Hello everyone and welcome to ZD Tech, ZDNet’s daily editorial podcast. My name is Precilia Ahissou and today I explain to you how to beware of online romance scammers.
Internet scams are legion. Every day we hear about phishing and ransomware. But romance scams, romance scams in English, are a little less well known.
Certainly, recently, a Netflix documentary named The Tinder Scammer brought to light this very lucrative practice. But beware, the sulphurous Simon is far from alone…
What is a romance scam?
The principle is always the same: a scammer pretends to be someone else to extort money from his victim. And the sums embezzled are colossal. In the United States alone, no less than 1.3 billion dollars have been collected by criminals over the past five years.
Wondering how these cybercriminals do it? Here is their modus operandi.
On a social network, a site or a dating application, the scammer selects his victim. Then he gets in touch and begins to form a relationship with her.
His goal is to talk to him long enough and behave like the perfect partner to create a virtual relationship and gain his trust. This is where I have to tell you about the catfish technique.
the catfish
This technique consists of pretending to be one or another. And this, either by creating from scratch a false profile, or by usurping the identity of a real person. This reassures the victim with credible information, fake photos and bad contact details, which serve to cover their tracks.
The case of Simon Leviev, whose real name is Shimon Hayut, the protagonist of the Netflix documentary, is a bit special. But certainly even scarier. If he pretends to be someone else, and invents a complicated story, he meets his victims and makes them live the high life to gain their trust. Be aware that in most romance scams, the relationship remains virtual.
Once the victim is confident, the scammer then invents personal or financial problems, and asks his victim for money. The means used to collect these sums are diverse. But they are usually fast and anonymous. Some even use cryptocurrencies to hedge.
Caution is required
Romance scams can affect a wide variety of profiles. So, beware of strangers you meet on the internet. Do not communicate your personal information and your credit card codes. Never send money.
And take your time, because as The Supremes sang, You can’t hurry love.
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