Unfortunately, romance scams increased by nearly 40% Opens in New Window between 20. Romance scams can happen to persons of any gender and can be devastating both financially and emotionally. They may propose marriage and offer to meet in person, but will never follow through on either promise. Scammers will often attempt to make the victim feel special and needed. They will then lure the victim into sharing personal or financial information. They often target victims’ insecurities or desires and will work to develop an intimate 'relationship” as quickly as possible. Romance scammers often prey on older individuals who are divorced or widowed. What Are Romance Scams?Īccording to the FBI, a romance scam occurs when a criminal creates a fake profile and feigns romantic interest in another online user – either through a dating app or website, an online chat room, or a social media platform – to create a feeling of intimate trust with the intention of scamming the victim out of money. The report linked above shows that younger generations are more likely to fall for fake check scams, employment scams, or online purchase scams, while older generations are more likely to fall victim to romance scams and tech support scams.

The types of scams people fall for varies by age. However, a greater number of young people actually fall for scams, revealing that users of any age can become a scam victim.

And unfortunately statistics do prove that seniors do tend to get scammed out of more money Opens in New Window than younger generations. Many people think elderly populations are more vulnerable to online scams because older people may not always be as savvy with technology as younger generations. And as more people spent more time online in 20 due to mandated shutdowns and social distancing requirements, scammers have had even more opportunities to target unsuspecting users in various ways.

The truth is, online scams have been rising steadily each year Opens in New Window since the internet first became widely available. This increase in scams has been seen everywhere, from online shopping scams to work-from-home scams and, yes, even to romance scams. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center Opens in New Window (IC3) and the Better Business Bureau Opens in New Window, the prevalence of online scams – and the number of people falling for them – has dramatically increased Opens in New Window since the onset of the pandemic.

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