The New York State Prosecutor’s Office warned that as online dating apps become active, romance scams, which involve approaching the opposite sex to win their favor and then extorting money, are serious. On the 6th, the State Prosecutor’s Office said, “Romance fraud is when fraudsters steal someone else’s identity to gain the love and trust of the victims and then demand money to defraud them.
If a person they met online asks for their bank account, there is a high possibility that they are a romance fraudster.” “He said. Romance fraud, or romance scam, is a combination of the words ’romance’, which means love, and ‘scam’, which means credit fraud. It is a scam that is used for various reasons after building trust through social media (SNS) or dating apps. A new type of fraud crime in which people extort money by paying for it has been on the rise across the United States for several years.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, over 19,000 complaints related to romance scams were received in 2022, and the amount of damage to victims was calculated to be approximately $740 million. However, as many victims are reluctant to disclose the financial damage caused by romance fraud, the actual amount of damage is estimated to be much higher than the estimated amount.
State Attorney General Letitia James said, “Scammers who engage in romance scams are characterized by detailed, intimate conversations that seek to gain the trust of the person they are swindling, while explaining the emergency situation in which they need financial help.”
He urged caution, saying, “Victims of this type of method are reported to come from a variety of age groups, from college students to people in their 80s who lost up to $2.8 million.”
The state prosecutor’s office warned that if someone you met online asks for your bank account or asks you to send money through an online money transfer app, it is likely to be a romance scam.
The state prosecutor’s office said that to prevent romance fraud, ▲ only use dating sites that are widely known and trustworthy ▲ be cautious in the process of sharing and exposing personal information online ▲ if the person you are talking to is consistently reluctant to meet in person, it is a red flag. ▲If you suspect fraud, you are advised to report it to the State Prosecutor’s Office’s financial crime reporting site (ko.ag.ny.gov/financial-fraud-complaint-form) or the hotline (800-771-7755).