🧑🎄Romance fraud at Christmas, 🎅
like at other times of the year, involves scammers creating fake profiles on dating websites or social media platforms to establish romantic relationships with their victims. Here's how it typically unfolds during the festive season:
🎅Emotional Vulnerability: The holiday season can be a lonely time for many, making people more susceptible to seeking companionship. Scammers exploit this vulnerability by showing affection and building a rapid, intense connection.
🎅The Setup: Scammers often claim to be abroad for work, in the military, or in a situation that prevents them from meeting in person. They might use stolen photos of attractive individuals, often from social media, to make their persona more believable.
🎅The Ask: Once trust is established, the scammer will ask for money. Common excuses during Christmas might include:
🎅Needing funds to travel to meet the victim for the holidays but encountering various emergencies or issues (like visa problems, flight cancellations, or medical emergencies).
🎅🎅A business deal or investment opportunity that needs quick funding, promising to pay it back before Christmas to spend time together.
Claiming they want to send gifts but need money for customs fees or unexpected taxes.
🎅Christmas-Specific Scams:
Gift Card Scams: They might ask for gift cards as presents or to help them with supposed holiday shopping, knowing these are hard to trace and easy to use once the numbers are shared.
🎅Charity Scams: Pretending to be involved in or starting a charity for Christmas, appealing to the victim's holiday spirit of giving.
🎅Aftermath: If money is sent, the scammer might disappear, or they might continue the relationship, asking for more money until the victim either runs out of funds or realizes the scam. In some cases, the scammer might use the personal information shared during the 'relationship' for further fraud or identity theft.
Source: Grok
No comments:
Post a Comment