meet in person but then always comes up with an excuse why he or she can’t. If you haven’t met the person after a few months, for whatever reason, you have good reason to be suspicious.
• Never send money to anyone you have only communicated with online or by phone.
• They express strong feelings quickly and the relationship moves fast. You are made to feel special quickly.
• If you are chatting on your usual social media platform or an official dating service, they will quickly try and move the conversation offsite, for example to WhatsApp.
• Romance scammers will encourage secrecy and will influence you to only trust them. They may try to isolate you from your family and friends.
• There will always be an excuse why they can’t meet in person or show themselves on camera. They say they live overseas or somewhere remote, or their technology isn’t working.
  Watch out for follow up scams 

If scammers have been successful, they will try to get more money. Unfortunately, one in three victims of a scam have been scammed more than once.

If you’ve lost money to a scam, be especially wary of new scams – including if someone offers to help you get your money back

Never assume a person that you've only met online is who they say they are. Scammers go to great lengths to convince you the relationship is real and manipulate you to give them money. Romance scammers will leave you broke and broken-hearted.

Scammers will find you on social media, dating or gaming apps and websites. They might also text or email you. They hide behind fake profiles and identities, sometimes of famous people. They’re really good at making you feel special, so you believe the relationship is real.

Once you trust them, they have an ‘emergency’ and ask you to give them products or money to help them. Or they ask you to do things for them, like set up accounts or transfer money they give you. Scammers can wait years to build this trust.

Be careful what you share (and what you don't) 

• Never send intimate pictures or videos of yourself to people you don’t know. Scammers use these to blackmail people. 
• Don’t keep your online relationship a secret. Speak to people you know about it. It can be easier for others to spot the warning signs.
• Be careful about what you share about yourself online.  Scammers can use information about your hobbies, job or family to target you.
  How Romance Scammers Want You to Pay 

Scammers prefer payment methods that are difficult or impossible to track and reverse.

Thus, they will likely ask you to pay through a wire transfer, gift cards/reload cards, MoneyGram, Western Union, or an online remittance provider, such as Remitly.

If your new online “crush” mentions cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, this is a red flag.

Cryptocurrencies are notoriously difficult to track and recover, although organizations such as CNC Intelligence Inc. offer tracking and recovery solutions, it is best not to send the funds in the first place.

I am a victim to romance scam, how can I recover my money? 

If you've lost money or personal details to a scammer, you’re not alone. Hundreds of thousands of Australians are scammed out of their money or personal information every year.

There are a few important things you should do straight away to limit the damage and protect yourself from further loss. Victims to romance scam should go to the Apex ChargeBack homepage and open a romance scam case, fill the form, file for recover and we can help you recover your stolen money. Once our analysts check the legitimacy of your complaint, we will get back to you with solutions to get your money back. It is important that we know about these scams and tries to find the sources. However we will get back all your lost money.

The chance that you are going to get your money back with apexchargeback is 95% guaranteed. We will help you catch the individual behind the scam and bring them to justice to pay for all they steal from you, and they will be refunded back to your bank account within 6-14 working days.

The secret is that you should just know where to find the right assistance for this type of scam.

what is a chargeback?

A chargeback is the reversal of a transaction made by credit/debit card or wire transfer, or Cryptocurrency, Bank transfers e.t.c

When you have been scammed and you have paid money to them with your credit or debit card, or with a direct bank deposit, you can actually get your money back if you know how regulations and financial laws are working and you build a strong chargeback case. This is why we recommend Recovery experts such as our company to help you build such a strong case against this scam broker and bring them to justice.

Romance scams are unfortunately still a reality so you should be aware of it.