4 Signs Of Romance Scams You Need To Look Out For

In the age of dating apps and social media, romance scams are more prominent than ever before. It’s easy for people to fall victim to romance scams, so we’re here to introduce four signs that you need to be looking out for to help you avoid them and know when you need to take a step back! There are many forms of new scams that have developed over the last decade with changes in technology, from crypto scams to more advanced investment scams, and romance scams are unfortunately another example.

Not Wanting To Meet In Person

The first sign of a romance scam is when someone can’t/doesn’t want to meet in person, they won’t have any kind of video call and sometimes also won’t want to talk on the phone. They will often make up different excuses as to why this is but will say they still really want to talk to you and get to know you. On dating apps, they also are unlikely to be verified. Of course, someone who is trying to access sensitive information or money from you won’t want you to know their true identity, so if someone doesn’t want to meet in person or video call, take that as a red flag immediately. Someone may promise that they will come to see you in person, but then end up breaking those promises, so this is something to beware of as well.

Asking For Any Kind Of Financial Help

There is no reason for someone you’ve never met, or even someone you’re newly dating, to ask you for financial help. Often scammers will come up with emotionally driven reasons to ask for money, whether it’s to help them pay for a ticket to come and “see you in person”, they might claim a family member is sick and they need to pay for care, or anything else in between. Whilst investment fraud lawyers may be able to help you get back your money, you want to avoid getting to this stage if possible of course! You should never send money to anyone you’ve not met in person or anyone you’re newly dating either, nor should you send any kind of personal details.

Quick Professions Of Love

In order to build trust, often romance scammers will use quick professions of love as part of their ruse. Claiming to have feelings for you quickly, saying they can’t wait to meet you in person and generally love bombing are all signs that this person is not genuine. Whilst people can fall in love quickly, the chances of that happening without meeting each other are slim, so be cautious of this.

Wanting To Move To Another Platform

Another common sign of a romance scam is when someone wants to move away from dating apps onto text. Dating apps have been designed to monitor chat rooms and identify when they think someone may become a victim of a scam, so usually they’re quite quick to suggest moving onto text message or email in order to protect themselves. Whilst some people genuinely prefer messaging somewhere else instead, you should always be cautious giving away your phone number or email address to someone on a dating app. If you feel pressured in any way to move off the app, then definitely be careful.