Love is one of the great human emotions. It inspires stories, changes lives and shines bright on the silver screen. Which is why it is also one of the sweetest traps used by cybercriminals to steal money, identities and information. From the dodgy date on an app to the fake sugar daddy, there are several different types of romance scam and it is important to know how to identify them so you do not get caught. Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy and Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa, emphasises the importance of being able to spot a fraudulent romance tactic to protect yourself from emotional and financial harm.

The Dating Scam

“Dating apps are great because they have brought many people together,” she adds. “Unfortunately, dating apps do not only attract lonely hearts, they also attract scammers. These people are there purely to steal money or manipulate you into doing something you would not normally do.”

In many cases, the victim has been approached by a young and beautiful online personality and are convinced by their declarations of love, even when asked for money. Often, victims of cat phishing lose substantial amounts of money.

Identify that cat phish:

• The photo is model beautiful and looks like it came from a fashion magazine, and it probably did.
• You have never met them in person, or they come up with problems when challenged about meeting, such as a cold or no transport.
• They are from a foreign country or they are always travelling so it is not easy or cheap to meet up with them in person.
• They were proactive in contacting you – they got in touch first, they responded quickly and aggressively, they do not seem shy or wary. Beautiful people do not grow up being super forward on the dating scene, if anything they are wary and selective.
• They fall in love too fast – it should take longer than a few emails before someone says I love you to someone they have never met.
• They want to move to email, fast. They usually do this because they are trying to pull off numerous dating scams at the same time and their fake persona profile will likely be removed after enough complaints. Another red flag is if their email address does not match their name.
• They claim to be famous or have a doctorate, which is a common way of gaining trust.
• Their responses do not always make sense, which means a bot may be replying to you. If they have a Ph.D., then they should be able to spell, so this is also a red flag.
• Money is in every conversation. They need you to help with a sick relative, or to come and visit you, for a visa, and anything else under the sun.

To find out whether or not they are a scammer, ask for an updated photo and do an image search in your preferred search engine to see if the picture matches another profile or person. Ask for video calls as soon as possible to verify that the person behind the image is really the one you are talking to.

The Sugar Daddy Scam

“Another scam that is gaining ground is the sugar daddy scam,” says Collard. “Scammers use social media to target young women with offers of becoming their sugar daddy. They offer to pay them a weekly sum, but only after they have paid money into an account that has been set up for them.”

The sugar daddy con is all about trust. The scammers spend time gaining trust before asking for payment, and the payment is to activate an account where their sugar money is being held. The moment that the money is paid, the scammer disappears. Oftentimes, victims are too ashamed to report it.

Protect yourself against it:

• Do not answer messages in social media from people you do not know and check their profile to see if there is anything strange about it.
• Report profiles sending you inappropriate content or offerings.
• Ignore any messages promising free money, forever. They are too good to be true.
• Do not give out personal information.
• Take the time to research the person and validate their identity and the message.

Every one of these steps can be applied to any online interaction. Keeping your identity and money safe is essential, and the digital world can be very cunning when it wants what you have. So, pay attention to the warning signs and when in doubt, do not engage.