{"id":20056,"date":"2024-02-09T13:11:38","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T13:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ccpc.ie\/consumers\/?p=20056"},"modified":"2024-03-12T08:22:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T08:22:19","slug":"romance-scams-are-on-the-rise-dont-let-love-blind-you-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ccpc.inventise.ie\/consumers\/2024\/02\/09\/romance-scams-are-on-the-rise-dont-let-love-blind-you-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Romance scams are on the rise, don\u2019t let love blind you online!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We live in the era of online dating. Whilst many people do meet their perfect partner on reputable dating sites, it can prove a minefield for others trying to find love online. As Valentine\u2019s Day approaches, many singletons seek their true love but not everyone is who they seem online!<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to be alert for fraudsters who use these platforms to scam and swindle those looking for love. We have some advice on what to look out for and the steps you can take to prevent yourself falling victim to a dating scam.<\/p>\n<h2>How a dating scam works<\/h2>\n<p>As with other scams, dating scams try to con you out of your personal and financial information. The aim is to catch you off guard and trick you into handing over bank account or card details. A dating scam is particularly difficult as it plays on your emotions. The scammer forms an emotional connection with you, wins over your trust and builds up your expectation of a long-term relationship. Single people who might be lonely and are eager to meet that special someone, can be taken advantage of in this way. Once they\u2019ve built up trust, the scammer will make their move, asking for financial help.<\/p>\n<h2>Romantic red flags<\/h2>\n<p>A scam artist will set up a fake profile on a legitimate dating site and pretend to be somebody they\u2019re not. Their photos will typically be fake.<\/p>\n<p>You should be wary if your love interest:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Promises to meet you without making a genuine effort to do so<\/li>\n<li>Asks you lots of questions but reveals little personal information themselves<\/li>\n<li>Wants to move your conversation quickly from the dating site to another channel<\/li>\n<li>Declines to do a video call with you repeatedly<\/li>\n<li>Gives you a hard luck story, for example \u2013 they have a sick parent in hospital<\/li>\n<li>Suddenly asks you for money to help with their hard luck situation or crisis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"toptip\">\n<h3>Top Tip<\/h3>\n<p>Never send any intimate photos of yourself to somebody you\u2019ve met on a dating site. Scammers extort money from their victims by threatening to humiliate them and post these images across social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Steps you can take<\/h2>\n<p>There are ways to keep yourself safe while dating online:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Don\u2019t share too much of your own personal information on your dating profile<\/li>\n<li>Tell your close friends or family about any new online relationship you start<\/li>\n<li>Never transfer money to a potential partner online no matter how genuine they seem to you<\/li>\n<li>Cut all contact if you\u2019re asked for money. You can block and report scammers on most chatting apps<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ccpc.inventise.ie\/consumers\/money\/scams\/other-scams\/\">See our do&#8217;s and don\u2019ts to protect yourself<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You should never feel too embarrassed to report your experience. If you believe you\u2019ve fallen victim to a romance scam and have handed over money, contact your bank immediately. They can advise you and put a hold on your account. Report any potential dating scam to your local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.garda.ie\/en\/contact-us\/station-directory\/\">Gardai station<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We live in the era of online dating. Whilst many people do meet their perfect partner on reputable dating sites, it can prove a minefield for others trying to find love online. As Valentine\u2019s Day approaches, many singletons seek their &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":20057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[184,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Romance scams are on the rise, don\u2019t let love blind you online! - CCPC Consumers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is an independent statutory body that enforces competition and consumer protection law in Ireland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Romance scams are on the rise, don\u2019t let love blind you online! 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