Mark Lyndersay
BitDepth#1386
MARK LYNDERSAY
THE EVOLUTION of romance and relationship-related con artistry online has been a long one.
Indeed, the so-called Nigerian Prince scam predates the internet, and appeals would be sent via what’s now referred to as snail mail to snare the unwary.
Most modern e-mails consist of blanked appeals for help or assistance, related to involved and detailed stories of misfortune or loss or issues moving money from foreign accounts.
In one twist, e-mails from a name and e-mail address lifted from messages ask for financial help from a familiar name who is said to be stranded overseas.
The longest con jobs are perpetrated by scammers who trawl singles apps and social media looking for single and lonely people.
Social Catfish, a company dedicated to preventing online scams through reverse search technology (bit.ly/3PO6mB8), finds examples of any image fed into it wherever it can be found on the wider internet, social media feeds and known scammer databases. Results cost US$5.99 for five days’ access to the service.
TinEye.com is faster, but finds fewer image instances, while Google Images can sometimes deliver absurd results.
Neither of these free alternatives compares images against known scammers or images used to impersonate them, but if a profile photo turns out to be a stock photo, it’s pretty certain you are being set up for a sting.
It would be a safer world if…
