Romance Scams to Beware — Signs of a Scammer at Work

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..."How to outsmart a romance scammer
Whatever you do, don’t send money or gifts to anyone you’ve never met in person, authorities say. Don’t sign legal documents or give account numbers to these people or open joint accounts with them either.

The FBI has some advice on what you can do to limit your risk:

Be careful what you post and make public online.
If you suspect a scam, stop communicating with the person immediately.
Conduct a reverse image search of the person’s photo(s). If it is associated with another name or profile, it is likely a scam.
Take things slow and ask a lot of questions.
Never send money to someone you have only communicated with online or by phone
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission(opens in new tab) offers these additional suggestions:

Keep conversations on dating or social media platforms. Many platforms utilize harmful language filters that can detect fraud. Fraudsters want to quickly move conversations to private messaging apps to avoid detection.
If contacts refuse to meet or video chat, that should be a red flag. Try other ways to verify their identities in real-time. For example, ask the person to send a selfie holding a piece of paper with your name and date next to his or her face.
Before making any investment, get a second opinion. Talk it over with a financial advisor, trusted friend, or family member.
Never pay more money to get your money back. If you suspect fraud, report it immediately to the Internet Crime Complaint Center(opens in new tab).
Learn more about romance scams at consumer.ftc.gov(opens in new tab) or other reliable websites."...