3 On Your Side: Online Dating Scams Often Target Seniors
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More than 6,400 Americans say they were scammed after visiting online dating sites in the second half of last year and the F.B.I. says that the fraud cost users more than $80 million dollars. Many of those being targeted are senior citizens who are getting back in the dating pool.
When Janet Cook went looking for love online 17 years after losing her husband, she found a match on the very first day. "I liked him you know because he said sweet things and he was very charming," Cook said of the man she matched with.
After four months of exchanging emails and phone calls, but never meeting in person, the man, who claimed to be living in Virginia, was suddenly in Africa needing a kidney transplant!
"According to the story, he became very ill and he was in the hospital," Cook explained. She wanted to help pay his medical bills, and sent him roughly $300,000 before she realized she was being swindled.
"These are people who have worked so hard for their savings and now they are giving it all away to the romance scammers," said Barbara Hannah Grufferman, a contributor to A.A.R.P. Magazine. In fact A.A.R.P. says senior citizens are a prime target for online dating scams.
The scammer found Cook on Match.com. In a statement the company says it requires users to pledge "never to send money or share financial information with other Match users," and "to report anyone who asks me for money or my financial information."
To spot online dating scammers look for those who make frequent spelling errors, use fake photos, claim to be working overseas, and be especially cautious about people asking for money.
Despite being duped, Cook hasn't given up her search for a companion online. She's just a lot more savvy. "I wouldn't trust anybody on it without doing some kind of background checking and making sure that they are legitimate."
In an interesting side note, A.A.R.P tells us that men have been found to succumb to online scams more often than women, but women also tend to report those scams when they occur.
For more information visit:
http://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2015/online-dating-scam.html
