Romance scams have grown exponentially over the last few years, and they show no signs of slowing down. It’s amazing to look at the amount of money that’s been scammed from people who are just looking for love or companionship.
Unlike many scams, this one plays on the loneliness of older people (for the most part, but younger folks are getting nailed, too), and makes full use of the saying “love is blind.”
love trap and online dating fraud concept
When You See That Someone From The Rockford Area Has Been Taken For $40,000, You Realize That This Doesn’t Just Happen To Other People
Dennis Horton, director of the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) told us that this local woman in her 50s was lonely and looking for a relationship by getting involved in online dating. As you might imagine, this was not the sort of relationship she had in mind.
But, it completely fits the pattern of a romance scam. As I mentioned, younger people are getting scammed, but the target demographic for romance scams is people in the 55-65-plus age group.
The Federal Trade Commission Says That Americans Have Lost Over $300 Million To Romance Scams
Here in Illinois, romance scams have taken big piles of money, too. Patch.com reports that a new study by the Internet Complaint Center shows that in Illinois, victims of these scams lost more than $14 million in 2020 when 688 victims were taken advantage of by scammers.
However, experts in this particular type of scam say…
