The Dangers Of Online Fraud For Singles On Valentine's Day

BE AWARE

With today being Valentine's Day, I wanted to reach out to all of those people who are single, recently single, widowed, divorced, and feeling lonely. Sometimes that loneliness leads to looking for love online, or just looking for a new beginning.

DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES

There are crooks out there just waiting to find someone feeling down. Someone vulnerable. Many times this is older adults who may have recently lost a spouse. They find you through romance and sweepstakes scams. You meet them online..through a text or phone call. Everything seems to be going great. They reel you in over a few weeks, and then; they start asking for money. They may ask you to send them money through cryptocurrency, gift cards, or bank transfers. This is a huge red flag. Anytime someone asks you for money; whether it's the first day of contact, or not until 8 weeks later when you are involved.

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TRAGEDY

It's always something awful; something tragic, some desperate act that will cause you to send them ALL of your money over time. When you think you've found the love of your life, it's easy for you to lose all common sense; but I assure you; if it sounds too good to be true, IT IS!!!!

SWEEPSTAKES? YEAH RIGHT...

On the other end of the spectrum, perhaps you received some kind of notification that you've won a sweepstakes. Stop and think. Be realistic. You'll be congratulated. Bragged on. All you have to do is pay the taxes upfront. Send hundreds or thousands of dollars to receive millions. Sounds logical right? No. It doesn't. Come on. Don't fall for it.

DON'T BE A MULE

You can't claim dumb and get away with it. People are sitting in jail overseas who have let scammers get the best of them, and you could be next. You could be serving a 20-year sentence for your part in transferring stolen money to scammers, and not have a clue what you've done wrong.

WHAT IS A MONEY MULE?

A scammer's objective is to turn you into a person who helps them steal money from others, basically a MULE, to do all the dirty work for them, leaving you completely responsible for stolen funds that go right to the scammer.

It is happening a lot through job listings on sites like 'Linked In' where people are looking for at-home jobs or ways to bring home extra money. People often think that if a listing is on a legitimate website, all the jobs are real. NOT SO!

A money mule is a person who gets involved in a financial game of cat and mouse, most times without knowing what's happening.

They are tricked into believing a story, and end up transferring and moving stolen money around for crooks, who then take the money, and leave YOU, the money mule, holding the bag.

AARP MINNESOTA SENDS WARNING

According to AARP Minnesota, Federal authorities have identified more than 4600 suspected 'money mules', and recovered around $3.7 million in fraud proceeds.
They have charged 30 people caught up in these scams, as part of the Money Mule Initiative, an annual crackdown on illicit fund transfers led by the Justice Department, US Postal Inspection Service, and other agencies.

WARNING SIGNS

If you are wondering if you are right now involved in a scam, these are the warning signs:

You've received a job offer promising easy money for little or no effort. This could be a text, email, or something through social media. The so-called employer talks with you via email, like Gmail or Yahoo.

They ask you to set up a bank account in your name so they can send you money, and transfer money on their behalf.

ROMANCE AND LOTTERY SCAMS

Someone who is pursuing a romantic relationship with you, or someone offering a large lottery prize wants you to start receiving payments or products from strangers.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

Research the company offering you a job, especially if the job description is vague.
If someone contacts you out of the blue and wants you to open a new bank account to receive funds. WHO DOES THAT?!
Don't communicate with anyone you suspect may be trying to utilize you as a money mule.
Keep any receipts, text messages, emails, and voicemails from people pressuring you to receive and transmit payments or products. This way you can pass the information along to authorities.
Contact your financial institution if you think you've been deceived or maybe in the middle of something happening right now.

KNOW THE FACTS

Legitimate businesses will not ask you to use your own bank account to transfer money in any way.
Don't share financial information or account logins or passwords with people you've met online.
Don't agree to let people deposit money into your bank account.
Don't ever purchase gift cards, or cryptocurrency for someone. This is a huge red flag. If you are stuck in the middle, contact your financial institution immediately.
Don't agree to collect packages for someone and resend them. They could be putting drugs in those packages and you WOULD BE responsible. Can you say hello jail cell?