Valentine’s Day, a day for our loved ones and significant others. A time for the scammers to take advantage of us.

Your dating life is slow, you  sign up for online dating, or you meet someone on social media, develop an online relationship, but never meet in person. You get along so well, your relationship is moving forward, then suddenly, they are short on money to pay a bill or to help their parent or maybe they have this awesome investment opportunity and need some extra funds.

Scammers of all ages, make fake profiles, sometimes even using photos of other people, ask for money, then they disappear with your money. The scammer may tell you not to tell your family or friends, saying “let’s keep it a secret.” They will have you lie to your bank when you go to take money out of your account.

What you should do

• Cut off contact, report information to the online app or social media platform
• Do not send money. Never send cash, gift cards, wire transfer or crypto currency. You will never get it back.
• If you think you are being scammed, call your bank and let them know. File a report with the FTC @ ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• More information on Romance Scams -  https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-romance-scams.