Internet: USA's FBI warns of dating website scams

Dating sites have been used by scammers for a long time. Fraudsters recruit victims for a range of advance fee frauds, cheque kiting frauds and money laundering schemes as well as simply creating a false profile and asking generous people for help for some emergency, family problem or somesuch.

Mrs A, a filipina maid in Malaysia has first hand experience: "I was stupid," she says. "I put my e-mail address and phone number in my profile. Now I get calls, e-mails, instant messages and SMSs from fraudsters all day and night." She's been the intended victim of several types of scam including the "I've sent you a box of things for your family for Christmas, computers and so on. It's waiting at Customs. My contact will collect it and deliver it to you but he needs to pay Customs duty." That particular scam was accompanied by authentic shipping documents - that had been inexpertly altered.

"I get many men telling me they are English but their accents are African," she says.

Malaysia has a special problem with African advance-fee fraudsters. It's disturbingly common. And, on a Sunday afternoon, it is usual to see groups of Africans leaving shopping centres specialising in technology with large and expensive purchases.

There's good reason: a laptop in Nigeria costs around three times the price of an identical product in Malaysia - and Malaysia is not especially cheap. In fact, it's often cheaper to buy in the UK and reclaim the 20% VAT. But that involves a paper trail - and the fraudsters do not want to leave a paper trail.

In Australia, there have been many examples of frauds - and they go both ways. The so-called "Russian Bride" scam has been spectacularly successful there with desperate Australians paying for plane tickets and sending travelling money for women that have befriended them on-line.

And Miss E recently reported that someone had used a dating site to offer her what she thought was a job but it turned out that the plan was that they would send her a cheque which she was supposed to cash and then send the money on. The cheque duly arrived and she was suspicious because it was a foreign cheque. She tore it up and did not cash it. The fraudster threatened to report her to the police for stealing his money. But she checked and found that the fraud here is simple: international cheques take a long time to clear and so banks allow the cheque to be presented, and funds credited, "with recourse." that means that she has access to the funds - but must repay the bank if the cheque bounces. In such a scheme, it usually does. If it does not, then the chances are that the account holder has just been used in a money laundering scheme.

The USA's FDIC maintains a list of banks which have reported that cheque books - in some cases in large quantity - have been stolen. It's not a short list and more are added almost every week. These cheques often surface in schemes such as those that Miss E was recruited for.

Her scheme was even more complex than usual: she was recruited as a "mystery shopper." The idea was that she would take the money, buy things with it and send them to the recruiter with a report on her shopping experience. It looked like a great idea. But, she learned from others, the recruiter would send the money then make an excuse such as that the campaign had been curtailed early and ask for the money to be sent back by bank transfer.

The FBI's report says " Their most common targets are women over 40 who are divorced, widowed, and/or disabled, but every age group and demographic is at risk." It goes on "You’re contacted on-line by someone who appears interested in you. He or she may have a profile you can read or a picture that is e-mailed to you. For weeks, even months, you may chat back and forth with one another, forming a connection. You may even be sent flowers or other gifts. But ultimately, it’s going to happen—your new-found “friend” is going to ask you for money."

It's the long term "grooming" that often gets to people. By then the fraudster has built up a rapport with the victim in which he has gained her (it's usually her) trust.

The FBI warns of the issues alluded to above: "You were targeted by criminals, probably based on personal information you uploaded on dating or social media sites. The pictures you were sent were most likely phony, lifted from other websites. The profiles were fake as well, carefully crafted to match your interests. In addition to losing your money to someone who had no intention of ever visiting you, you may also have unknowingly taken part in a money laundering scheme by cashing phony cheques and sending the money overseas and by shipping stolen merchandise (the forwarded package)."

The FBI has a series of warning signs - which ChiefOfficers.Net has modified with the help of our parent company, The Anti Money Laundering Network:

"Your online “date” may only be interested in your money if he or she:

- Presses you to leave the dating website you met through and to communicate using personal e-mail or instant messaging, especially early in the process;

- Professes early feelings of love or some other deep feeling;

- Sends you a photograph of himself or herself that looks like something from a glamour magazine (in one case, a woman used a photograph extracted from the still from a film: in real life, she looked nothing like the photograph and wasn't even the same race!);

- Makes plans to visit you but is then unable to do so because of a tragic or other significant event; or

- Asks for money for a variety of reasons (travel, medical emergencies, hotel bills, hospitals bills for child or other relative, visas or other official documents, losses from a financial setback or being the victim of a crime )."

The FBI's advice is to use "only nationally recognised dating sites." But that's a somewhat silly idea: the biggest sites are global. The only real way is simple: do not, ever, ever send money to anyone you meet on-line. And if you do meet them in person, do so in a very public place.

Mr M was holding a party at his home. Amongst the dozens of guests, he invited someone he had chatted to on-line. She arrived and left a few minutes later without saying goodbye: Mr M thought she was going to the washrooms which were close to the pool. Immediately after she left, guests noticed that wallets, cameras and phones were missing. Her mobile phone number, working immediately before the party, did not work minutes after she left and it appears was never turned on again.

Advance fee fraudsters have been known to kidnap and rob (but not generally hold for ransom) victims who said they wanted to meet before handing over money.

So it's a good idea not to give your address to someone that you've never met. You don't want them turning up on your doorstep, do you?