Stop: the love - and cash - you save may be your own.
A North Vancouver woman was swindled out of $27,000 through dating site match.com after connecting with a love interest who was only interested in money.
After months of lengthy conversations via instant messaging, the man – purportedly a Canadian working in Saudi Arabia – asked the middle-aged woman to loan him $30,000 in legal fees connected to a construction project.
She sent him $27,000 and his profile subsequently vanished.
“She truly believed this guy’s story,” said North Vancouver RCMP spokesman Cpl. Richard De Jong. “(Professional scammers) know the words to say, they understand the vulnerability of people.”
The couple never spoke via webcam or in person but the scammer won her trust through a series of hour-long online exchanges.
The victim is suffering emotionally as well as financially, according to North Vancouver RCMP Const. Brett Cunningham.
Online daters are scammed out of thousands of dollars every year, according to Cunningham.
“It’s heartbreaking and frustrating to investigate these types of frauds,” he stated in a press release.
Photos, resumes, and “elaborate life stories” can all be fabricated by online predators hoping to lure the charitable and the credulous.
Police advise visitors to dating sites to withhold personal, credit card and banking information.
And when the time comes to meet their online paramour they should make sure to do so in a public place.
Dishonesty online is rampant, according to a recent study of 272 participants conducted by researchers from Indiana and Purdue universities.
In surveying users on dating sites, social media platforms, chatrooms and sexual sites, the reported rate of honesty never rose above 32 per cent. The most common online lies are about appearance, according to the study.
