Is this profile real?
A free checklist for checking a new online match, and a printable red-flag card to keep by the phone or give to a parent.
Before you send anything
- Can't meet in person
- Asks for money
- Says how to pay (gift cards, wire, crypto, apps)
- Rushes you
- Wants to move off the app
Send me the checklist.
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Checklist:
Is this profile real?
The rule
Never send money or gifts to a sweetheart you haven't met in person.
[FTC]What to do
- Stop communicating with the person immediately.
- Talk to someone you trust. Are friends or family worried about this new love interest?
- Search the person's job plus the word "scammer" (e.g. "oil rig scammer").
- Do a reverse image search of their profile picture.
- If you paid by gift card, wire, credit/debit card or crypto: contact the company or your bank right away, say you paid a scammer and ask for a refund.
- Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and to the app or site where you met. Internet crime can also be reported to the FBI at ic3.gov. [IC3]
Printable red-flag card for parents
Wallet and fridge size: two cards per A4 page, plus the full checklist.
Never send money or gifts to someone you haven't met in person.
Call ______
ReportFraud.ftc.gov
2024
In 2024 the FBI's IC3 received 17,910 confidence/romance fraud complaints, with reported losses of $672,009,052. Complainants aged 60+ filed 7,626 of them, reporting $389,312,356. (IC3 counts romance scams together with other "confidence" schemes, including the grandparent scheme.) [IC3]