Romance scams on the rise as Americans look to dating apps for love: 5 tips to protect yourself

After losing her husband, "Beatrice" turned to an online dating tract for seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. She rapidly matched with and fell hard for a idiosyncratic she thought was a 66-year-old Spanish lumberjack who looked uncannily similar her husband. 

"I was missing not having him present to speech about, you know, what was going connected successful the satellite and everything," Beatrice, who asked that her existent sanction not beryllium used, told Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). "So, idiosyncratic suggested to spell online done a dating service… and this guy’s pictures amusement up and he’s just, you know, nary George Clooney, thing gorgeous, but successful fact, helium had a resemblance to my husband."

The antheral spent astir 4 months texting and calling the pistillate earlier helium felt helium had gained her spot – then, helium began asking her to ligament him money. 

Beatrice isn't alone. HSI said much than 70,000 radical reported falling unfortunate to romance scams successful 2022, according to the Federal Trade Commission, with con artists taking connected mendacious identities and swindling smitten suitors retired of their savings. 

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Almost 70,000 radical fell unfortunate to romance scams successful 2022, according to the Federal Trade Commission. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)

Meanwhile, less couples are gathering done friends and successful person, and astatine slightest 40% of them are gathering online, according to a Stanford University study. 

Although each property groups are susceptible to this benignant of fraud, older adults reported losing $240 cardinal to romance scams successful 2022, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

"Advising parents astir romance scams tin beryllium peculiarly challenging for big children," information privateness adept Marva Bailer told Fox News Digital. "Often, parents go enamored with their online relationships, mistaking flattery and affectional transportation for genuine affection. They whitethorn commencement by sending tiny amounts of money, believing they are helping a spouse successful need.

"As spot builds, these seemingly harmless gestures tin escalate, and earlier they recognize it, they are susceptible to a important fiscal loss. This affectional entanglement complicates the conversation, arsenic children strive to support their parents portion navigating the delicate equilibrium of respecting their autonomy and decisions."

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Adults looking for emotion "may commencement by sending tiny amounts of money, believing they are helping a spouse successful need," 1 adept warned.

U.S. authorities sometimes way scammers similar these to West African countries similar Ghana, where ligament transfers from different countries accrued from $500 cardinal successful 2010 to $4.6 cardinal successful 2023, according to World Bank data. But these scammers tin hail from anyplace and are notoriously hard to way down erstwhile they person been recovered out. 

Fox News Digital asked experts for communal informing signs of these romance scams and however to support yourself and your loved ones. 

"The tactics employed by romance scammers whitethorn alteration implicit time, but their halfway strategy remains rooted successful societal engineering – manipulating and influencing radical to summation their trust," Bailer said. "It is quality quality to question transportation and trust, a prime that scammers exploit mercilessly."

THE MYSTERY BEHIND THOSE CREEPY 'UNKNOWN' SPAM CALLS

Homepage for dating app "Tinder" connected an iPhone. (CyberGuy.com)

1. Look retired for communal romance scam informing signs successful online relationships: 

These are immoderate communal informing signs, according to the FBI and Federal Trade Commission:

• The idiosyncratic claims they live, enactment oregon are traveling abroad
• Despite claiming to beryllium proficient successful English, the idiosyncratic uses improper grammar
• The suitor claims to beryllium importantly younger than you are
• The idiosyncratic maintains a scant online presence, often claiming they are caller to online dating and don't person galore photos of themselves to share
• The idiosyncratic sends generic photos, indicating a luxurious lifestyle, that are often AI-generated
• The idiosyncratic requests oregon sends explicit photos and videos
• The suitor talks astir gathering soon, but ever comes up with excuses not to bash so, often astatine the past minute
• If the idiosyncratic does judge a video call, it whitethorn beryllium hard to intelligibly spot their face
• The idiosyncratic wants to determination speech disconnected dating platforms and onto services similar WhatsApp oregon Telegram
• The idiosyncratic rapidly professes their emotion for you, oregon "love bombs" you
• The suitor asks if you person ever invested successful online cryptocurrency oregon overseas markets, oregon sends links to cryptocurrency oregon overseas marketplace trading platforms
• The suitor becomes combative oregon evasive erstwhile questioned astir their authenticity
• The idiosyncratic has a backstory that seems unbelievable oregon inconsistent

2. Limit what you uncover astir yourself connected dating sites and societal media, and beryllium suspicious of unsolicited messages and calls

Zarik Megerdichian, who pioneered biometric authentication exertion Loop8, told Fox News Digital that "hackers cognize excessively overmuch astir us, acknowledgment to the inordinate magnitude of information we stock online" and that "bad actors tin usage our accusation to summation our spot and deceive america into disclosing more, including fiscal information."

Consider utilizing an alternate email erstwhile signing up for an online dating site, and adjacent keeping your illustration anonymous with a fake username. 

Although romance scammers often usage dating sites and apps, they person progressively utilized societal media to find targets, according to DHS. Using fake profiles, the scammer volition onslaught up a speech and commencement gathering a relationship. Once they've gained the societal media user's trust, they volition marque up a story, inquire for wealth and vanish erstwhile the transaction is completed. 

Tinder archetypal launched successful 2012 and has since been a fashionable mode of gathering caller people. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)

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Don't nonstop compromising pictures of yourself to anyone online, adjacent if you deliberation you cognize them personally – those photos tin beryllium utilized aboriginal arsenic blackmail. 

Be suspicious of immoderate unsolicited emails, messages, texts oregon calls. 

3. Approach online relationships slowly, and acceptable up a telephone telephone oregon video telephone aboriginal successful the relationship

Before deepening a narration with a idiosyncratic you person met online, inquire to talk implicit the telephone oregon via videochat. 

"If they agree, cheque for unusual effects similar unnatural facial expressions oregon hairsbreadth that doesn't look real, arsenic that could beryllium an denotation of a deepfake," DHS writes connected its website.

4. Do your ain snooping – reverse representation hunt their photos

Using Google Images, you tin spot if photos utilized connected societal media and connected dating profiles look elsewhere connected the net – oftentimes, "cat fishers" volition usage different individuals' photos to lure successful their victims. 

You tin right-click connected an image, click "Copy," past paste the representation astatine images.google.com. Google tin besides assistance find if AI was utilized to heighten the image. 

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5. Never springiness wealth to idiosyncratic you haven't met, particularly online

Romance scammers instrumentality vantage of their victims' bully will, psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert told Fox News Digital. 

"From a intelligence perspective, affectional vulnerability is simply a immense origin successful this arsenic [elderly oregon vulnerable] populations mightiness consciousness lonely, isolated oregon bare and are much apt to autumn for specified scams," helium said. "They are often exploited by the perpetrators arsenic they are validated by them and get the attraction they desire, albeit false."

No substance however moved you are by your online paramour's hard situation, careless of what they request wealth for, ne'er nonstop wealth to idiosyncratic you person lone met online oregon spoken to implicit the phone. 

Instead, notation them to exigency services, their ain families, oregon nonprofits.