A romance scam is a type of fraud where a criminal creates a fake online identity and uses it to engage in romantic relationships with their victims, with the ultimate goal of manipulating them into sending money or granting access to personal information that can be used to compromise their accounts. These scammers might initiate a conversation on a dating app, social media site, or other messaging app. The elderly are common victims, but targets of romance scams can be of all ages. They invest significant time in cultivating a connection and trust, before socially engineering their way into the target's finances by way of a fabricated "emergency" or investment opportunity. The victim may be asked to send money via wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or a P2P platform like Zelle. These scams cause substantial financial and emotional harm to their victims, and it is often difficult for friends and family members of the victim to convince them that they are being scammed.
Use case/ examples for romance scam
Customer awareness: Educating customers about romance scam warning signs, including requests for money from online romantic partners who won’t meet in person, pressure to move conversations off dating platforms to unmonitored channels like WhatsApp, and how these scammers utilize fabricated emergencies and urgency.
Transaction monitoring: Flagging unusual transaction patterns that may indicate romance scam victimization, such as repeated transfers to new, international recipients, frequent payments for gift cards or cryptocurrency, or customers expressing uncertainty about recipient relationships.
Victim support: Training customer service staff to recognize signs of romance scam victimization and providing resources that help affected customers report fraud and access support services.
