BBC NEWS – Feb 12 – A new UK campaign, Date Safe, is a partnership between Get Safe Online, Victim Support, AgeUK, City of London Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Online Dating Association. Date Safe suggests criminals are using love letter templates and an online search could flag up some of the stock phrases. Police say the average dating scam victim is aged 49 and loses £10k. While most activity occurred on dating websites, the majority of the 15% that did not was carried out via Facebook. Criminals can purchase scam "packs" containing love letter templates, photos, videos and false identities for as little as a few dollars on the dark web, said Prof Alan Woodward, cybersecurity expert at Surrey University.
Category: Scammer
Americans Are Overly Cyber-Confident, Survey Shows
PR NEWSWIRE – Feb 8 – Blumberg Capital, a San Fran based early-stage venture capital firm, today released findings that reveal 60% of Americans believe they have never been a victim of cyber hacking or are unaware if they have. In fact, statistics reveal nearly the opposite is true. In the U.S. alone, $15B was stolen from 13M American consumers in 2015. Baby Boomers are more likely to believe they have never been a victim (54%), while Millennials are more suspicious that they may have been comprised (32%).
Romance Scam: The Most Costly Internet Scam
CONSUMERAFFAIRS – Feb 2 – National Consumer League reports the amount of money consumers lost to Internet scams last year rose significantly. In reported complaints, the median financial loss was $600, double the amount in 2015. The median loss in romance scams last year topped $2K.
UK Online Dating Fraud Victim Numbers At Record High
BBC.COM – Jan 23 – According to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, there were 3,889 victims of romance fraud last year, who handed over a record £39M. One woman who lost ~£300,000 says she felt emotionally "brutalised". She met the scammer on Match.com. Match.com says it provides regular advice on how to stay safe and suggests members keep conversations on the site "so that our customer care team can identify abnormal activity".
Scamalytics Partners With M14 Industries
PRESS RELEASE – Nov 17 – Scamalytics is partnering with M14 Industries, a white label dating provider. Scamalytics' technology incorporates machine learning, real time detection, text pattern analysis and image recognition to eliminate scammers from dating sites. This combined data has also enabled them to create the industry's largest shared scammer database. Scamalytics also work with Global Personals, Cupidmedia and Dating Factory.
Dating Website Users Fall Prey To Fake Profiles
How To Spot An Online Dating Money Scam
WASHINGTON POST – Aug 25 –
AsianD8 Joins Scamalytics
PRESS RELEASE – Aug 23 – AsianD8 is the latest member to join Scamalytics, the security company that identifies scammers in real time. AsianD8.com is an Asian niche dating site with ~20k active users. Active for the past 10 years, the company also runs 200 singles events every year.
Tinder Users Being Conned Into Paying Over $110 A Month In New Scam
HUFFINGTON POST – July 21 – Security providers Symantec have written on their blog about a reported rise in a particular type of scam that offers "a free verified service" but takes users credit card info instead and sign them up for an adult webcam site for $118/month.
23 Online Dating Statistics
CREDIT DONKEY – May 9 –
- Online dating is on the rise.
1 in 10 adults in the U.S. have used an online dating. ~66% of them have gone on at least one date with someone they met through a dating site. - More than a third of singles check out online dating sites.
- It's especially popular among younger daters.
- The number of dating sites continues to grow.
- And they're cashing in on hopeful singles.
- One site dominates all the others.
- Finding love doesn't come cheap.
- Online dating leads to marriage for some.
- Matches made online tend to last longer.
- Happiness levels also tend to be higher.
- There's a certain amount of risk involved.
There were ~5,600 complaints of online dating romance scams reported to the FBI in 2011 alone. - Victims are paying the price.
- Women are targeted more often than men.
- They're also more vulnerable to inappropriate advances.
- You can't accept someone's profile at face value.
- Some online daters don't actually exist.
- Most people think online dating is a good way to meet people.
- Although it does have its critics.
- Browsing dating sites can be time consuming.
- Weather patterns influence online dating activity.
- Certain cities are better than others for online dating.
- Especially if you're a man.
- The new year is the best time to look for a date.