After losing his wife of 43 years, 72-year-old Gary was understandably lonely, and used technology to dip a toe back into the dating pool. According to NBC 5 Chicago, he connected with Nasha, who claimed to be a fellow Chicago suburbanite, and the two connected over shared interests.
But months later, Nasha had vanished into thin air, along with $50,000 of Gary's money.
Romance scammers are busier than ever, thanks to an endless stream of potential marks on bustling dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and OkCupid. Even if you don't use Tinder, they're still looking for you on other social media platforms like Facebook and even the professional networking site LinkedIn. And they wouldn't do it if business wasn't good — according to The Week, online romance scammers swindled Americans out of more than $1 billion in 2023, and at least that much in 2024.
With AI tools that can quickly generate realistic-looking photos of anyone and anything, scammers have even taken to impersonating celebrities. According to the BBC, a scammer posing as the actor Brad Pitt used AI-generated photos to dupe one vulnerable French woman out of $850,000. Pitt's own representative expressed sympathy for the woman, and cautioned others to beware of unsolicited messages from famous people.
The United States Secret Service advises Americans to look out for several red flags:
* Frequent requests for money for things such as travel expenses and investment opportunities
* Pressure for gifts of consumer goods, such as phones or laptops.
* Asking for gift cards and requests to send pictures of the codes through messaging apps.
* Asking for immediate assistance for an emergency situation.
To protect yourself from online romance scammers, follow this simple rule: Don't engage in financial transactions with people you've never met. That includes sending money, opening bank accounts or starting businesses on their behalf, or sharing personal information. Text messages are not proof of their good intentions, and voice and video calls can be faked.
