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Avoid the Traps of Online Romance Scams

BATON ROUGE, LA – Valentine’s Day is fast approaching with online dating becoming a common place for finding love in the modern world, Attorney General Jeff Landry is cautioning Louisiana that cyber criminals are taking advantage of dating app users and their pocketbooks. Today, Attorney General Landry issued a warning about “romance scams” taking place on dating websites, social media, and dating apps.

“According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost more than $200 million to romance scams in 2019—up nearly 40% since 2018,” said Attorney General Landry. “It is important for Louisiana consumers to recognize the warning signs of phony profiles and be proactive in guarding personal information.”

Attorney General Landry offered the following tips to protect daters from falling victim to fraud or worse:

  • Ensure the dating site does not sell personal data to third parties or advertisers.
  • Never share sensitive personal or financial information with someone you have never met.
  • Be careful about sending money or gifts to a love interest you have not met in person.
  • Keep communications on the dating site; scammers often suggest moving relationship to private channel like email or a chat app.
  • Create strong usernames and passwords and keep them confidential.
  • Search the internet for similar, suspicious narratives and use reverse image searches to see if account photos were stolen from someone else’s real profile.
  • Never send an online acquaintance intimate photos that could be used to extort you later.

Attorney General Landry also encouraged dating site users to report suspicious activity or scams to the FTC’s Consumer Response Center by calling 1-877-FTC HELP (1-877-382-4357) or submitting it online at ftc.gov/complaint

To learn more about scams and fraud, visit
www.AGJeffLandry.com or call Attorney General Landry’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-351-4889.