· eBay Gift Card Scams are not much different from Amazon or Apple gift card scams. The scammer does the same: calls the victim, pretends to be in an emergency, asks · While the specifics of the scams vary, scammers generally follow a common pattern: they connect with a victim by phone, email, through social media, or online; they · The old advice of not sending gift cards to online strangers also applies to crypto. But there are other ways of scamming that don’t even involve the victim directly sending crypto · Steam card scams, in particular, take advantage of romance and use it as a setup to gain funds to add to the scammer’s Steam Wallet. Why a Steam Card Scam? For starters, ... read more
This is used because Americans tend to trust their Military — for good reason. However, when you are contacted with someone claiming to be in the Military right off the bat, this should raise a red flag for most, although like with others, some good judgement is required.
After all, there are millions of service members. Almost all online dating scams involve money in one way or another. Sometimes they may ask very quickly within a week, for example. However, sometimes they may wait for months to ask for money in order to gain your trust; especially if they plan on asking for a more substantial amount of money.
The most common scammers will typically ask for smaller amounts at first, but will suddenly begin asking for much bigger amounts. These online scammers have numerous amounts of scams that they use and sometimes they can be extremely creative when making them. A large weak point that is very typical of online dating scammers is their social media. More often than not, they forget to both build structure such as lack of friends, page likes, posts and photos.
Sometimes, they even have a personal social media account that has their real name and photo. Most online dating scammers like to use stolen photos taken from other social media accounts; and may even use a stock photo. Typically, if more than one name is connected to that photo, then it is stolen. Anonymity is something almost all online dating scammers want, which means in almost every circumstance, they avoid video chats at all cost. If you suspect that you may potentially be falling victim to a romance scam, request to initiate a video call with this person.
If they deny this and make excuses, especially more than twice, then this is a huge red flag; and you should take extra precautions. Online dating scammers are not located within the same country as the victim in most cases, which means that they will likely have an accent. The scammers know this, so they will almost certainly not accept a phone call from their victim. Not only could this possibly expose the scammer as not being a local, it would also give the victim a chance to ask hard questions, which means the script that the scammer uses may not be nearly as effective.
If you are denied a phone call, especially more than twice, then that should be considered suspicious. This should go without saying, but if you suspect someone may be trying to scam you, ask hard questions. You might be wondering what those are.
Doing so allows you the opportunity of letting them slip up and make an answer that is completely incorrect. On almost every occasion, scammers will inevitably ask you for money. Sometimes this can start small, and usually happens within the first few weeks, although it can happen after months have passed.
However, if you are asked to send money for any reason, this should immediately raise a red flag. Never send money to anyone online, especially those who you have never met in real life. Personal information should be kept exactly what it is called: personal. Online dating scammers may not directly ask for money from you, but instead ask for personal information and take it themselves; and may even steal your identity. Never give anyone on an online dating website your social security number, banking details or your home address.
Doing so could lead to huge legal issues such as bankruptcy, identity theft and, in some extreme cases, jail time. Most of the scripts that are used by online dating scammers include certain keywords to use when they are grooming their victims. These keywords are used to try and drag you into a romance trance, which will lower your guard, making you much more vulnerable to his request. It is important that you perform a quick background check on who you are actually speaking to on the internet you can do that here.
The common questions that spring to mind are:. To help the users of this site we have partnered with BeenVerified so you can check exactly that.
This checking service reveals everything about this would be romance scammer and if they are a real person! Helpful Information Available on BeenVerified :. If you have the slightest doubt about who you are speaking to… Please use this service!
Throughout this guide, you have learned how to spot an online dating scam; and also what you can do to prevent yourself from becoming another victim.
Online dating scammers spend a lot of time polishing their scripts and treat this like their full-time job. We have seen many victims lose out on millions of dollars each. Some have even gotten married, only to end up divorced and broke due to Sugar Daddy scams. The key takeaway from this guide should be to never send money to anyone online, most particularly a potential romance; and this goes for private information too.
Never do anything online that you may regret in the future, as some online dating scammers will use this to extort you. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Stay vigilant. Brian Rucker writes about all things related to online dating and lifestyle. He has written hundreds of articles, specializing in online dating scams, and has written other fun and exciting topics in the online dating space.
Read more of Bryan's articles. But how can you possibly recognize a gift card scam? It can be a gift card vendor, fake store, crooked receptionist, or an electronic client. These alarming figures have risen year after year for many decades now. And it is time to be aware of such scams and ways to spot and avoid them. There are thousands of methods to make gift card scams work. The perpetrators of these schemes use high-pressure techniques to persuade consumers to hand over gift cards and make their plans work.
According to the FTC, the fraudsters usually contact, message or email targets to inform them that they are suffering financial hardship. They may say that you must pay thousands of bucks in speeding fines or you have not yet paid the IRS taxes, etc. They will then insist the victims buy a gift voucher and either offer them an online copy of the gift card or give them the credentials of your gift card. If you do as these scammers say, their scamming scheme works and you lose your hard-earned money.
Another way such scams work is that scammers transform a gift voucher into cash, goods, or smaller specific transactions via a virtually unidentifiable process. For instance, some sophisticated scam schemes use Google Play coupons to establish fraudulent memberships and programs as a means to extort money. So, you should be careful as one mistake can result in you losing millions of dollars.
Now that you know about gift card scams and how most scammers make it work from the previous section, it is time to look into the most popular gift card scams.
The best way to not become a victim of such scammers is to be aware of all such scams. So, let us begin. How does it work? A scammer calls someone while pretending to be in an emergency. He tries to convince the person to help him by purchasing an apple or iTunes gift card.
If the victim does what the fraudster says, he loses his money and gets scammed. Many people are getting scammed in this way. Because of such scams, Apple has clearly stated that you can only utilize Apple and iTunes Gift Cards to buy Apple products and programs from apple.
com, the Apple App Store, iTunes Store, and so on. Whenever you feel that you got duped into an Apple gift card scam, Contact Apple Help at 1 instantly. Check to see if the cash in the iTunes account is still available.
If the cash is still available, Apple will put restrictions on it. The next one is the Amazon Gift Card Hoax. While the intricacies of each scam differ, fraudsters often adopt the same pattern in all gift card scams; they contact the victim through a phone. Then, they make up an emergency and demand money in the form of Amazon gift cards. The fraudster then convinces the target to give them the claim number and then vanishes. Because of this, Amazon has strictly advised its customers to never spend their Gift Vouchers on anything other than Amazon.
It also advises to never share gift card details with anyone, no matter what happens. People claiming to be in trouble are usually scammers. If you get scammed, contact Amazon number 1 , and keep everything with you as proof.
You can also make a complaint on the Federal Trade Commission website. eBay Gift Card Scams are not much different from Amazon or Apple gift card scams. The scammer does the same: calls the victim, pretends to be in an emergency, asks for the code on the eBay gift card, and disappears.
eBay also advises their clients to never share their gift card numbers. You can use your eBay gift card to shop from eBay only. If you have made the mistake of telling your eBay gift card credentials to someone, contact eBay customer support and keep the gift voucher with you as proof.
This way, you can get your money back from the eBay gift card scammer immediately. Another popular gift card scam is the Google Play Gift Card Scam. Scammers usually act differently in this one.
In this fraud, the scammers contact you or drop you an SMS or email, pretending to be in the IRS. The fraudster will claim that you have overdue taxation and will tell you that if you do not clear your dues immediately, the IRS will arrest you.
He will ask you to pay your taxes using a Google Play gift card. Once they have the information of your Google Play Gift Card, the scammers will use it for themselves as a means of extorting your money.
So, Google Play has mentioned on their website to never use their gift cards for purposes other than to buy from Google services.
Federal government websites often end in. gov or. The site is secure. Gift cards are for gifts , not for payments. They also have fewer protections for buyers compared to some other payment options. And once they have the gift card number and the PIN, they have your money. Scammers may tell you different stories to get you to pay them with gift cards, but this is what usually happens:.
Only scammers try to convince you to pay with gift cards. If you paid a scammer with a gift card, tell the company that issued the card right away. Keep the card and any receipts you have. Remember that gift cards are for gifts , not for payments. So if you buy gift cards to give away or donate:. If someone asks you to pay them with gift cards:. CFG: Translation Menu Español CFG: Secondary Menu Report Fraud Read Consumer Alerts Get Consumer Alerts Visit ftc.
Breadcrumb Home Articles Vea esta página en español. Someone might ask you to pay for something by putting money on a gift card, like a Google Play or iTunes card, and then giving them the numbers on the back of the card.
No real business or government agency will ever insist you pay them with a gift card. Anyone who demands to be paid with a gift card is a scammer. What is a Gift Card Scam Spot the Scam What To Do If You Paid a Scammer with Gift Cards Safely Buying and Using Gift Cards Report Fraud. Search Terms. gift cards. Shopping and Donating. Gift Card Scams. August Return to top.
· While the specifics of the scams vary, scammers generally follow a common pattern: they connect with a victim by phone, email, through social media, or online; they · The old advice of not sending gift cards to online strangers also applies to crypto. But there are other ways of scamming that don’t even involve the victim directly sending crypto · Steam card scams, in particular, take advantage of romance and use it as a setup to gain funds to add to the scammer’s Steam Wallet. Why a Steam Card Scam? For starters, · eBay Gift Card Scams are not much different from Amazon or Apple gift card scams. The scammer does the same: calls the victim, pretends to be in an emergency, asks ... read more
You never know, this year-old girl who goes to a nearby college might just be a scammer from Nigeria. If you find that your card is lost or stolen, make contact with the card issuer and report the crime or loss this will be far easier if you kept the receipt. These occur when someone receives a communication usually an email from a supposed pastor, rabbi, priest, imam, bishop or other clergy members. scamfish Guides Gift Card Scams: An Easy Way for Scammers to Launder Money. Refine Your Search Which state are they from? You might receive a fraudulent offer of this type by email or text.
Online dating scammers may not directly ask for money from you, but instead ask for personal information and take it themselves; and may even steal your identity. Email Phone Username Address Image, online dating gift card scam. These online scammers have numerous amounts of scams that they use and sometimes they can be extremely creative when making them. If you are looking for someone in particular on eHarmony, iTunes is the top card used in credit card scams, while Google Play cards just began being used more frequently than ever before as of