ONLINE
DATING NEWS #008
OVERSEAS SCAMMERS MAKE THOUSANDS PER VICTIM
(April 6, 2005 - onlinedatingnewsletter.com)
The Computer Crime Research Center is warning people
against overseas scammers that generally milk thousands
of dollars from each man they target. The CCRC relates
the story of a Russian man who used his girlfriend's
name to create a fake profile. He then posted a sexy
picture of another woman and as a result started corresponding
with a man from the U.S. He continued to pretend to
be a woman, making the guy fall in love with him (her)
then asked that money be wired for an emergency. It
wasn't until the U.S. victim lost thousands of dollars
that he realized it was a SCAM.
The
new DateLists.com, an online
dating directory and
reference site, has posted an article on various online
dating scams. The article (click
here)
outlines several scams and ways to help protect yourself
from becoming a victim.
Because online dating and personals is the largest revenue-generating
market online (source: Online Publishers Association),
there are many scams operated to try and get money or email
addresses from online daters. The best defense is to always
be alert that scams are out there and to use common sense,
particularly when someone you've never met requests money.
