Valentine’s scams – watch out on 14 February

Valentine’s Day has its roots (perhaps a poor choice of words) in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, an annual fertility celebration commemorated annually. But it has become fertile ground for yet another batch of scams designed to give false hope, break your heart and empty your wallet.

In 2015, the D&D adult dating site Tinder experienced a 60% increase in matches alone, but according to ESET security, there was also a corresponding increase in romance scams. The result is that 2620 D&D Australians (and that is the number prepared to admit it) lost almost $23 million in romance scams – $4.4 million linked to Valentine’s Day scams.

A Tinder researcher and sociology PhD candidate, Jessica Carbino, noted that men turned to Tinder at a greater rate than women did on Valentine’s Day. “Men may also be more interested in having a Valentine than most people commonly thought. Normal user behaviour changes on that day,” she said, referring to males' almost irrational need to find a mate.

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Even the government got involved in warning “valentinos” and prospective lotharios about the scams. Victorian Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming & Liquor Regulation Jane Garrett, said “Don’t fall victim to online romance scams this Valentine’s Day. Look out for the warning signs and never send money to someone you’ve never met. These heartless fraudsters will do everything they can to convince you that the relationship is real before taking your money and running. Romance scams often cause financial and emotional distress. If you think you’re being scammed, report it as soon as possible so we can stop these criminals in their tracks.”

What can a poor D&D do?

Frequent iTWire commentator Nick Fitzgerald, senior research fellow from ESET, sees the seedy underbelly of scams. “Every year we see a spike in online dating activity around Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, this rise in traffic gives cyber criminals extra incentive to deploy scams. People need to stay extra vigilant and pay attention to the warning signs. The best tip for avoiding online dating scams is to follow your gut if something doesn’t seem right, it’s probably not.”

His advice:

Common online dating scams:

• Fake profiles: Commonly used to send seemingly harmless links that actually contain malware used to steal private information. They can also be used to ‘catfish’ people with the aim of convincing them to transfer money.
• Identity phishing: Scammers ask questions to try and find out small pieces of information to steal an identity and gain access to things like a bank account.
• Blackmail: Scammers will convince victims to send images or appear on webcam in a manner that could embarrass them if published online with the intention to demand money to keep it private.

The red flags:

• If someone comes on too strong. Beware if they say they “I love you” or “you’re my soulmate” after only a few hours or days of chatting online.
• If they ask you for money. If you decline and they lose interest straight away it’s very likely it was a scammer.
• If they’re never willing to speak on the phone or are keen to take communication off the dating site. Many scammers pretend to be from English speaking countries, so a phone conversation would easily blow their cover. Scammers will also try to take communications off the site as most monitor conversations for likely fraudsters.
• If they look familiar. Dating sites have been caught allegedly creating fake, attractive profiles using celebrity photographs, stock images of models or even photographs and personal details of real individuals stolen from Facebook. Scammers themselves also often use glossy, professional photos of models as profile pictures.
• If their social media profiles have only just been created. If you’re Googling your potential heartthrob and they’ve only recently joined Facebook, your suspicions should be raised.
• If they send a photo of themselves in a link. Scammers oftenpromise an image but instead send a file containing malware to steal personal information.
• If they ask you for specific personal information. As well as the obvious — financial information and addresses — be wary of anyone who seems overly keen to know your mother’s maiden name, favourite pet or first school i.e. Typical answers for password and security questions.

Tips to avoid being scammed:

• If you’re suspicious, Google the messages they sent you. Scammers tend to re-use the same ‘romantic’ messages, so if you find results from former victims you should start to worry.
• Don’t be ashamed to "play detective". Ask questions about them, especially where they work. If they never answer, that should be a red flag. If you can’t find them on LinkedIn or Google, then they probably aren’t real as it is almost impossible not to leave traces online these days.
• Don’t share ‘racy’ photos with strangers. Blackmail is a common dating scam, so do not send pictures of yourself, or appear on webcam in a manner that you would be embarrassed to see published online.
• Keep anti-virus software running. This will help mitigate potential damage from links and unwanted pop-ups containing malware. Note: If you’re looking to porn sites for some alternative entertainment this Valentine’s Day, be particularly wary about this. In the past scammers have been known to catch users in compromising positions through hacking their webcam and then blackmailing users by threatening to publish the content online.
• Be wary of profiles without pictures, details and interests. This is a clear warning of a fake profile.
• Stick to reputable sites. Major sites have a reputation to protect and will, therefore, invest in keeping you safe. Free sites are the most dangerous since the barriers of entry for cyber criminals are low. Make sure to read the site’s privacy policy before signing up.
• Keep it on the site. Don’t be persuaded to take conversations on to social media or private messaging as the site can no longer protect you.
• Don’t send money, ever. You might think it sounds like a no-brainer, but it happens more thank you think. The average online dating fraud victim pays over USD$13,000.

Fitzgerald says that Valentine’s Day scams are just the beginning, striking when, as Tinder’s Carbino puts it “normal behaviour changes on that day.”

“Online dating will only increase in the future, giving equal rise to online dating scams. For example, eHarmony has said that by 2040, 70% of couples would meet online. As online dating becomes the norm, users will inevitably become savvier about common scams and the red flags to watch out for. In saying this, cyber criminals continue to create more sophisticated scams to catch even the most seasoned online dater,” he said.

More tips on dating scams are on ESET’s We Live Security blog as well as further resources and support at Romance Scams.