Looking for love? Valentine’s Day is a timely reminder to keep yourself – and your family and friends – safe from dating and romance scams.
Dating and romance scams cost Australians more than $35 million in 2022 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s website Scamwatch shows. Sadly, the money is rarely recovered.
Dating and romance scams often take place through online dating websites, but scammers may also use popular social media or email to make contact.
So how can we ensure we protect ourselves and our friends and family who may be looking for love? Scamwatch has some simple tips to keep our heart and wallets safe from scammers:
- Never send money to someone you haven’t met in person.
- Always consider the possibility that the approach from a person may be a scam. Try to remove the emotion from your decision making no matter how caring or persistent the ‘prospective partner’ is.
- Do an image search of your admirer to help determine if they really are who they say they are. You can use image search services such as Google or TinEye.
- Be alert to things like spelling and grammar mistakes, inconsistencies in their stories and other signs that it’s a scam – for example their camera never working if you want to Skype or Facetime each other.
- Be cautious when sharing personal pictures or videos with prospective partners, especially if you’ve never met them before. Scammers are known to blackmail their targets using compromising material.
- If you agree to meet a prospective partner in person, tell family and friends where you are going. Scamwatch strongly recommends you do not travel overseas to meet someone you have never met before. Consider carefully the advice on smarttraveller.gov.au before making any plans.
- Be wary of requests for money. Never send money or give credit card details, online account details, or copies of important personal documents to anyone you don’t know or trust.
- Avoid any arrangement with a stranger that asks for up-front payment via money order, wire transfer, international funds transfer, pre-loaded card or electronic currency, like Bitcoin. It is rare to recover money sent this way.
- Do not agree to transfer money for someone else: money laundering is a criminal offence.
- Be very careful about how much personal information you share on social network sites. Scammers can use your information and pictures to create a fake identity or to target you with a scam.
Have you been scammed?
Members who think they may have provided their bank account details to a scammer should contact our Member Service Team immediately on 1300 688 825.
Report fraud or theft to the police – phone 13 14 44.
Scamwatch has a detailed list of actions to take if you believe you have been scammed. This includes recovering a stolen identity, how to make a report to Facebook, changing your online passwords and counselling and support services available.
You can report scams to the ACCC via the report a scam page which helps warn others about current scams along with monitoring trends
For more advice on how to avoid dating and romance scams and real-life examples, visit the Scamwatch page Dating & Romance scams.
