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People reported losing more money to romance scams in 2019 and 2020 than any other fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission.  People sometimes lose their life savings.   I know, they sometimes get conned for millions of dollars. A man or woman can lose their house, car, and 401k to a smooth talking scammer in just a few months. The scammer places a profile on facebook or a dating site of an oil platform worker, a military member or  anyone who has to work long hours and has a job in an isolated country.  His profile photograph is usually a photo he has downloaded from the internet. The name he uses is also phony and may even be the same name of the man on the photo he downloaded. If you go to google and do a reverse image search you might find he has several photos under many different names. He is usually a very smooth talker mainly because he could be reading a script he has read hundreds of times.  But at a certain point he will ask you for money.  It could be so he can visit you, get his vehicle repaired, or help him pay a medical bill for a relative. It may ask for as little as 50 dollars. If you say something like, “I never loan money to friends” he may pass you over to another scammer with more experience in romance people. If you do agree to send him some money he will ask for more money in a few days.   Remember if he asked for some photos of you and you send him nude photos he might try to black male you. If he asks you to help him to set up a bank account or some kind of business transaction for him you could be an accessory to his criminal activities. He might blackmail you or you may be arrested some time in the future. Remember anything he gives you could be stolen. He could be a complete psycho as far as you know. He could be a member of a dangerous mob type gang. If a man meets a woman  on the internet and she wants him to send her  money or do some illegal act, she could end up in the same perdicument. The Federal Trade Commission states if he really loves you he or she wouldn’t ask you for money.  It’s a red flag and time to end the conversation. Here is a reenactment version of a phone call that was made a few months after a woman and a scammer first met. It shows how a scammer gradually tries to gain the trust of his victim while he attempts to empty her bank account.   Hello baby doll. What are you up to? Hello tom how is everything with you Just fine.  What did you do last night? Oh nothing. I read a book for awhile and then I went to bed.  What did you do? Oh went to bed early, say I had a dream about us last night. Really What was  the dream about? I dreamed we were living together. I was cooking you a steak dinner with potatoes and gravy. Sounds good. What did we do after we ate? We undressed and went to the couch and made love all night. Then I held you in my arms and told you I loved you. You are a real tiger. You are so sexy. Have you taken some photos for me yet? No. I would be really embarrassed to send you photos. Why would you be embarrassed you are beautiful. I don’t want to. Say my brother called me yesterday.  He said my Mother is deathly sick. Oh I’m so sorry.  Ya. my brother says she has cancer. Her doctor says she needs a specialist to do the operation.  The operation is really expensive. How much is it? 30 grand. My brother and I are short 20 grand. I don’t know what to do.  I don’t want to lose my mother.   She is a wonderful person. Silence O. Maybe I could loan you the money.  No, really?  I’ll owe you for life.  I ’ll pay you back as soon as I can. I really love you. music   I think that is  pretty close to the way victims of romance scams describe the phone calls. I can see a lonely person could easily fall for that scam. 

Right. It’s time to go, until next time.   This program is not associated with the Federal Trade Commission music If you are a victim of a scam report it on the ftc.gov        Written By Ron Barker (C)