MARIECLAIRE.CO.UK – Apr 18 – UK people lost £60M in relationship scams last year. Scamalytics, the company with a large anti-fraud database, says it now spots 60K 'romance scams' taking place in the UK every week. "The most common fraud is when people are asked to transfer money via Western Union or Moneygram", said Dan Winchester, founder of Scamalytics. Online fraud is a big and sophisticated industry. People might think they are messaging a person, when they're actually messaging a bot.
Category: Scammer
FBI Warns Online Daters: Don’t Be OKStupid
NEWSWEEK – Feb 13 – The FBI is using Valentine's Day as an opportunity to remind all online daters that criminals are lurking on dating sites by releasing a press release. While everyone is at risk of getting looped into romance scam, the most common targets are "women over 40 who are divorced, widowed, and/or disabled," the FBI says.
iovation’s Data On Online Dating Scams
MARKETWIRED – Feb 11 - In 2015, 1.39% of all transactions on dating sites were fraudulent, down from the 1.58% iovation saw in 2014. By comparison, the rate of fraud across all industries was lower than in dating.
Top Types of Dating Fraud
- Spam
- Identity mining
- Scams/solicitations
- Profile misrepresentation – fraudster posts inaccurate identity information in a profile and/or uses bogus profile photos
- Credit card fraud
The highest % of fraudulent transactions in 2015 originated from these countries:
- United States – 18%
- Ghana – 11%
- Nigeria – 10%
- France – 8%
- Vietnam – 7%
Scamalytics: Top Online Dating Chat-up Lines Used By Scammers
MIRROR.CO.UK – Feb 8 – Scamalytics has developed software to automatically recognize scammers and has come up with 19 of the most common phrases that should cause very loud alarm bells to go off. Here are some of them.
- "I am ready for a serious relationship and I really look forward to starting that with the right person."
- "I try to do my best in self-creation and in self-education."
- "I am a decent and faithful woman trust is very important for me."
UK Online Dating Site Users Lost ~£33M In Scam Last Year
BBC.COM – Oct 26 – Online dating fraudsters conned victims out of ~£33M in the last year, the UK's national fraud centre says. Action Fraud said 3,543 people reported falling victim to dating scams in 2014-15. It said dating sites "very rarely" vet members to prevent fraud.
Summarized by
BeehiveID To Host Fraud Prevention Webinar On June 4th
OPW – May 25 – BeehiveID is hosting a webinar called “Traditional Fraud Prevention is Costing you Customers” on June 4th. There will be two sessions – at 9AM CST and 3PM CST. BeehiveID helps ensure that people online are who they say they are in person. It analyzes an individual's social media history, their friends and posts to determine whether a genuine person or a spambot is posting. In this webinar, BeehiveID we will examine transactional tools traditionally used to fight fraud – how they work, and where they fall short. BeehiveID team will show you how person based data can be a much more effective barrier to fraud, as well as a critical tool for building safe online communities.
FBI Study Says Seeking Love Online Often Leads to Fraud
Australians Are Spending ~$75K A Day On Dating Scams
SHEKNOWS – Mar 30 – The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed that Australians spend $75K per day on online dating scams. Over just 12 months, ~$27M had been reportedly lost around the country through online dating scams, up from $23M in the previous year.
by Sarah Duncan
See full article at SheKnows
PhotoVerified Wants To Put An End To Fake Profiles
GLOBALNEWS.CA – Mar 12 – Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) says romance scammers often steal photos off social media sites and use dating sites to lure potential victims. The centre claims ~$13M dollars was lost to romance scams in 2014. John Maitland, a police officer and creator of PhotoVerified.com has developed a new app to help people avoid suspected scam artists. The app creates an authenticated photo of the user’s online account. PhotoVerified.com plans on connecting with dating sites to help verify the photos of its users. It is launching a crowd funding campaign on Monday Mar. 30, through Kickstarter.
Dating Fraud Increases By 33%
PRESS ASSOCIATION – Feb 12 – Online dating fraud has increased by 33% in the last year, according to National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). The fraud cost UK £24.5 – £34M over the same period. 57% of all crimes relating to online dating were reported by women, with those aged between 45 and 55 the most commonly targeted.
The full article was originally published at City of London Police, but is no longer available.