Don't Be a Victim of Online Dating in Sacramento

It is very common in today’s world for people to pursue dating online. With people’s lives being very busy with work and family, online dating has become very popular because it seems easy and it saves time. Online dating has made it convenient for people to connect from different parts of the world and try to have some sort of relationship depending on what they are looking for. As much as we would like to assume the world of online dating is safe, we must open our eyes to the negative possibilities of meeting the wrong person who has bad intentions for people they meet online.

As a private investigator, one of the major and common online scams that I encounter is fraud through what I would like to call “pretend love”. Pretend love is basically a method used by online scammers to prey on single, lonely individuals by starting an online chat which leads to feelings of false love through days or months. These scammers will pretend to be super interested in having a relationship with innocent men and woman online. Theses online scammers will learn so many facts about their fraud victim just by chatting with them for hours and days. They will use these factors to their benefit when need be to make the victim feel comfortable with them and trust them only to strike financially when the time is right. For example they will remember a person’s favorite color, food, location to visit, and more. Then at a later time they will bring these known factors up so the victim feels compatible with them and feels more close to them.

It is natural for humans to be curious and like to meet someone special whom they can trust and build a life with. These scammers know this fact and they take advantage of people’s emotions and feelings. Online scammers will often portray themselves as being very successful and having a healthy life style. It is obviously easier to trust a successful person who seems to be very financially fit. My clients who have been a victim of online dating and fraud all have something in common to say when they meet me. They all say something along the lines of, “he showed me he is well off”, “she seemed very normal”.

I have seen clients lose anywhere from $800-over a million dollars to online scammers. Now you may think or say to yourself “I would never do that” but the reality is that most my clients thought that way too until they became a victim.

Don’t become a VICTIM OF ONLINE DATING!

There are a few ways you can easily find out if the person you are talking to online is actually real or fake.

1. Always ask to talk on some sort of video chat to see who this person actually is and if they are the same person as the profile picture they have.
2. Try to meet them in person in a safe environment if possible before committing to ANYTHING! (If someone tells you they work out of the country and will not return home for a while then know that’s a major RED FLAG!). The story of working out of the country is almost become a fake universal scam.
3. Always contact a private investigator to look into the person validity. Most online scammers will send you a picture of their supposed ID for you to feel comfortable. In reality anyone can make a fake ID and pretend it’s them, so it’s very essential to have a Private investigator look into this person and their ID to make sure it’s genuine and real.
4. NEVER EVER give money to someone online. No matter what their story is or what they need the money for. This usually happens when the scammer already has gained full trust of their next victim.

Be sure to give us call if you suspect you may be victim or have any questions….   (916) 865-8169