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Romance racket

Scammers take aim at vulnerable seniors

“Love is in the Air” was a popular song by John Paul Young in the late 1970s. Unfortunately, hackers, thieves, criminal gangs, organized crime and any other criminal elements also are in the air looking to get everything you own.

These criminals (I won’t call them hackers because they are criminals) will pretend to be someone they are not. This is called “the romance scam” and over the past few years, more than $1 billion have been lost to these criminals.

There has been a significant increase in romance scams in the past year, in part because people were isolated during the pandemic and spending more time online.

Usually, the scam starts when the criminal adopts a fake online identity to gain the affection and trust of the victim. Using dating sites is a very popular place these criminals will scour, looking for that one particular person who is looking for someone to meet.

When you visit one of these dating sites, you usually post a personal profile and you leave it open. Remember that these criminals are experts at what they do and they seem to be genuine, caring and believable.

When he / she finds someone, he / she will usually start to communicate with you either by phone or email. Remember that his / her intention is to establish a relationship as quickly as possible. You new “friend” will compliment you, share how similar he / she is to you, and declare his or her love. He / she might send you flowers or other small gifts (usually using a stolen credit card) to legitimize the relationship.

Often, the messages he / she send will have various spelling and grammar errors — that’s a RED FLAG.

Once the criminal communicates with you and you start up a relationship with them, he / she usually wants to move the relationship from the phone to a private channel like email or a chat app. The potential mate claims to live in another part of the country or be on a business trip overseas. Another popular ploy is that he / she is in the military on deployment.

After some time, he / she will say he / she wants to meet you, but always will back out, stating something came up. He / she will almost always never meet you in person (RED FLAG).

Then out of the clear blue, the subject will have an urgent request. An emergency came up — medical, business — and he / she needs money right away. He / she promises to pay it back, which never happens, and he / she wants you to wire him / her the money immediately. Once you do this, he / she now have you and will keep asking you for more money until you realize that this is a scam or until you are broke.

In 209, the Federal Trade Commission received more than 25,000 reports about romance scams with losses exceeding $201 million. The older the victim, the more severe the loss.

For people older than 70, the median loss was $10,000 compared to $2,600 for all victims.

This scam affects everyone — men, women, anyone ­– but especially the senior population.

Here are tips to help avoid the romance scam:

• Be very careful of what you make public online;

• Research the person contacting you, including their photo and profile;

• Beware if the person seems too perfect and wants you to keep this a secret, or otherwise wants to isolate you from your friends and family;

• Beware if the person requests inappropriate photos or financial information;

• Beware if the person promises to meet you but always comes up with excuses why he or she can’t come. If you never meet this person, be suspicious;

• Typically, this person actually is in a remote location like Nigeria, Syria or Kenya;

• NEVER, NEVER send money by gift cards, wire transfer or cash to anyone you have only communicated with online or by phone.

I could go on with other examples about this scam, but the bottom line is like with any other scam — be careful, do your homework, check with family, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

In talking with the FBI, I was informed that there are numerous cases in Trumbull County that are under investigation, so no one is immune from these criminal thugs.

If you have any questions or concerns that you might have been a victim or if you have been contacted by someone suspicious, please call me at Senior Services at 330-675-7096 or email me at eahyde@co.trumbull.oh.us.

I also am willing to speak to any senior group or organizations in reference to scams.

Please be careful and stay safe.

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