Valentine’s Day & Scammers

 SUMMARY: With Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, it’s a good time to remind online daters that wrapped up in all the hearts, flowers, romance, and candy are alarm bells and warnings to beware of the romance scammers. They love Valentine’s Day as a way to get into your heart to steal you blind.

The headlines are heartbreaking.  “Texas Couple Sentenced in Romance Scam That Targeted Elderly NJ Victim,” “Romance scammers stole $86K from a 74-year-old retiree before his suicide,” “Granddad cleaned out in $200k online romance scam, family sounds alarm.” ”Woman’s $1M loss held up as romance scam warn­ing.

It’s sad, but the facts are clear. When it comes to romance scams, seniors are especially vulnerable. In 2024, older Americans lost a whopping $389 million dollars to romance fraudsters. Since then, the fraud numbers have exploded, in large part due to the emergence of AI and cryptocurrency, and seniors aren’t the only victims.

FAST & FURIOUS

As artificial intelligence tools become more sophisticated, it’s getting easier for scammers to pull a fast one and lure victims into their trap. AI allows scammers to create deepfake videos by swapping out faces and cloning voices. They can easily generate fake videos and photos. 

In online dating, scammers are quite adept at zeroing in on the lonely or those craving companionship. They recognize it and work hard to gain your trust. They might love bomb you.  Love bombing is a classic tactic and Valentine’s Day is the perfect holiday for launching the love bomb. Scammers will shower a target with over-the-top displays of affection. What better occasion than the holiday for love?

Love bombing is a huge red flag that scammers hope you’ll ignore. They’ll try to keep you off balance with their outpouring of love. They hope you’ll ignore your intuition, but you must listen to your instincts to spot the big red flag telling you to walk away. If you feel like something’s off or that the relationship is moving too fast, you’re probably right.

PIG BUTCHERING

It’s not an elegant term, but when you consider its origin, pig butchering is an accurate description of a long con that exploits both emotional and financial vulnerabilities in those who are targeted. The term “pig butchering” originated in China around 2019, where it’s called “Shazhupán.”  

Just like pigs who are fattened up for slaughter, so are the scam victims. They’re “fattened up” by being lured into what they believe is loving and trusting relationship. But it’s all a con. The fraudsters create this false sense of intimacy and romance with one goal in mind – to financially “butcher” their victims, leaving their bank accounts drained and empty.

It is insidious and cruel. By the time the scam is underway, the victim’s love is so intense that it becomes nearly impossible to say no to the scammer.

AI AND CRYPTO

The scammers often use cryptocurrency investment schemes to defraud their victims. Thanks to the rise in AI, they can easily create fake identities and deepfake videos. It’s estimated that by using AI, the fraudsters can gain up to four-and-a-half times the revenue per scam than in the past. This has turned crypto fraud into 14-billion dollar a year criminal industry.

One victim, a Utah woman named Anola Johnson, suffered a devastating financial loss when she was lured into a cryptocurrency scam, ultimately losing a whopping $850,000.  Like so many other victims, Anola was carefully groomed. She was love bombed by her scammer before slowly being drawn into the scheme. 

Anola now hosts a podcast, which she hopes will help others protect themselves from becoming a victim.

SPOTTING & STOPPING THE SCAMS

Fortunately, there are ways to detect and stop the scams. First, you spot the red flags by trusting your gut instincts. The red flags include:

-          Being pushed to move off a dating platform.

-          Feeling like things are moving too quickly.

-          Hearing stories of huge financial success.

-          Being urged to invest.

-          Being directed to unfamiliar trading platforms.

Along with being on the lookout for the red flags, there are simple steps you can take to avoid being a victim, such as:

-          Never send money to someone you’ve just met.

-          Trust but verify. Use background checks.

-          Slow things down. Refuse to move quickly in the relationship. Scammers will often lose interest and move on.

There are numerous ways to determine whether a video is an AI deepfake.  Things to look out for include:

-          Does it include a watermark? AI videos will have one.

-          Can you easily identify the source material? If you can, it’s probably real.

-          Is the audio off a little? If so, it’s probably fake.

-          Is the text distorted? If so, it’s probably fake.

Thankfully, along with the rise of AI is the rise of AI video detection tools, which can also give you peace of mind in your search for an authentic, loving and trusting relationship. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!