[TITLE: The Experts Speak: Understanding Romance Scams] [Consumer Protection Logo] [Ontario Logo]
[TITLE: Identifying a romance scam]
[Cathy Kehoe, Detective Sergeant, Ontario Provincial Police]: Well, the number one sign of a romance scam would be that you are asked to send money
- mostly cash, through a wire service or through the mail. [TITLE: A scammer will ask you to send money.]
Another warning is that the scammer may try to ask you to leave the online dating service
that you've met on and try to communicate through other means, such as through private [TITLE: A scammer will ask you to leave the dating service.]
emails or through a cellphone.
[TITLE: A scammer will try to isolate you from family and friends.] The scammer may try to isolate you from family or friends and may say things like, "If they
know about us, they won't approve and they'll try to break us up."
The scammer may try to get you to send provocative pictures or do sex acts over the Internet.
[TITLE: A scammer will ask you to send provocative pictures or do sex acts over the Internet.] The reason being is that he may use this to blackmail you in the future should you ever
refuse to send more money.
Well, scammers will always try to gain a victim's trust by endearing themselves to you [TITLE: A scammer will try to be endearing to you.]
by finding out similarities in personalities. Or, if you're religious, they will try to
hit on that topic and maybe quote from the bible, so it endears you to them.
[TITLE: A scammer will try to find out your financial status.] They will always try to find out your financial status - if you're worthy enough of their
time. What they'll do is that they'll determine if you are a widow, whether or not you were
left financially stable. And, if that's the case, then they know they do have a good target.
[TITLE: The scammer's pitch]
One of the pitches that scammers use to get money from victims is claiming a medical emergency,
[TITLE: A scammer claims to need money for a medical emergency.] either for themselves or for family members. And they will ask for money, either for pills,
medications or operations.
Another pitch would be for travel money. They want to go and see you, but they don't have
enough money for airfare. [TITLE: A scammer can ask for travel money.] You will send them the money for airfare, but all of a sudden
something happens with their visa or their passport or they've lost their identification.
[TITLE: A scammer needs money for legal fees.] Another pitch would be that the family business is having a civil lawsuit and all they need
to do is pay the legal fees and they will have millions and millions of dollars that
they will gladly share with you.
[TITLE: A scammer has problems cashing a cheque.] Another pitch could be that they're having issues cashing their paycheque in their country
and were wondering if you could cash the cheque.
They'll send you a cheque, you send off the money to them, and in the meantime find that
the cheque they sent you is actually fraudulent.
[TITLE: Revictimization: the scammer returns]
In many cases, the victim has been revictimized. Once a victim has found out or determined
that they have been scammed, they will tell the scammer this, and refuse to send any more money.
Unfortunately, this can be turned back to them. [TITLE: A scammer contacts the victim, claims to be a police officer or lawyer and asks for legal fees.] They may get a phone call, maybe
from someone else in the future, indicating they're either a police officer or a lawyer
and that they are investigating this incident and that they can get the money back, if only
you send them money.
And, in another case, the scammer may actually admit to it and say, "You know, yes, you're
right. I didn't mean to, I was forced to do it. But I've actually fallen, truly fallen
in love with you." [TITLE: The scammer admits wrongdoing, but continues the scam.] And continue the scam, give it some time, and then ask you to send
more money.
Another revictimization, is that a relative might call indicating that the first scammer
had died and that they need money for a funeral. And they'll ask you to send money for that.
[TITLE: Protecting yourself from a romance scams]
There are many ways to protect yourself from a romance scam. One of them is to use a reputable
online dating service. [TITLE: Choose a reputable dating service and educate yourself.]
And to educate yourself. If something doesn't feel right, if you're questioning something
about this romance, talk to friends, talk to family. Don't be embarrassed. [TITLE: Talk to your friends and family.]
Call your local police service and talk to their fraud department. Contact the Canadian
Anti-Fraud Call Centre or go on to their website. [TITLE: Call your local police or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.]
Don't send cash through the mail or through a wire service. And don't cash cheques. [TITLE: Don't send cash.]
And it's also very important to remember, even though you do what you believe is due
diligence - whether or not you check up on phone numbers, or websites or business addresses
- you have to keep in mind that some of these scammers are very, very good. They will create
false websites and maybe use real numbers from somewhere else, so that when you do look
at it, you may think they are legitimate.
So just keep in mind the scammers have done this a million times and they know what to
look for and what to do.
[TITLE: The Ministry of Consumer Services thanks Cathy Kehoe for sharing her advice on this important matter. For more information, visit the Ministry website at www.ontario.ca/consumerservices.]