THE SUN – Feb 13 – Wayne May and Kari-Anne Liebling run ScamSurvivors.com, where they dedicate their free time to exposing online fraudsters. According to Action Fraud, people lost £41M last year. On average, Action Fraud received 10 reports a day from victims of romance scammers, with 18% of them being left at risk of bankruptcy. ScamSurvivors.com forum has been running since 2012 and Wayne claims they receive ~9K emails from all over the world every day. Wayne, who's day job is a carer, typically spends about five to six hours a day "volunteering" on the site. He doesn't charge for his services but people can make a donation to the site if they like.
Category: Scammer
Targets Of Online Dating Scams Lost $1B Over Last 3 Years, BBB Says
OMAHA WORLD HERALD – Feb 13 – An investigation by the BBB found that victims in the US and Canada have reported losing ~$1B over the last three years alone as a result of such scams. The BBB estimates that number is low, since many people are too embarrassed to report it. The common denominator among the victims: They believe they have found true love and will do anything to keep it. The FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Center estimates that, besides investment fraud, romance scams cause the greatest dollar loss of any fraud or scam affecting individuals.
Valentine’s Day Fuels Spike In Dating Spam, IBM Reports
EWEEK – Feb 12 – As Valentine's Day approaches, there has been an uptick in the volume of botnet spam sending fake dating messages, according to research by IBM. The dating spam is being delivered by the Necurs botnet and began growing on Jan. 16. Among the email subject lines were simply "Hi" or "Hey", with the body of the email claiming to be from Russian women living in the U.S. and looking for companionship.
Date Protect App Is Online Dating Safety Assistant
NEWSWATCHTV – Feb 5 – Date Protect is an online dating safety assistant that helps users stay connected with their loved ones, so they know their status throughout the date. All they have to do is download the app on their iPhone, upload a photo of the person they're meeting, and enter the address of where they're going to be.
Besedo Webinar: Ai, Scams And Government Legislation
OPW – Feb 4 – Last month, Besedo, the content moderation provider, hosted a "Romance scam webinar". They discussed which types of romance scams exist and how they are carried out, which dating scams are on the rise, the future of scams and how content moderation and AI can help you combat current and future scams to keep your users safe. The recording from the webinar is now live.
Online Sexual Harassment Gives Dating & Messaging Apps Unwelcome Attention
BESEDO BLOG – Jan 26 – According to one study in Australia, the harassment of women online has become a 'digital norm' with nearly half of all women experiencing abuse or harassment online – including 76% of those under 30. As more women take a stand on harassment, inappropriate comments are going to be called out more frequently. Companies have a huge social responsibility and need to weigh in too. Dating and classified sites can help protect their users via content moderation; an effective way of monitoring, flagging and removing inappropriate images and messages. Not only does it counter sexual harassment, it'll reduce user churn too.
Chinese Dating Apps Closed After Women Revealed To Be Robots
Online Dating Safety Tips
Besedo Webinar: How To Fight Romance Scams
- Which types of romance scams exist and how they are carried out
- Which dating scams are on the rise
- The future of scams. How technology is enabling new romance scam tactics
- How content moderation and AI can help you combat current and future scams to keep your users safe
Besedo is also attending the iDate conference that is taking place next month – January 24 – 26 in Delray Beach, Florida.
1.4 Billion Leaked Passwords Found On The Dark Web
