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Janet N. Cook, a church secretary in Virginia, had been a widow for a decade when she joined an Internet dating site and was quickly overcome by a rush of emails, phone calls and plans for a face-to-face visit. "I'm not stupid, but I was totally naïve," says Cook, now 76, who was swept off her feet by a man who called himself Kelvin Wells and described himself as a middle-aged German businessman looking for someone "confident" and "outspoken" to travel with him to places like Italy, his "dream destination." But very soon he began describing various troubles, including being hospitalized in Ghana, where he had gone on business, and asked Cook to bail him out. In all, she sent him nearly $300,000, as he apparently followed a well-honed script that online criminals use to bilk members of dating sites out of tens of millions of dollars a year.
The New York Times reports that internet scammers are targeting women in their 50s and 60s, often retired and living alone, who say that the email and phone wooing forms a bond that may not be physical but that is intense and enveloping. Between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2014, nearly 6,000 people registered complaints of such confidence fraud with losses of $82.3 million, according to the federal Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Older people are ideal targets because they often have accumulated savings over a lifetime, own their homes and are susceptible to being deceived by someone intent on fraud. The digital version of the romance con is now sufficiently widespread that AARP's Fraud Watch Network has urged online dating sites to institute more safeguards to protect against such fraud. The AARP network recommends that dating site members use Google's "search by image" to see if the suitor's picture appears on other sites with different names. If an email from "a potential suitor seems suspicious, cut and paste it into Google and see if the words pop up on any romance scam sites," the network advised. The website romancescams.org lists red flags to look for to identify such predators, who urgently appeal to victims for money to cover financial setbacks like unexpected fines, money lost to robbery or unpaid wages.
Most victims say they are embarrassed to admit what happened and they fear that revealing it will bring derision from their family and friends, who will question their judgment and even their ability to handle their own financial affairs."It makes me sound so stupid, but he would be calling me in the evening and at night. It felt so real. We had plans to go to the Bahamas and to Bermuda together," says Louise Brown. "When I found out it was a scam, I felt so betrayed. I kept it secret from my family for two years, but it's an awful thing to carry around. But later I sent him a message and said I forgave him."
(Score: 5, Interesting) by lentilla on Monday July 20 2015, @05:57AM
I wonder if we could automate some kind of scam-detection algorithm that reviews account history at banks?
Similar things are done for credit cards - I'm not the only one who's had a call "hello, did you just purchase an item for $23.45 from overseas?" I wonder if similar things could be done to monitor aberrant behaviour in "savings" accounts?
It would be more than a little creepy to have the bank call and start asking questions about your habits but handled appropriately it might be a needed wake-up call to those in the process of being scammed.
I expect the transactions will either be in cash withdrawals that exceed regular daily requirements, or in foreign transfers. I'd be very interested to see the actual transaction history of scammed individuals.
(Score: 2) by linuxrocks123 on Monday July 20 2015, @06:03AM
That's an excellent idea.
(Score: 5, Informative) by dyingtolive on Monday July 20 2015, @07:43AM
A lot of the problem comes from third party services. Western Union are scumbags who will gladly move any amount of money anywhere without any question, and it's the complacent medium by which any competent scammer does his work. My grandparents got taken for a few thousand a couple years ago. Apparently they thought I went to Mexico and thought that the Mexican accent on the other end of the phone that couldn't have given even the vaguest of personal details about me because I don't exist online sounded like me. The scumbags actually had the gall to try to ask for more before the few brain cells in my dear relative's brains that haven't short circuited actually fired properly and they bothered to try to, you know, CALL MY CELL PHONE EVENTUALLY TO FIND OUT I WAS JUST HUNGOVER AT HOME.
I've solved the problem for now by assuring them that they would be knowing if I'd be going to Mexico in the near future (and I won't be because I'd pick some place less of a infernal shit hole) and that they shouldn't take things seriously until they hear from me for real, what with all my pleasant disposition and unwillingness to call them out on their lack of, well, you know. Time will tell if that actually holds up, because appeals to emotion are somehow stronger than I give them credit for or something.
On a personal note, I still don't get how they can act like it's my fault when I tell them that if I cause myself to be rotting in some fucking third world (by the modern definition) shithole of a prison, I probably deserved it to begin with and I'll deal with that on my own terms, but that's really beside the point. In the meanwhile, my personal goal is to make sure I die off before I get to that point. I'd prefer to make sure I enjoy further years of lucidity before that though, otherwise I'd just fucking off myself now. Any suggestions?
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday July 20 2015, @02:04PM
Well there is always the Hunter S. Thompson route...
But really I am worried about this too. I have money that can deal with physical handicap problems, even though I hate relying on others for anything. But if my mind starts to go... I fear most that I won't realize it until it is too late.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday July 20 2015, @03:58PM
Actually there is a much worse way to go than losing one's mind.
Having the body fail to the point of helplessness while being in constant terrible pain and the mind is entirely intact.
Going through a parent having this for a few weeks, I would not wish this on anyone ever.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Interesting) by dyingtolive on Monday July 20 2015, @07:02PM
Good point, and that does sound pretty sad. The state of assisted suicide (in the US) has really fallen to the point where the Christians (et al) have forced us to passively torture through inaction older and infirm people until they finally go.
It's perpetually baffling to me that 12 slack-jawed mouth breathers whose strongest desire is to just get the trial over with can decide to kill a person but the people who know you and have your best interests at heart, or even you yourself, cannot. I don't normally like Scott Adams' blog, but he did an interesting bit on that... I want to say a a couple years ago.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @09:10PM
How dare they provide that useful and essential service! Every transfer of money should require all personal details of both parties and government approval!
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Monday July 20 2015, @09:29PM
And I felt that too even as I posted it. I get what you're saying. Paypal really pisses me off like that. What it came down to when I thought further about it was that the problem is that any sort of regulation or inspection of the transfer of those funds is only subject to the whims and best interests of those that don't necessarily have YOUR best interests at heart.
It's like the doublespeak wrt regulation. People scream "REGULATION IS BERD! REGULATION IS GRATE!" I mean, really, regulation isn't really bad when it's doing things like keeping asbestos out of schools and toxic waste out of your burger, but it's kind of shit when it props up dying business models because there is strictly financial gain to be had for people.
I don't want government approval on a wire transfer. You're going far beyond the scope of what I'm even bitching about to begin with. I don't really want any regulation necessarily. I want the people doing the wire transfer to look at what is going on, express a vague amount of competence (maybe prompted by a computer, I'm not picky) and stop and ask, "Wait, are you sure this is actually who you're sending this to? This doesn't add up. We have the awareness to be aware that this is a popular scam situation."
Instead, barely trained half-baked gas station attendants gladly nod their heads like well trained dogs, ask you for the routing numbers, and then it's just another bullet point on their list of things to do with as much significance as "declog the overflowing toilet in the fetid restroom they've neglected all day."
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!