Mature Gentlemen Are the Latest Target of Date Scammers

When talking about the dark side of online dating, a common misconception is that only women are the victims of stalkers and scammers like Nigerian princes, while men are the ones responsible for such devious acts. But the truth is, no demographic can be safe from cyber criminals. Citizens of Great Britain seems to be extremely gullible these days, as a national report points out that an alarmingly large percentage of British online daters are falling victim to online dating scams. The report also showed that men can become the prey just like women, since several gangs specialize in conning mature gentleman above their 50s.

Scamming is an art, apparently

Make no mistake: criminals take the scamming business very seriously. Most gangs are located in West Africa, Russia and the Middle East, and they have their own guidebook as well. That’s right, somewhere in the world a twisted mind came up with a manual (called The Game: Penetrating the Society of Pick Up Artists) that teaches malicious individuals the way of dibbling naïve singles out of their hard earned money. According to the safeguarding organization called Action Fraud, almost 4,000 individuals fall victim for scammers in Britain, and a surprisingly large share of them were men who thought they are helping an attractive young female get back on her feet financially.

The cold truth of dating app cons

A common misconception is that only fools fall for scams. However, most cybercriminals are patient and very clever. As you can see, they even have a manual full of pickup lines and answers for all sorts of situations, so if you think you can simple dance away from a trap, then think again. They spend months building up trust, so that you’ll empathize with their made up cause and open your wallet. A fun fact: average dating scams make your budget slimmer by $12,500. They only ask for a small loan at the start, because they need to move or a sudden health issue struck them, but then they move on to the more complicated cons with larger stakes. In any case, never send money to someone you met online. This is particularly true if the person in question lives in another country and you never met in person. Always do a basic background check on them to see whether they are real, and don’t be afraid to contact the admin team when in doubt about a certain dater being truthful or not.