Roses are Red, Violets are blue, on Valentine’s Day don’t let the Cybercrooks scam you!

Roses are Red, Violets are blue, on Valentine’s Day don’t let the Cybercrooks scam you!

Valentine’s Day many of us have our heads in the clouds, thinking of our loved ones…. Or the ones we’d like to love! :)  But as you treat or seek that special someone in your life, make sure that you don’t get your head stuck in the online cloud and get more than you bargained for!

To help keep you safe on Valentine’s Day (and every other day of course), here’s a look at some of the top romance scams and tips to protect yourself from those Cyberscammers who are looking to take advantage of more than your heart.

Online Daters
Online dating can be a great place to broaden your networks and potentially meet the “new love of your life” – but not everyone is as genuine and sincere as you. Some are scammers hoping to lure you in with the false promise of affection, when really their only goal is to steal your money (and break your heart in the process!)

A typical dating scam might develop over weeks or even months, and what better day for them to start than on Valentines Day – how romantic of them.

A typical scammer will create a fake online dating profile, complete with attractive photos. Once initial contact is made, they reach out to you one-on-one via email, chat, text or phone purely to establish a relationship with you and gain your trust. Once they’ve got that, you’re like a fish on a fishing line – hooked!

Then comes the scam – asking you for money to help them out for all sorts of “sob stories” including: to pay for a plane ticket to come and see you, they have a life-threatening illness and only YOUR hard earned money can cure it, or they need money to pay for their rent and you don’t want to see them living on the street , do you? Well you might once you’ve been scammed by them.

Dating scams come in all different disguises and no matter which mask they are wearing they are all the same, playing on your emotions to get what they want, so until these sites have a “fib-filtering” function, guard both your heart and your wallet.

And then there’s the more common Valentine’s Day Spam & eCards scams. Scammers play a numbers game, and the more spam they can put out the higher the likelihood of getting just one or more to bite. They also know that events like Valentine’s Day mean people are more vulnerable.

They know we are going to be more likely to open an email from someone we don’t know – a ”secret admirer” sending us promises of affection in the form of an eCard. While that email looks innocent and maybe even legitimate, beware – the “Secret Admirer” could very well be a Cybercrook with a link to a dangerous website that asks you for your personal information – and trust me you don’t want to do that.

So in honour of your heart and your privacy – put your head before your heart and stay safe

• NEVER click on links or eCards from people you don’t know – Not even Secret Admirers.
• When you receive an eCard, check the destination address of the link to make sure it is going to a legitimate eCard site – and as always if in doubt – DON’T Click, and DELETE
• ALWAYS make sure you’ve got current and up-to-date comprehensive security software installed to protect you from malware and other nasties
• If you are signing up to an online dating service, go with a well-known dating site which your friends have used or trust.
• Once you’re out there in the online dating cloud, think about the image you want to project and NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER post personal information EVER! Like your full name, address and phone number.
• When meeting a date for the first time, make sure to meet in a public place and DO NOT give them your personal address
• Trust your instincts – if there are alarm bells going off in your head – end the date.

And just because it’s Valentine’s Day, I want to share with you one of my favourite Valentine’s Day stories.

A good girlfriend of mine, who as a younger girl and still to this day would receive an anonymous card each Valentine’s Day (you know, the old fashioned kind, in an envelope, in the mailbox with a stamp!) She could never decipher the handwriting and for years would ask class mates, school friends, friends of friends trying to track down this wonderful person who never forgot her on such a special day. Many years later as a grown (and married woman) her father finally confessed that he had been her secret Valentine all these years and continues to be, sending her cards written in his left hand… every girl deserves a dad that makes her feel special and loved.

Happy & Safe Valentine’s Day
Moira

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