Is Your Online Valentine a Catfish?
By: Spencer Williams
Updated: February 13, 2013
If instead of sending you flowers your online valentine asks for you to send them money, you may have a problem.
The Better Business Bureau is warning that your online Valentine may not be everything they seem to be.
The BBB is saying that you may be in a relationship with a catfish! No, not the animal. A catfish is someone who pretends to be someone they're not in order to pursue deceptive online romances, many times in order to steal money. So in this season of love, the Better Business Bureau has put out a few tips to help you avoid taking the bait.
The first is to be on your guard. Only send money to people you have met in person. Be especially cautious with people you meet online, even if you correspond with them via email or phone. Be especially wary of anyone who asks you to leave the dating website immediately to continue your conversation through email or im, as this allows fraudsters to carry out their scam without the dating site having a record of your encounter.
The second tip is to be cautious if someone claims to be local but is currently out of the country. Never give your banking information to people that you have not met in person or businesses that you don't know.
And finally always verify every emergency situation before sending money. Fraudsters can trick their victims in a variety of ways. No matter how much your relationship might seem like the real thing, you should be suspicious if someone starts asking for information like credit card, bank or government ID numbers or to send money.
So don't let love blind you so much that you don't see these warning signs.
For a link to the BBB website where you can find more information on other scams:
