Due to restrictions during the pandemic, many Muscovites began to meet online and organize dates through the monitor screen. The situation was taken advantage of by scammers who, pretending to be men in love, extort money from women and blackmail them with intimate photographs. We will tell you what techniques are more often used by criminals and how not to become a victim of online love. Lover on the Internet A number of metropolitan marriage agencies note that during the pandemic, complaints from women who were deceived during online dating began to come more often. Men gain confidence in single women, pour compliments, confess their love and receive the information they need from a woman (place of residence, income level, personal data). "And then this information leaks out, is resold, and various influences begin with elements of financial fraud, blackmail and everything else," said the owner of the marriage agency Natalya Burmakina in a dialogue with Moscow 24. Member of the Moscow Regional Bar Association Vladimir Sobolev told Moscow 24 about a series of cases, when a young man got acquainted with another girl via the Internet, entered into trust, and then invited on a date to a restaurant and stole her things. While waiting for the moment when the girl went to the toilet, he took her handbag with a phone or an expensive fur coat, which he specially hung on one number. Then the person left in an unknown direction. Sobolev notes that men often find themselves in similar situations. In this case, a girl can beg for gifts from a man, money for a ticket to come to see him, payment for her intimate photos. Moreover, if we are talking about online correspondence, then a man may also be hiding under the girl. Such scammers often disappear after the first money transfer. "They take not by the amount of funds, but by the amount, trying to cover the maximum number of victims, but not for such a lot of money," emphasizes Sobolev. Why are women 40+ at risk? Experts note that more often wealthy women over 40 are deceived in online dating. From loneliness, a woman is more inclined to look for a companion. Fraudsters, in turn, are more likely to target mature women, because they usually have financial savings. In addition, according to the lawyer Sobolev, an adult woman is likely to hide the fact of deception or extortion in such situations. A mature woman may also be more afraid of the situation with the spread of her intimate photos on the Internet. After all, she has developed a certain status in society and at work, and, most likely, already rather big children. According to the lawyer, in cases with adult women, the amounts sent to the scammers reach several thousand dollars. How to recognize a pseudo-lover Experts point out the first few calls that will help identify a fraudster who skillfully pretends to be an online admirer: maximum information. Tip: move the dialogue from a personal topic to another. Find out what books he reads, if he has a hobby. "If at this moment he switches to a new topic and talks about his interests, tastes, travel, admiration for nature and art, then it is clear that this person does not aim to find out your material component. If he continues asking about you, this is the first bell.", - advises the owner of the marriage agency. 2. An online friend wants to send a gift and asks for your address. Advice: No matter how much you would like to receive a gift, it is better not to agree to this without checking the person. After all, the man has already found out that you live alone, has found out your address, and it is not clear how this could end. 3. The person looks and describes himself too perfectly. Any fraudster will try to show himself as advantageously as possible. He will never have bad habits. At the same time, a real person who really wants to get to know each other usually has some flaws. Advice: "If everything is too perfect, then you have to start to suspect something. People are deceived because they want to be deceived. They are looking for a great bright future, not thinking that the initially set requests are unrealizable," the lawyer recommends. When meeting a new person online, it is advisable to study his social networks, look at his social circle, check information about him on the Internet. Try to analyze your potential partner without rushing headlong into love. If the scammer still managed to cheat you for money, contact the police. For such a crime, he faces a large fine and imprisonment for up to 10 years.
