Romance Scams Target Georgians Costing Them Millions: FBI

GEORGIA — With Valentine's Day nearly here, the FBI warns Georgia residents to be on the watch for signs of romance scams. They cost many trusting residents in the Peach State millions of dollars in 2020.

People of all ages are victims of thieves, the FBI said, but older women are most often targeted in confidence scams using a romantic relationship to swindle them out of their money, personal and financial information.

According to the Georgia Attorney General's Office, in a typical romance scam, fraudsters create a fake online profile using someone else’s photos. They profess their love early on, even though they have never met you.

They encourage you to communicate with them via email, phone or IM, rather than through the online dating site, so that the dating service won’t have a record of the conversation. They often claim to be traveling, in the military, or living or working abroad to explain why they are unable to meet in person.

“Because of the limits on socializing due to COVID, many people are feeling isolated and lonely, making them particularly vulnerable to scammers,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr previously warned. “These fraudsters try to exploit people’s emotions in order to get them to send money. We encourage everyone who uses online dating apps to learn the hallmarks of romance scams so they don’t become a victim.”

Once the scammers have your romantic interest and your trust, they make up stories about how they urgently need money and ask you to send it to them immediately via wire transfer or gift cards.

In 2020, Americans lost over $281 million to romance scams, according to the FBI. In Georgia, 515 victims reported being conned with romance scams, amounting to over $9 million lost.

Skepticism is healthy before entering into an online relationship, the FBI said. Some red flags:

• After initial contact on a legitimate dating site, the person attempts to communicate by email or messaging services.
• The person claims to be from the United States but lives or is traveling abroad.
• The person claims the relationship is “destiny” or “fate.”
• The person reports a personal crisis and exerts pressure for financial help.
• The person disappears suddenly, then reappears under a different name.
• The person asks for goods or money before an in-person meeting.

Some tips to protect yourself:

• Never send money or wire transfers to someone you meet online.
• Never share banking or credit card information with anyone whose identity you haven’t verified.
• Never share your Social Security number or other personally identifiable information with anyone who doesn’t need that information for legitimate reasons.
• Be mindful of what you post on social media posts and your general online presence. Scammers can use details shared on social media and dating sites to better understand and target you.
• Research the person’s photo and profile using online searches to see if the image, name or details have been used elsewhere.
• Go slowly and ask the other person lots of questions.

Americans’ growing comfort with online platforms has opened new avenues for chiselers, experts say.

“More and more Americans are generally more comfortable meeting online for platonic and romantic relationships, and these scams are following them, whether it's apps or social media sending them friend requests or instant messages on Facebook saying, ‘I’m in love with you’ and then asking for money,” Kathy Stokes, the director of AARP’s Fraud Prevention Program, told Patch in 2019 for a story about scams targeting older Americans.

Related: Scammers Are Scaring And Extorting Millions From Your Aging Parents

Making it worse, many people — especially those who are older — are reluctant to admit they’ve been scammed for fear they’ll be seen as naive or incompetent.

“For people who are relatively well-educated and think they’re savvy, it’s very demoralizing and shameful to admit they fell for something,” Stokes said. “We as a society blame victims of scams in a way we don’t blame other crime victims. We need to flip the narrative — ‘this happened to me and I’m empowered to tell my story so others won’t feel the same embarrassment.’ ”

Anyone who believes they’re the victim of the romance scam should report the activity to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Also, the FBI said, one of the first calls people who have been swindled should make is to their banks, credit unions and credit card companies. They should also report it to the website or application where contact began.