National Singles Day: Things to Watch Out For When Online Dating

Happy National Singles Day to all of our single blog readers! Today we will be discussing online dating since it has become the main way that single people mingle when trying to find a partner. While it is a convenient way to meet other single strangers through your phone screen, there are many people who don’t have the best intentions when using online dating apps. Romance scammers plague dating apps, trying to take advantage of innocent single people so that they can get their hands on thousands of dollars. Has anyone that you met online ever asked you for money? If the answer is yes, keep reading to find out what to watch out for when online dating on National Singles Day!

Things to Watch Out For When Online Dating on National Singles Day

#1: Make Sure to Watch Out For Heavily Edited Photos

Scammers will edit their photos to make it look like they are doing something that they actually aren’t doing. For example, if someone online has told you that they were in the hospital or worked overseas, they might have sent you a photo of them in the hospital or working overseas. However, what many people don’t know is that these photos are usually photoshopped. Scammers will take the faces of the people they are pretending to be and photoshop them over a stock photo to make it look like that person is in the hospital or working overseas.

Another thing to be aware of is if the person you are talking to is absolutely gorgeous or flawless. Scammers will often use photos of models, adult film stars, or social media influencers since they know that these people are absolutely stunning. If you find yourself talking to someone with a perfect body or a perfect face, make sure to run a reverse image search with Social Catfish to see if you’re really talking to the person they claim to be.

#2: Watch Out For People Who Don’t Want to Video Chat with You or Meet You in Person

Scammers will often decline a video chat request or will come up with excuses as to why they can’t meet you in person. Sometimes, they will even claim they are coming to see you only to say that they missed their flight or got into a car accident a few miles away. The reality is that scammers steal other people’s photos to attract you to their fake profiles. Therefore, they have to come up with excuses for you to not see them over a video chat or in-person otherwise you would realize that they are lying about their identity.

Therefore, they come up with excuses as to why they can’t video call you or meet you in person. They claim that their Internet signal is spotty and fake that they can’t connect with you in order to avoid video chatting with you. They also come up with excuses to not meet you in person such as they work overseas, they can’t afford a plane ticket, or something came up and now they have to cancel plans. If this sounds like you, keep reading on.

#3: Be Wary if Someone Has an Overseas Job

Scammers will fake that they have an overseas job as an excuse to not video chat with you or hang out with you in person. They claim that their military commander won’t let them off base or their oil rig contract won’t let them on land, and in order to come to see you, they need to pay their contract or leader off. These are all lies to get their hands on your money since an oil rig and military commander do not require their employees or military personnel to pay for anything.

They claim that their Internet signal is spotty on base or on an oil rig, which is why they can’t video chat their victims. Again, this is another lie since oil rigs and military bases have reliable sources of Wi-Fi for soldiers to contact their loved ones. Scammers come up with this excuse so that victims will not catch on to their schemes. They will also use these jobs as excuses to need money or gift cards from their victims, claiming that they are hungry or want to leave. However, as stated above these careers pay for food and leave for their workers and will not make their military members or employees pay for these things.

#4: Watch Out For Copied and Pasted Romantic Phrases

Scammers will send their victims romantic flirty messages in order to seem sweet and irresistible. However, they are only doing this to lure you in their trap and don’t actually care about your well-being. They will either copy and paste flirty quotes off of Google or from the scammer’s playbook in order to get you to fall for them. The scammer’s playbook is a document filled with phrases that scammers can copy and paste to their victims. Their bosses will write them scripts based on what has worked in the past so that they can scam victims out of money faster.

If someone online is sending you flirty messages right away without getting to know you, then this is a major red flag. Make sure to take the relationship slow and get to know them before flirting with them back. Scammers will use romantic phrases in order for you to commit to them faster, which will then gain your trust faster. Once your trust is gained, they will start bugging you for money and will leave you bankrupt and heartbroken.

#5: They Ask For Money, Gift Cards, or Cryptocurrency For Any Reason

Scammers will ask for traditional money transfers through your bank as well as alternative forms of payment, such as wire transfers, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. Scammers ask for these alternative forms of payment since they are usually not traceable, making it harder for victims to get their money back. Once a scammer gets their hands on your money through these alternative methods of payment, it is usually near impossible to get your money back.

Scammers also create emergency excuses as to why they need money immediately. They usually claim that their life or job is on the line and that you’re the only one that can give them money to save them from such a terrible situation. This makes you feel so bad for them that you can’t imagine them being in such a bad situation since you love and care about them so much. Therefore, you give them money so that they can be saved, when really the scammer was lying to you. Even if the excuse isn’t an emergency, don’t give anyone that you met online money.

Do Any of These Online Dating Red Flags Sound Familiar?

This means you are most likely talking to a romance scammer. They will do anything they can to get their hands on your money and will come up with any excuse they can not to video chat with you or meet you in person. They will copy and paste romantic phrases from Google or a scammer’s playbook that will make you fall for them as fast as possible. They do this so that you can fall in love with them faster, which would make you trust what they tell you faster.

Then, they will ask you for money repeatedly until you go bankrupt, coming up with any emergency excuse they can to make you feel bad for them. They will not stop draining your bank account unless you put your foot down and block them immediately.

Does this situation sound familiar?

These romance scammers are ruthless, which is why our mission at Social Catfish is to help anyone we can out of a romance scam. Everyone deserves a happy ending, and we want to help you with yours.

Here are some tips on how to get out of a romance scam and chase that happy ending:

• Report any scam that you’ve been a part of to the FTC or IC3. These two organizations provide victims with excellent resources that can help you recover from that romance scam.
• Block that scammer for good! You are too good for them and can find happiness and companionship elsewhere without the constant begging for money.
• Watch out for red flags the next time you decide to try an online dating app. Just because you got scammed once, doesn’t mean you’ll be scammed again as long as you watch out for those red flags.
• Make sure to talk to your bank about possibly getting your money back. While it is rare that victims ever get their money back, it doesn’t hurt to try! There have been some cases where victims were able to gain their money back after being romance scammed.
• Look out for good jobs and profitable hobbies that might be able to help you earn your money back. There might be a job or a hobby out there for you to get you back on your feet. It will also help you keep your mind off that scammer and focus on your own needs. Then, you can take the money you earn and pay off any debts you owe!

Need additional help?

Social Catfish is Here to Help You on National Singles Day!

At Social Catfish, we want to help you verify the identities of those who might seem suspicious to you. If you have their name, email address, phone number, social media username, or image, you can reverse search and see who the suspected person was that you’ve been in contact with when figuring out the things to watch out for when online dating on National Singles Day!