Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems like cybercriminals gained enormous power. So, as many people started with online dating and entertainment, malicious actors decided to take advantage of this. They reach out to users of various romance sites and cause damage that now counts billions of dollars.
Due to this, the US banking industry started looking for help from the federal government, as well as from social media. They want to put an end to this escalating crisis that results in a lot of damage.
Here’s everything you need to know!
Call for Action
Due to online romance fraud, Paul Benda, the Executive Vice President for Risk, Fraud, and Cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association, stated that it is urgent to take some action that will help combat these romance scams. He also emphasized the need to take down these cyber actors and pursue prosecution against them.
According to him, it is also essential to hold these individuals accountable so that the number of such cases will lower in the future. Based on expert analyses, the documented cases of fraud amount to billions of dollars or tens of billions of dollars each year. They believe that this result arises from underreporting by victims.
Romance Scams and Financial Exploitation
Online romance scams are mainly organized by criminal groups located in Southeast Asia. More precisely, they involve creating fake social media accounts in order to connect with victims from all around the world. Unfortunately, the demographics, age, and educational level of the targets are not important for the cybercriminals.
In addition, scammers engage in long conversations and convince individuals of genuine affection. This emotional manipulation works among many people, and some become deeply involved within weeks. Once they establish emotional attachment, they start financial exploitation.
In other words, they usually propose different investment opportunities or take advantage of people’s empathy by persuading them to donate for medical procedures. This further leads to draining the bank accounts of victims.
Experts strongly believe that social media needs to monitor and analyze all accounts so that these criminals can be revealed before they cause damage. More so, experts call for regulatory changes that will prevent unmonitored transfer of funds. The goal is to come up with a system that will prevent all of these scenarios where victims transfer funds from one account to another without their consent.
The Challenge for the Banking System
Benda highlighted that banks are in a very difficult position. Even if they suspect that their clients are targets of such fraud, they are legally obliged to give them access to their funds. On top of this, he told some real-life examples where employees detected the scams, and although they pleaded for a while with the consumers to reconsider their actions, they were unable to intervene due to the law rules.
What’s more, Benda said that banks usually don’t reimburse customers for losses that occurred due to romance scams. The main reason for this is that, in the eyes of the bank, the customer willingly transferred the money. According to him, reimbursement can only attract more cyber criminals.
Do Online Romance Scams Affect People Emotionally?
The Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County, California, Erin West, revealed to CNBC that somewhere between $30 and $50 billion was lost in 2022 because of online romance fraud. However, she stated that this is only an estimation as not every person reports how much they have lost.
According to West, she believes that romance scams cause a huge amount of emotional devastation aside from financial harm. In other words, victims face damaged careers, broken marriages, and huge shifts in their financial stability. All of this contributes to lower self-esteem and huge emotional distortion.
As she is currently active in a national group of prosecutors that address this issue, West says that victims are not even aware of the extent of their losses. However, they experience a much bigger traumatic impact of losing the life they’ve had rather than losing some sum of money.
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How to Protect Yourselves?
While the Fed is working on solving this issue, you definitely have options. Before starting your online dating journey, go for a reputable site. Even if the website is new, you can see whether they are transparent and provide documentation regarding their milestones, for example.
Usually, such documentation is verified with a unique signature font. This proves they are trying to build their brand, as well as that they are reliable.
Also, avoid sharing too much personal data with a person that you haven’t met in real life. Although such sites are for entertainment, some users can have other goals. In addition, user and expert reviews will also help you understand better the brand’s reputation. The more reliable the brand, the less scammers use it.
So, go ahead and have some fun. But don’t forget to stay safe at all times!
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