{"id":13512,"date":"2021-09-15T06:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/blog\/?p=13512"},"modified":"2026-01-22T12:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:20:07","slug":"investigating-a-romance-scam-why-is-it-important-to-report-a-romance-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.socialcatfish.cloud\/scamfish\/investigating-a-romance-scam-why-is-it-important-to-report-a-romance-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigating a Romance Scam: Why is It Important to Report a Romance Scam?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Social Catfish, we interview a woman named Tracie who met a guy named Alex Hobbs on Words With Friends.<\/a> They started hitting it off in this popular mobile game until he wanted to move their conversation onto Google Hangouts.<\/a> There was only one problem with their relationship: Tracie was still married to someone else. However, that didn’t stop them from continuing to build a romantic relationship.<\/a> Eventually, they decided they wanted to be together and Alex claimed to quit his job<\/a> so that he could be with her. This caused more issues to arise since he lost the paperwork that would allow him to leave his job for good. He started asking Tracie for thousands of dollars<\/a> for new paperwork and an insurance check, which has made her question everything. We also teach Tracie how to report a romance scam. Watch the video and click the link below to read the article.<\/p>\n[aesop_video src=”youtube” id=”y7IrKuNaMng” width=”100%” align=”center” disable_for_mobile=”off” loop=”off” controls=”on” mute=”off” autoplay=”off” viewstart=”off” viewend=”off” show_subtitles=”off” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Catfish Cases: Investigating Alex Hobbs<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Catfish-Cases-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Our search specialist, Linnie, did extensive research on Alex Hobbs to figure out whether he was a real person or just another romance scammer.<\/a> We reverse searched his name, image, address, and more to find up-to-date results on who Tracie was talking to. We looked through every message, every payment method, and every minor detail that might determine who this person really is. To view the shocking results, keep scrolling!<\/p>\n

He Asked Her to Pay Using Steam Cards<\/h3>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Gift-Card-Payments.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Scammers will have their victims pay using gift cards<\/a> since this method of payment is untraceable. When a method of payment is untraceable, it means that it is nearly impossible for the victim to get their money back. This is due to the fact that once the money is pulled out of the gift card, it is gone forever. Scammers usually sell gift cards on websites that give them 80% of the profit back. For example, if a gift card is worth $100, scammers can usually get $80 back by selling it.<\/p>\n

He Made Her Send Money to Third Party Sources<\/h3>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Money-laundering.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Scammers usually trick their victims into money laundering<\/a> for them. Money laundering is the process of sending the money through a middle man so that the funds can get clean of any fraud before getting transferred to the scammer. Most of the time, victims think that they are sending money to a friend so that it can get to the person you are talking to, not realizing that they are committing fraud.<\/p>\n

The United Nations Emails Were Proven to Be Fake<\/h3>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/United-Nations-Email.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

When Tracie emailed the official United Nations email about the scam email<\/a> claiming to be United Nations, they confirmed that the email address was fake. This means that the person emailing Tracie was actually a scammer and not a representative of the United Nations.<\/p>\n

His Job With Tullow Oil Was Proven to Be Fake<\/h3>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Fake-job.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

After Tracie emailed the United Nations, they got in touch with Tullow Oil to see if there was actually a guy named Alex Hobbs that worked there.<\/a> After researching their records, Tullow Oil found that there was never a man named Alex Hobbs that worked with them. This proved that he was a romance scammer.<\/p>\n

We Found the Real Guy Behind The Stolen Photos<\/h3>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Andreas-Britz.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

The guy in the photos is not someone named Alex Hobbs. Instead, the real guy in the photos is named Dr. Andreas Britz who is a dermatologist residing in Germany. He has many social media links<\/a> that confirm he is who he says he is, along with a website that advertises his services. Another thing that helps us confirm his identity is the fact that he has a video that explains his services in German. You can view this video down below.<\/p>\n[aesop_video src=”vimeo” id=”497963807″ width=”100%” align=”center” disable_for_mobile=”off” loop=”off” controls=”on” mute=”off” autoplay=”off” viewstart=”off” viewend=”off” show_subtitles=”off” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Why Should You Report a Romance Scam?<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/pexels-oleg-magni-2058128.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

What we do here at Social Catfish is advocate, educate and one of the most important things we do is create awareness.\u00a0<\/span>We try to help people understand how they work, so this won\u2019t happen again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But we can only do so much as a company to put an end to these scams.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>If you have been scammed, you should report a romance scam to help spread awareness about these scams. The more people that report, the more we can show organizations such as the FTC and FBI that scams are more widespread than we realize. In a recent poll ran by Social Catfish, we found that 73% of people never report the scam that cost them to lose thousands of dollars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This means that less than 30% of scams are actually reported to the FTC<\/a> or FBI.<\/a>\u00a0 If victims don\u2019t report, then these organizations don’t believe that it is as important to stop these scams when it actually is.\u00a0<\/span>As the injured party, you are the proper person and the one that carries the majority of the power and should now report this scam in every way you can. Plus, once you report these scams then you will receive resources that will help you recover financially and emotionally from what you have been through.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Social Catfish is Here to Help You While You Report a Romance Scam!<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/3283248F-3999-40D8-9482-3020F015F001.jpeg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

If you think you want to report a romance scam or have had your pictures stolen, Social Catfish<\/a> is here to help you!<\/p>\n

If you want to be a part of our next YouTube video<\/a> or blog post<\/a> and share your story, now is your chance. You can educate our audience about what you have gone through and make sure no one else goes through the same thing. All you need to do is email ShareMyStory@socialcatfish.com<\/a>, and we will get back to you with more details.<\/p>\n

So how can you catch a romance scammer? You can\u00a0reverse search<\/a> any information you have on the Nigerian romance scammer to see who it is you\u2019ve really been talking to. If you have their name, email address, phone number, social media username, or image you can search it up in our search bar to see if there is more information on the suspected scammer you are talking to.<\/p>\n

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