Nigerian Romance Scams

From LoveToKnow Dating

Nigerian romance scams are one of the most popular Internet scams. These scams promise millions in return for your financial aid. Unfortunately, this romance scam preys on the pocketbook via the heart.

Beware of Nigerian romance scams!

About Nigerian Romance Scams

Nigerian scams promise millions in return for a small investment ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. These emails take advantage of general naiveté of the public as well as their need for get rich schemes. Despite the numerous warnings of such scams, Nigerian email scams remain popular even with spam filters and increased security in email. The romance scam is a variation on this same theme.

Mr. or Mrs. Perfect

Nigerian romance scams take advantage of lonely and wounded hearts, promising them the perfect partner of their dreams. According to Romance Scammers dot com, a site devoted to debunking Russian and Nigerian romance scammers, these Internet predators offer you the image of a wholesome, honest person who would be perfect as a business or life partner.

What you don’t know is whether the images they upload or the words the person writes are real. In fact, it’s entirely possible that the scammer is sitting in an Internet café scrolling through chat rooms, online dating sites and other avenues to gather information about you and a dozen other victims. He is likely writing versions of the same letter to others pretending to be their ideal man or woman. What makes these scams so insidious is their adeptness at answering personal desires. As with most con artists, Internet email scammers are adept at profiling your psychological needs and desires.

Looking for Love

While online romance remains a valid option for many, scammers understand that lonely hearts may sometimes become desperate for affection. The scammers will use tricks, gifts and psychological flattery to court and establish a relationship. They will then begin to ‘share’ problems or issues they are having. These confidences foster a sense of intimacy as they encourage you to share your own problems with them.

Once this rapport is established, the person may experience a financial hardship such as not being able to pay a bill or needing money to bail a beloved family member out of prison. Scammers prey on your sympathies to the tune of fifty or a hundred dollars. Once you send the money off, the person asks for a little more and a little more. Some of these romance scammers may earn a 1,000 dollars or more per victim without doing more than exchanging a few emails.

Devious Scammers

The more devious scammers may use fear of persecution and American perception of the dangers in third world countries to ask you to send larger sums of money or to cash a check for them and forward the money via Western Union or a Money Gram. The danger of the check cashing, of course, is that they are passing fraudulent checks and you are in effect sending them your own money.

The unfortunate by product of such devious scams is that they wound the pride as well as the heart. Many victims of Nigerian email or romance scams loathe to report falling for it because it seems so clear-cut after the fact. The argument that the heart wants what the heart wants is a valid one, but no matter whether you use a free online dating service, a secure dating service or simply surf the Internet looking to make connections with others, you should always exercise caution with your personal information and money.

Identity Theft

Identity theft continues to rise as scammers become more adept at ferreting out personal information. All a person needs to begin committing identity theft is a birth date, Social Security number, name and address. To help reduce your risk of identity theft and protect yourself from Internet predators, you should:

Never give your Social Security number out via email or instant message. When an employer needs your Social Security number, he or she will provide you with the proper tax forms.
Do not print your Social Security number on your checks or other correspondence.
Do not publish your address on the Internet. You may think publishing your city and state is secure, but if your name, address and phone number are published in the local Yellow Pages, it won’t take long for a researcher to track down the information.
Never publish your birth date on the Internet.
Routinely check your own credit reports.

Protect your heart, your identity, and your finances by exercising caution in all online interactions.

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