WEST TEXAS — Evidence suggests the pandemic restrictions and hardships are helping people commit fraud. Many scammers use the pandemic to explain why they can’t meet in person. Some steal money from good-hearted victims by saying they need money quickly to help a loved one stricken with COVID-19.
With people spending more time online during the pandemic, scammers have an easier time getting background information. In the throws of boredom, people post lists of favorite movies, songs, bands, books, sports teams, foods and vacation spots. Literally giving crooks a plethora of personal information they can use to cozy up. And, with it being more difficult to date people in person, that online intimacy can seem more normal.
When Mary Darby met the man of her dreams on a dating app, she thought she had hit the jackpot.
“He told me that he fell madly in love with me, and so, of course, I fell hook, line and sinker,” Darby told ABC News’ Good Morning America.
But things took a turn when the man she met started asking for money for his “daughter’s surgery,” and asked her to open an account for him and send her gift cards.
“He said one of his children needed emergency surgery and that the copay on it was $500,” said Darby, who said that he had asked her to send money to him. She ended up sending the initial $500, but said sent him more when he had asked.
“Then it led to another $500 and then it led to a $1,000,” she said.
Darby wasn’t aware at the time, but she had fallen victim to a romance scam.
Last year, scammers took in a record amount of cash in romance scams, according to the Federal Trade Commission. In a new report, the FTC says consumers lost more than $300 million to romance scams in 2020 — a 50% increase from the previous year.
The FBI’s number is more staggering as it is double the FTC. The FBI reports romance scammers targeted more than 23,000 victims, who reported a record loss of more than $605 million. That’s a substantial increase from 2015, when 12,500 victims reported losses of about $203 million.
Now during the pandemic and ahead of Valentine’s Day, the FTC is warning about scammers creating fake profiles and taking advantage of the pandemic and the economic crisis.
“We have had people report — hundreds of people report — that these scammers were sending them fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits,” said Monica Vaca, FTC associate director for the division of consumer response and operations.
The biggest age group that scammers have targeted? People who are 20-29 years old.
To avoid falling victim to a romance scam, the FTC advises people to use this checklist to determine if you’re being scammed:
1. Scammers make excuses to not meet in person
Vaca said that this has been easy during the pandemic: “There are some people that have even said things like, ‘I just tested positive or COVID… I can’t meet up with you today.”
If the person you’re speaking with repeatedly rejects invitations to meet up in person, Vaca said you’re likely being scammed.
2. Never send money
To avoid Fraud, the FTC advises to never send money or gifts to someone you haven’t met yet. Instead, take it slowly, ask questions and look for consistent answers.
3. Do a reverse-image search on the person’s profile photos If the picture is associated with another name or with details that don’t match up, it’s likely that the relationship you’ve forged with the person you met online is a scam.
Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Channahon has been fighting romance scammers for more than a decade. A lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, Kinzinger was a pilot serving in Iraq in 2008 when he first realized he was one of thousands of military personnel who had their photos and profiles stolen by swindlers impersonating them to woo unsuspecting women. He told The New York Times in 2019 that dozens of women had contacted his staff to say they were in a relationship with him, when they really were communicating with impostors. One woman from India said she had sent an impostor $10,000.
Until the government and social media companies can figure out how to stop such scams, never give your financial information or send money to people you've never met. Just helping a stranger transfer money could make you part of a money-laundering scheme.
If you are a victim of a romance scam, or believe you have been victimized by an online fraud, file a complaint with the FBI's internet Crime Complaint Center at www. ic3.gov and call the FBI's field office in Chicago at (312) 421-6700.