Several US government agencies and nonprofits have warned individuals against Valentine’s Day-related romance scams.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released two separate statements last week warning the public. texas and new mexico against these criminal attempts.
According to the agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), romance scams are causing the biggest financial losses compared to other online crimes.In 2021, victim losses related to online romance scams nationwide will total about $5.9 billion reached.
“Romance scammers are liars and thieves, but they are also sophisticated manipulators,” commented Jeffrey R. Downey, a special agent in charge of the FBI El Paso Field Office.
“Victims may be embarrassed, but it’s important to contact the FBI if you suspect your online fan is a fraudster.
The non-profit Better Business Bureau (BBB) also recently blog post Learn more about these Valentine’s Day Scam Alerts.
According to Mika Aalto, CEO of an enterprise security solutions provider, HoxhuntRomance scams are especially effective on dating sites because people are ready to trust strangers.
“That’s where attackers social engineer campaigns built on people’s need for love and companionship,” the executive said. Information security on mail.
“If you feel you are being targeted, unmatch ‘people’ as soon as possible. If you’d like to help clean up these platforms, please create a report and let the app’s moderation team do the work. “
said Matthew Psencik, Director of Endpoint Security at Microsoft. taniumagreed with Aalto’s point, adding that odd phrasing, spelling, or sentence construction should be an immediate red flag pointing to a bot or other AI program.
“If someone is overly positive or too personal without prior interaction, consider challenging them with more vague, personal questions to discourage boilerplate interactions,” says Psencik. said. Information security on mail.
“This interrupts the bot’s attempts to follow the script, or […] Force the cheater to try to get the conversation back on their goals. “
The warning comes months after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced it had seized seven domain names associated with . “Slaughter of Pigs” Romance Scam Campaign Depends on cryptocurrency trading.
