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.
REUTERS – Feb 12 – China's Internet regulator will target fraud on dating sites. Dating websites must enforce online real-name registration and accounts failing to register with real names must be closed.
MARKETWIRED – Feb 5 – In 2014, 1.37% of all transactions on online dating sites were fraudulent. In comparison, iovation says 1.24% of all transactions it monitored across all industries in 2014 were fraudulent.
Top Types of Fraud
The highest percentage of fraudulent transactions on online dating sites in 2014 originated from these countries:
What Businesses Should Look For
Knowing the true location of scammers, and when they are hiding behind proxies or Tor, is extremely helpful. "We looked at a laptop that had visited 18 different dating sites within a month. Many of our clients had already associated the device with some kind of fraud. Since these 18 dating sites all use iovation's risk service, they understand the high risk of doing business with that device and deny the registration attempts," said Jon Karl of iovation. "When that same laptop visited our financial clients to set up money transfer accounts, they were denied as well."
DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA – Dec 9 – According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, total losses for dating and romance scams reached ~$23M this year. The ACCC has sent almost 1500 letters to potential victims in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory as part of its Scam Disruption Project.
by Nelson Groom
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk
MIRROR.CO.UK – Oct 17 – Four men were jailed for a total of ~14 years for the 'highly sophisticated' crime which used a false dating profile to snare victims. The victims were duped after they responded to the false profile of an "attractive middle-aged man" on match.com. They then fell for the conman's story that he was due to receive a £100M inheritance from his father but that it was tied up by red tape in India. At first the women were asked for a £700 legal fee by a fake solicitor but then the sums requested rose to up to £100K. In a statement, match.com said: "These verdicts show that scammers do get caught, though that's no consolation for those they exploited.
STL TODAY – Oct 11 – A Nigerian man, accused of running an online “romance scam” that victimized ~30 women in USA, has been arrested in London. He pretended to be a member of the military, using information and photos he’d stolen from real people on online dating sites.
by Robert Patrick
See full article at STL Today
ABC.NET.AU – Sep 14 – The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is concerned some websites do not screen their users closely enough, resulting in fake profiles that scam money from innocent people. In 2013, Australians lost $25M to dating and romance scams, the ACCC said. ACCC is also seeing problems about not being clear about costs, hidden fees, great difficulty at cancelling contracts. The ACCC is telling people to visit the ScamWatch website for tips on how to protect yourself or to report any suspect activity on dating sites.
AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS – Aug 11 – Following reports that 43 Australians have lost more than $100,000 each this year, with some victims sending more than $1m overseas over several years, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is joining forces with government anti-money laundering agents to implement an alert system for suspicious cross-border money transfers. Upon receiving an alert from the Australian transactions reports and analysis centre, the ACCC will contact suspected victims with warnings to stop sending money.
NBC NEWS – Apr 12 – In 2012, online dating scams cost Americans ~$55M, according to Internet Crime Complaint Center. Tinder is relatively new but extremely popular. "Because there are so many people using the app, it’s a ripe target for scammers," Satnam Narang, security response manager at Symantec. Scammers often use bots (software that can answer questions with automated responses) to initiate contact with people looking for a date. There have not been any headline-grabbing scams involving Tinder. But on other dating sites, people have been taken for thousands of dollars and allegedly convinced to do things like smuggle drugs into Argentina.
SBS.COM.AU – Apr 6 – Australians are losing ~$8M a month in online dating scam. Nigeria is certainly the hub. A research shows that for every dollar that goes to Nigeria, there’s another dollar and 4 cents going to one of 41 different countries. Australia has struck up a relationship with the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria and other law enforcement. There have been over 30 arrests in Nigeria, Ghanna and Malaysia. FTC in US has also entered a Memorandum of Understanding with Nigerian law enforcement.