Strange dating site scams where they don't hit you for money
Discussion
On the thread about dating sites I mentioned that I'd met a lot of people on SA - this isn't about that site as such so lets not cloud that waters. Most of those I've met have been lovely (with the odd massive lunatic thrown in) but since I've been on it (August 2016) I've noticed a particular "scam" many times.
People, who are clearly Nigerians or Eastern Europeans, are using stolen photos to pretend to be someone they aren't. These pics are obviously lifted from Facebook and suchlike. They'll set up an entire fake profile using pictures of some pretty girl, even to the point of using her real name, sometimes the real surname comes out in conversation too. They'll chat for ages and ages but will never, ever try to hit you for money or try to get you to do anything. I've even got to the point where I was going to meet someone as I was in her area on business one day - she chose the place we were going to meet and the time (after she'd finished work) and basically set the whole thing up. Obviously, it got near the appointed time and "something came up", a perfectly believable reason as it happens, so we didn't meet. I happened to be down that area a month later and the same thing happened.
Now, in at least two cases, I know exactly who the real people were because their FB accounts were easy to find. One girl even had press articles written about her as she was raising money for some medical condition she had so she was definitely in the area that the profile said (Durham, as it happens). With regards the girl I was going to meet, she even added me as a FB friend - perhaps it was a fake account but it seemed to have all her family on - or perhaps someone had hacked her real one and was adding people?
I've had two more scam profiles just yesterday too.
What's the scam here though? There seems to be absolutely no point in it; no one ever tries to extract money, they never ask you to do anything or send them anything. Why go to such elaborate lengths in order to achieve absolutely nothing and why on earth would you actually use someone's real name and location? Now, I can believe that there are some sad cases out there who get their thrills by winding up blokes on dating websites for a laugh but if that's the case then why call off a prospective date rather than just leaving the guy to go there when no one was going to turn up? I cannot believe that that is what's happening here though as there is just too much of it and someone has obviously put a lot of effort into these profiles.
Does anyone know what is going on here?
People, who are clearly Nigerians or Eastern Europeans, are using stolen photos to pretend to be someone they aren't. These pics are obviously lifted from Facebook and suchlike. They'll set up an entire fake profile using pictures of some pretty girl, even to the point of using her real name, sometimes the real surname comes out in conversation too. They'll chat for ages and ages but will never, ever try to hit you for money or try to get you to do anything. I've even got to the point where I was going to meet someone as I was in her area on business one day - she chose the place we were going to meet and the time (after she'd finished work) and basically set the whole thing up. Obviously, it got near the appointed time and "something came up", a perfectly believable reason as it happens, so we didn't meet. I happened to be down that area a month later and the same thing happened.
Now, in at least two cases, I know exactly who the real people were because their FB accounts were easy to find. One girl even had press articles written about her as she was raising money for some medical condition she had so she was definitely in the area that the profile said (Durham, as it happens). With regards the girl I was going to meet, she even added me as a FB friend - perhaps it was a fake account but it seemed to have all her family on - or perhaps someone had hacked her real one and was adding people?
I've had two more scam profiles just yesterday too.
What's the scam here though? There seems to be absolutely no point in it; no one ever tries to extract money, they never ask you to do anything or send them anything. Why go to such elaborate lengths in order to achieve absolutely nothing and why on earth would you actually use someone's real name and location? Now, I can believe that there are some sad cases out there who get their thrills by winding up blokes on dating websites for a laugh but if that's the case then why call off a prospective date rather than just leaving the guy to go there when no one was going to turn up? I cannot believe that that is what's happening here though as there is just too much of it and someone has obviously put a lot of effort into these profiles.
Does anyone know what is going on here?
dudleybloke said:
They've not asked for money YET!
They never do - ever! Not even a hint of it. They eventually just seem to disappear. I've had people try it before and you can spot it coming. These profiles are different though but I can't get my head round what benefit they are getting from it.Big Nanas said:
It could simply be social engineering. Get as much information from you (about you) as possible, then start to open credit cards, credit accounts, mobile phone contracts etc.
That did actually occur to me, to be honest, that it was some elaborate identity fraud scheme. I don't really see how they can do anything without your address and DOB along with other stuff though and I've never given that type of info out. Having said that, in more than four years I've never had any strange credit applications pop up on my credit file or anything similar. 01WE01 said:
Two things, primarily.
One, they have plenty on the go at once, there are easier marks than you (or richer? No scammer cares about a leggy mx5...) who do get asked for money etc.
Two, they are looking for information, you don't have it. E.g. don't work in the right field etc.
Possibly but why let it go on for what is literally months and not try to ask for what you're after? I mean these people literally ask for nothing at all. No information, no money, no "things", nothing. Neither have they actually asked as to how wealthy I may or may not be. I just don't get it. One, they have plenty on the go at once, there are easier marks than you (or richer? No scammer cares about a leggy mx5...) who do get asked for money etc.
Two, they are looking for information, you don't have it. E.g. don't work in the right field etc.
You'd be surprised the length scammers will go through in phishing attempts as people are getting wiser now.
As mentioned there would be tons of disposable profiles, some with hacked accounts so would look genuine. You'd be surprised how much information can be gleaned by simply adding someone as a friend in FB.
This is prevalent on dating sites as most doesn't really vet the members, and there are bound to be lonely people as easy victims.
As mentioned there would be tons of disposable profiles, some with hacked accounts so would look genuine. You'd be surprised how much information can be gleaned by simply adding someone as a friend in FB.
This is prevalent on dating sites as most doesn't really vet the members, and there are bound to be lonely people as easy victims.
AJL308 said:
Possibly but why let it go on for what is literally months and not try to ask for what you're after? I mean these people literally ask for nothing at all. No information, no money, no "things", nothing. Neither have they actually asked as to how wealthy I may or may not be. I just don't get it.
They could be maintaining communications so the account is not reported (i.e. making the whole thing look genuine).At a guess they know if they ask for money or personal information most people will know it's a scam and they'll get nothing. If they have enough guys on the go at the same time, they're probably hoping some will volunteer information/money/gifts through social engineering over time.
anxious_ant said:
They could be maintaining communications so the account is not reported (i.e. making the whole thing look genuine).
Maybe but that seems to be causing more work than is needed. Why would a scammer continue when they've decided they aren't going to get anywhere when they could just say sorry but I've changed my mind/met someone/made a mistake, etc. Doesn't make sense. AJL308 said:
Maybe but that seems to be causing more work than is needed. Why would a scammer continue when they've decided they aren't going to get anywhere when they could just say sorry but I've changed my mind/met someone/made a mistake, etc. Doesn't make sense.
The account could be a "profitable" account which they are currently netting high value targets. If they don't communicate with you it might raise suspicions which may lead the account to be blocked.Remember, it's not just one person manning an account, it's a whole team of them.
Or perhaps the account is genuine and you are just too suspicious?
Sophisticated Sarah said:
Could be a form of training to improve their conversation ability? Most scams are obvious due to the broken English.
I think it's a bit more than that because they have obviously gone to great lengths to set up these profiles by stealing someone's pictures and actually pretending to be them. The standard of English used also tends to be quite high. The "standard" scammers are easy to spot as they use weird teminology (let's say my first name is David - it isn't) I had one scammer last night calling me Mr David. An obvious scammer. They also just use any old photos and fail to realise that you can't try to con someone from the UK when the light switches and power outlets in your profile pics are clearly European!
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