{"id":43376,"date":"2025-02-14T12:19:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T12:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberguru.it\/2025\/02\/14\/romance-scams-helpful-tips-on-how-to-use-dating-apps\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T10:13:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T10:13:39","slug":"romance-scams-helpful-tips-on-how-to-use-dating-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberguru.it\/en\/2025\/02\/14\/romance-scams-helpful-tips-on-how-to-use-dating-apps\/","title":{"rendered":"Romance scams: helpful tips on how to use dating apps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brad Pitt for Valentine’s Day? Beware of the heart and especially romantic scams! <\/h2>\n\n

Valentine’s Day, for many the feast of love, for many others a time of great vulnerability, and for unscrupulous cybercriminals a golden opportunity to exploit the frailties of those seeking online companionship.<\/p>\n\n

Romantic scams have always been successful, generating millions of euros in losses each year, as in the case of<\/a> the 53-year-old French woman who, convinced she was having an affair with Brad Pitt, was scammed to the tune of about 830,000 euros. Right around Valentine’s Day these attacks increase again; in 2023 alone, Interpol recorded a 30 percent increase in reports of romance scams<\/a><\/strong> during this day. <\/p>\n\n

In short, falling into these traps is easier than it seems, which is why Cyber Guru takes stock of the most common scams to help users recognize the warning signs and effectively defend themselves against cyber criminals.<\/p>\n\n

The most common scams on dating apps<\/h2>\n\n

In the first place we find precisely the Romance scam, scammers fake romantic relationships to extort money over time. Thanks to AI, these scams, which are based on social engineering practices, are even easier to pull off. A typical example is when a person claims to be stranded abroad and asks for financial help to get back. <\/p>\n\n

Next, we move on to Emotional Phishing: through seemingly innocuous messages, scammers aim to obtain personal information such as phone numbers, emails or bank details. <\/p>\n\n

Among the evergreens we count catfishing or the creation of fake profiles using stolen or artificial intelligence-created images to fool victims. A common example is the “military man on a mission” who cannot make video calls but sends eye-catching photos. <\/p>\n\n

And finally just the financial scams, through which scammers posing as flatterers offer fraudulent investments, especially in cryptocurrencies, or ask for financial help with various excuses, such as medical emergencies or travel problems.<\/p>\n\n

How to expose a flirtation that is actually a scam: the warning signs<\/h2>\n\n

Profiles often seem too perfect or newly created; professional photos, generic descriptions and little personal information should set off alarm bells. Beware, too, of quick and intense declarations of love: receiving phrases such as “I’ve never met anyone like you” after only a few messages is, most likely, a dead giveaway of a scam. But in the end they all point to making requests for money for sudden emergencies that require financial support. If the contact was made through a dating platform, one should never give in to pressure to leave the platform and move the conversation to WhatsApp or Telegram. The purpose of moving to the latter apps is to escape the controls of the dating platforms. <\/p>\n\n

Tips for safe navigation<\/h2>\n\n

The first thing to do is to protect your personal information and never share sensitive data. It is important to do online research and check social networks to verify the identity of the person you know. Also be careful with shared photos; some pictures can reveal details about one’s person and current location. <\/p>\n\n

Once all these steps are taken and ready for the first meeting, always in public places, it is important to notify a friend or family member before a date.<\/p>\n\n

Last but not least, it is vital to trust your instincts; if something seems too good to be true, it probably is not.<\/p>\n\n

Continued on Valentine’s Day and the Romance Scam: how to use dating apps critically and consciously<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brad Pitt for Valentine’s Day? Beware of the heart and especially romantic scams! Valentine’s Day, for many the feast of love, for many others a time of great vulnerability, and for unscrupulous cybercriminals a golden opportunity to exploit the frailties of those seeking online companionship. Romantic scams have always been successful, generating millions of euros […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":42714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[422],"tags":[467,470,473,835],"class_list":["post-43376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-en","tag-cyber-crime-en-2","tag-cyber-security-awareness-en-3","tag-phishing-en-3","tag-truffe-en"],"yoast_head":"\nRomance scams: helpful tips on how to use dating apps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Romantic scams are on the rise, especially on Valentine's Day. 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