Dating App Warning: How Crypto Scammers Prey on Women
Manipulation and Money: The dark side of online dating scams
A 45-year-old woman reports a scam through “Tinder,” a dating app that has been popular for the last 10 years among young adults and middle-aged people.
The identity of the scammer is unknown, but so far, evidence suggests that he is targeting middle-aged women with stable jobs in Oxfordshire, based on the location listed on the app. His goal appears to be convincing them to invest in crypto coins, promising earnings of $5k and beyond. The scammer introduces himself as a financial advisor, claiming to work at HSBC in Oxford City Centre to create a sense of confidence. He uses his “charm” to persuade women who want to build a family and motivate their partner to grow financially.
The scammer starts the conversation on the dating app to eventually get their WhatsApp numbers and maintains a flirty conversation for a few days to get them emotionally invested, but never proposes to meet in person. The victim comments:
“We were talking about different things, including finances and investment, and he told me about this app called ‘crypto.com.’ He encouraged me to download it and was guiding me through it to invest money, asking for screenshots at each stage until I said I’d rather do it in person with him and highlighted that it was very strange the way he was doing this. He was offended but kept texting me for a few days until he changed his profile picture on WhatsApp, and it was a completely different person. After that, he just ghosted me.”
According to this testimony, the scammer goes by Harry or Jerry and claims to be from Portugal, but he could be using any name or nationality to obtain what he wants—money.
Thames Valley Police informs:
‘Be wary of giving out personal information on a website or chatroom. Scammers will quickly contact you, often showing you glamorous photos of themselves and gaining your trust.
But how do you know the person you’re talking to (or their photo) is genuine? The answer is that you don’t.
A scammer will make conversation more personal to get information out of you, but won’t tell you much about themselves that you can check or verify.
They’ll normally steer you away from chatting on a legitimate dating site that staff could monitor. They want you to talk on email, text and phone, rather than through the dating site or chatroom where you met.
A scammer tells stories to target your emotions and get you to give them money. They may claim they have an ill relative or are stranded in a country they don’t want to be in.
They may not ask you directly for money, hoping instead that you’ll offer it out of the goodness of your heart. You must not.
Never send money abroad to someone you’ve never met. Never send it to anyone you don’t actually know and trust.
Likewise, never agree to keep your online relationship a secret. This is a ploy to get you not to tell your family and friends, who’ll see the scam for exactly what it is.
Equally, don’t accept any offer of money. A scammer may ask you to accept money from them into your own bank account, using a convincing story as to why they can’t use their own account. The circumstances may seem genuine, but you could unwittingly be laundering money, a criminal offence.’