Recognizing a Love Scam

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Jun 2012 Posts: 16

So, I've received dozens of "Hi, how are you, I'm beautiful and lonely" emails. They're obviously scams, but before coming to the Love Scams forums, I mainly assumed they were scames of the "click on this link so we can destroy your computer with malware" variety, not something more long terms.

I've never once clicked on one of those links to see the beautiful, lonely girl, so I don't really know. Are these generally more elaborate schemes?

How can you tell the difference?

I haven't had one in a few days, or I'd post an example.

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

If these are the type I am thinking of they may be trying to pull you into a site of their choosing. I'm not sure if those people make money for getting people in there or if they have another game once you are in there.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Jun 2012 Posts: 16

This is one of the emails, fresh from my spam filter

Quote:

Subject: 2 teen students f**k the joc k
From: Lusy Allford <[email protected]>

Hello. I live with you in the same place. I'm beautiful and well appointed. You can view my photos.http://vcharmainemud.tumblr.com/

It's more obvious, I think, than some. Some talk about being lonely and wanting to meet and aren't blatant in their subject lines.

And this one:

Quote:

Subject: Browse Christian Singles In Your City

From: Christian Mingle <[email protected]>

((No text, just three "pictures" with text in them, each with a slightly different link:
http://buffaloheron.us/280705201 to "sign up"
http://buffaloheron.us/280705203 for "more information"
http://buffaloheron.us/280705205 to "unsubscribe"))

So... just a clickjacking spam or something?

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

I am a technical idiot on this stuff so you need to wait for another that can explain that better but they are a redirect to a site.

If you are looking for a new love, there are a few sites about where they are common.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Jun 2012 Posts: 16

^^^ I'm not looking for a new love. I'm not done my my old one yet. Very Happy

But I AM looking for a new hobby.

Guys who prey on lonely men and women's emotions seem lower somehow than the usual get rich quick stuff which just appeals to greed. I think I'd like to mess with one.

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

I agree with you 200% MMG! There are some that really get into my craw and this is but one group. 4ppl and SayMeHi are 2 places you can find them at if you set up a good profile.

There are more out there and our sister site linked above is another source for pets of any flavor.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Jun 2012 Posts: 16

^^^ If you set up a profile on one of these sites, is there a danger of attracting actual people seeking romance, and how do you deal with that?

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

It is very possible. I was told by another to make the profile so hideous that only these people would go for it and it seems to be working great after figuring all of this mess out.

I saw one that actually would be fantastic but I would have no time for it so I will pass on a bit of it if you want it. You would have to find your own picture(s) though.

Mugshots are good, and the very strange also work. Just depends on the character you build around them.

The SMH, and a few other sites actually keep a scam search you can work with. If you visit a profile that looks suspect, just wait and see if you get something back from them. If it is obviously a fake to you, give em hell!

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Jun 2012 Posts: 16

^^^ If you have a lead you don't mind sharing with a newb, I'd love to dip my toes in that water.

Pic shouldn't be a problem.

MMG

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

PM sent. I have more than I can deal with on my mains.

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:30 am

The random emails containing links will lead you to camgirls/porn sites. Some are flat-out "Pay if you want to see more of me", but often they come with a "free" offer that requires a credit card, many times with the excuse that it is needed to "verify you are over 18." I'm sure you can guess what happens next if you provide a credit card.

For the most part, romance scammers won't randomly email addresses out of the blue. The exceptions are the occasional vlad (many of these also turn into camgirl/porn things too), and the Senegal refugee lad--these lads won't hesitate to spam the world, without paying the slightest bit of attention to what emailing lists they are getting (let's just say they have picked some pretty interesting addresses to spam). These will play a romance angle, but really they are just plain advance fee, and given the opportunity, they will quickly move away from romance and straight to money.

Go over to the love/dating scams forum at Scamwarners, and you will see that just about any dating or social networking site is a source for scammers. Scammers don't discriminate--they will target anyone, anywhere--everything from mainstream dating sites to sites for people with disabilities (they may even pretend to be disabled themselves), single parent sites, religous sites, even fetish sites. Some sites are better than others about screening for scammers, so the number of scammers varies. 4PPL is a favorite because it essentially doesn't screen at all, and scammers run rampant there (the site is easily greater than 50% scammers, spammers, and camgirls.) For paid sites, scammers will still sign up on free trials, or open accounts using stolen credit cards--they will buy the numbers on the black market, or even use their romance victims' cards. Their accounts tend to be shorter lived, though, because they will get cancelled as soon as the fraudulent card use is reported.

The scammers on a site like 4ppl are good for finding ones to play with, and learning how these scammers work--but in general, these will be the less experienced / unskilled scammers. The ones who last more than a few days on the mainstream dating sites are typically the more skilled/experienced scammers, and most likely to succeed in getting money. For example, in spite of the number of scammers, I've only encountered one paying victim from 4ppl, compared to dozens from match.com.