Romance scams Win The Trust And Affection Of Victims Fraudulently

By Jennifer Williams

Romance scams are basically those in which strangers make up romantic intentions and gain the trust and loving feelings of the victim. Perpetrators use this trust to get access to the money, bank account or both of the victim or dupe them into committing financial fraud on their behalf. The majority of romance scams seem to emanate from West Africa in general and Nigeria in particular.

Scams Spreading From Different Parts of The World

Recently, romance scams have begun to spread to different regions of the world and are emerging in countries such as Russia, Eastern Europe and Thailand as well as in the Philippines or in countries where mail-order-brides are available. Romance scams involve sending money, most often to Nigeria, but they are different than the advance-fee-frauds or 419 scams, as they are called, that prey on the greed of victims.

Romance scams rely on ensnaring the victim in strong emotional ties that by-pass logical thought and prey largely on emotions. It may begin by sending appealing photographs, posting dream profiles on dating sites as well as persuasive and flattering words with plenty of poetry and love songs. The scheme plays on the hope that the victim falls in love so strongly with the scammer, who may even promise marriage, to increase the element of trust to try and control the mind of the victim.

The scam may begin by the scammer posting a fake profile on multiple dating sites, with men posing as women to seduce male victims hiding behind stolen photographs. The scammer often scours profiles on dating sites and looks for profiles of seemingly naïve and gullible persons and creates an appropriate matching profile to dupe the victim.

Once trust has been established and the scammer is certain that he or she has a degree of mind control over the victim based on purported love that has been established with the victim the extortion begins. There will either be direct requests for money or some other demands for financial assistance. The key to the romance scam is that the victim is so much in the grip of the scammer that he or she will do anything for their ‘new partner.’

The outcome of the romance scam is the scammer abruptly terminating the relationship, often due to the authorities knocking on the door of the scammer. The end result for the victim is shock along with a financial loss, and many feel too numbed and embarrassed by the whole episode to report it to authorities.

Author Details:
Jennifer Williams, copywriter for various web sites writing articles about romance and other related subjects.

Article Source: The A-Z of Romance

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