City Of Boise: Scams This Week 2/14/22

Press release from the City of Boise:

February 14, 2022

Online Dating is very popular, but unfortunately so is scamming people with romance scams. You can be sure this Valentine's Day that scammers are also out ready to make a connection.

The Sugar Daddy Scam:

This type of scam is very popular on social media right now. This is where a scammer creates a fake profile and sends you a request. The image used by the scammer is usually a provocatively dressed female. Once you accept their request to follow, an offer comes from the profile that they will send more explicit photos or videos for subscription or money. This is a way for the scammer to obtain your banking information and personal identifying information for identity theft and credit card fraud.

The reverse of that is when the "Sugar Daddy" or "Sugar Momma" is the scammer. In this scam, the profile offers money for explicit images or videos. Just like the Photo Romance Scam, this quickly turns into blackmail, and unless you pay the video is sent to friends and family.

The Confidence Scam:

With the popularity of Online Dating sites, scammers adopted fake online identity, or take over (catfish) someone’s identity and then tries to connect with people. They develop a relationship, endear themselves to the victim, and once trust is gained, they began asking for money or asking the victim to accept funds and transfer money.

Some common excuses for needing money or being unable to communicate in a normal setting include:

As a general reminder, do not give personal identifying information, buy plane tickets for, or pay someone you haven’t met. Don't accept money from someone you have not met and never move communication off dating sites to less secure social media platforms.

Find more scam prevention tips on our website.

This press release was produced by the City of Boise. The views expressed here are the author’s own.