Online Dating Scams

I received an e-mail this morning from a lovely woman from Washington. I was a little worried about what she was saying, so with her permission I want to share her concerns.

Hi Michael,
I’ve been talking to this guy online for about 6 weeks now and he’s having a little trouble at home. His ex-wife still has her name on their bank account and has frozen his assets, and he doesn’t even have money to do the grocery shopping. He said that his brother is coming up next month to help him out, but he doesn’t know what to do until then. Do you think I should help him out?
Thank you,
Samantha
Washington

This, my friends, is what a giant, waving, bright red flag looks like!  You always hear horror stories about people falling into scams with people they met through online personals, but you never understand why people fall for it. Well, it’s usually situations like this.

Scammers usually establish a relationship with the person so they feel safe giving away their personal information. If anyone ever asks for your credit card information, don’t under any circumstances give it out.

If you are in a situation like Samantha and you actually do want to help him out, take precautions. Make sure that past stories they’ve told you are consistent. If they’ve lied about something before, there’s a good chance they’ll lie about this.

Always ask for a phone conversation before you meet. Instincts are a great thing, and you can usually tell someones intent by the tone of their voice and the manner in which they talk. If they show signs that they’re not how they portrayed them self to be online, then think twice about going.

If after all that you DO want to meet up for a date to help him out, then pick a safe, public place to meet in and tell a close friend or family member where you are going to be, and a time for them to call you to make sure you’re alright. If you get there and it turns out that he was trying to scam you out of a lot of money, then you’ll have a support system around you. You’d be surprised how helpful strangers are when someone is in need.

When it comes down to it, you should always trust your gut. If something seems fishy about the situation, then it probably is. Don’t let yourself be another internet statistic because you weren’t careful enough to cover your tush. Be safe, stay smart, and remember: never give out your credit card information.