The damage of 'romance scam' that tricks the other party with the power of love has increased by 50%, is it due to the new corona?
Romance scams that make you feel
Romance scams take record dollars in 2020 | Federal Trade Commission
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/data-spotlight/2021/02/romance-scams-take-record-dollars-2020
Romance scams are scams that create attractive profiles using photos of 'good-looking people' collected on the Internet, and make the person who gets caught feel romance and send money. The damage caused by romance scams is increasing year by year in the United States, and the total damage was 75 million dollars (about 8.2 billion yen) in 2016, but it will be more than four times that in 2020 (about 304 million dollars). It has reached 33 billion yen).
The FTC attributed COVID-19 to the reason for the particularly large increase in romance scam damage in 2020. Romance scams use excuses to prevent victims from meeting in person, even if they want to see them, because the person used in the profile doesn't really exist, or it's easier to get in touch with them in person. .. According to the FTC, the global epidemic of COVID-19 makes it easier to make excuses that have been twisted by hand, such as 'I can't meet because I got a positive result for COVID-19' and 'I can't meet because I have restrictions on going out.' It was said that. The FTC also believes that the benefits provided by COVID-19 may have boosted total damage.
Dating apps were the main victims of these romance scams, but there are increasing reports of romance scams on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. Romance scams on social media don't start in the form of asking for an encounter, but often in the form of 'an old friend suddenly contacts you.'
Regarding the 'method of sending money to the victim', which is the core of the romance scam, the FTC insisted that the victim 'transferred the money first', 'I want the victim to transfer the money again', and 'to someone else'. I want you to transfer it. ' The FTC warns that not only can money be fooled by these tricks, but the transfer can even play a role in money laundering.
In terms of remittance methods, the number of cases where 'gift cards' were used recorded a sharp increase of 70%. According to the FTC, damages such as 'sending the gift card itself' and 'sending only the gift card number' have increased rapidly in recent years, but the overall method of sending money to the victim is the gift card and bank transfer. It is in a strong state. The median amount of money that victims have been deceived by these techniques will be $ 2,500 in 2020. This amount is said to be more than 10 times the amount of damage caused by other scams, and romance scams are said to be the most damaging scams.
Regarding victims, although an increase in damage has been confirmed in all age groups, 20-29 years old is the number one in terms of the rate of increase, and the number of damages in this age group from 2019 to 2020. Has doubled. On the other hand, when looking at the number of pure damages, 40-69 years old is the first, and when looking at the amount of damage, 70 years old and over is the first place. The median damage to people over the age of 70 has reached $ 9475.
The FTC also explains how to avoid these romance scams. According to the FTC, when looking for love while avoiding scammers online, you should be aware of the following four points.
・ Even if the other party sends money first, do not send money or give things to someone you have never met in person.
・ Consult with others about online romance. If your friends and family are worried, you should listen carefully.
・ Ask questions and find out if there are any inconsistent answers.
・ Try searching for the photo used in your profile. If the person in the search results is another person, it's definitely a scam.
In addition, there is a research result that 'you can not meet with a dating app', so you need to be careful when using a dating app.
Why can't I meet on the 'dating app'? --GIGAZINE
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