As technology continues to evolve and we live more of our lives online, scammers are getting more sophisticated — and better at using our habits against us.
Although it’s become more common to build connections with people online, it’s important that you think twice before exchanging any money with these people. Romance scammers, for instance, can be patient, convincing and highly personal in their ruses. Older adults are often targets of cyber crimes: Last year, cyber crime complaints by people aged 60 and older included reports of average losses of $38,500, according to the most recent internet crime report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Here’s how to navigate the situation when someone you’ve met online asks for money.
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Why asking for money is the moment to slow down
You don’t know who is behind the screen. Some scammers pose as different avatars, hoping to win over your friendship right before asking for money. These same money requests will appear to be for genuine, urgent reasons, such as medical emergencies, travel snags, investment opportunities or family issues.
Scammers will often move conversations to social networks like WhatsApp, where it is more difficult to report fraud and get your money back. A simple rule is to avoid sending money to any person whom you haven’t met.
Check whether they are who they say they are
When someone asks you for money online, it’s time to question their true identity and intentions.
You can start by reverse image searching their photos. Google Images and TinEye are some of the free tools you can use to determine if their profile photo appears under another name or on unrelated sites. If it is a professional photo, it should appear on multiple websites under the same name.
While doing photo searches, you should also search for the person’s name plus a keyword like “scam,” “imposter” or “romance scam.” If this scammer uses this same tactic with multiple people, their name should come up. Any inconsistencies across listed names, location, ages, job histories or newly created accounts with little activity are red flags. However, other scammers may be aware of this strategy and use a different name and photo for each potential victim. You can also ask for a live video call.
One of the most important moves you can make is to tell a trusted person in your life about the situation and see if they can spot pressure tactics that you are too close to see. It’s good to have an extra set of eyes that can prevent you from making a financial blunder.
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Red flags that verification is not enough
If someone who requested money also tells you how to approach the bank, requests secrecy, uses urgency tactics or asks for gift cards or crypto, immediately disengage. It’s also a red flag if they want access to your account, promise to repay you after the crisis is resolved or ask you to receive or forward money.
Scammers can also pivot from romance to investments. Many investment scams involve crypto or foreign exchange, and they usually promise returns that are too good to be true. If you have already sent money to a scammer, immediately contact the bank, payment app, gift card company or crypto platform you used.
Immediately reporting is the best route to reclaiming your money, but you must do it quickly, and it’s not guaranteed. You should also report the scam to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI’s IC3 at ic3.gov. Then, block the person and report the profile on the app where the relationship began.
