Catfishes are lurking; there’s no de-bait about it!
Catfishes and romance scammers will get a grip of your heart and then find a way into your finances. Next minute, your bank accounts – and your heart – are empty!
These scams work when catfishes create fake online profiles that are designed to lure you in. They may use a fictional name, or falsely take on the identities of real, trusted people. Dating and romance scammers will express strong emotions for you in a relatively short period of time, and will suggest you move the relationship away from the website to a more private platform, such as phone, email or instant messaging. They often claim to be from Australia or another western country, but travelling or working overseas.
These scams are becoming a lot more sophisticated and can play out in a variety of ways, but knowing some common catfish factors can help:
Most romance scams are reported in February: While there’s plenty of fish in the sea, for romance scammers, Valentine’s season is more like shooting fish in a barrel.
Most romance scams start on social media: Social media’s accessibility springs up many possibilities across the globe – is that new wealthy, attractive follower even real? Probably not.
Unsurprisingly, scammers had the least luck catfishing via fax. Though dating with the outdated technology might seem odd, we’d still be wary of strangers offering to fax you straight away.
The most commonly-scammed age group was 45–54 year-olds. In this age range, folks didn’t grow up using the internet, so it’s less likely that they’ll recognise the signs of scams amid Facebook reunions.
Know the warning signs
- Inconsistent, brand new, or otherwise strange profiles or behaviour: Having long usernames or number sequences may signal that the profile is just for scamming purposes.
- Hard-to-understand messages: If you can’t have clear communication with someone, are you sure you want to invest time, money, or effort in them?
- Elaborate stories: Nothing seems to be simple. There’s always a complication followed by either a request for something or an excuse why they won’t see you in person.
Protect yourself and take action
- Never send money to strangers (doing business online is one thing, but paying for someone’s rent before you’ve met them is another)
- Ignore and remove all contact with suspicious people online
- Report any suspicious profiles or behaviour on social media apps (this helps prevent other uses from getting scammed)
- Report any scams to the ACCC via the ‘report a scam’ page on SCAMwatch
Don’t get caught on the hook. Be cautious, be conscious, and if it sounds too good to be true? It probably is!
