How to Spot a Romance Scam and Protect Yourself

You get a direct message from an attractive stranger on your favourite social media site. You start chatting and quickly hit it off. Soon they’re telling you how much they love you and they want to meet. But when the time comes, they’re never able to video chat and all those in-person dates — they always have an excuse for breaking them.

Then one day, they tell you about a big personal emergency. They desperately need your help and ask you to send money through cryptocurrency or gift cards. Suddenly you find yourself sending thousands of dollars to someone you’ve never even met.

You’ve just fallen victim to a romance scam.

Not all romance scams involve sending the scammer money directly. Sometimes they use the intimacy they create to convince you to tell them personal details about yourself — like your mother’s maiden name or your childhood pet’s name — details that can help them steal your identity. 

It’s important to know the signs so you can end the relationship before the scammer ruins your finances or identity.

How Can I Spot a Romance Scam?

1. Their profile seems too good to be true

• Their profile picture looks like a professional model or shows them in a luxurious setting.

• Their profile is relatively new, has very few friends/followers, or lacks photos with family and friends.

• They often claim to have a job that requires a lot of travel, like the military, working on an oil rig, or a doctor working with an international organization. 

2. They get very romantic, very fast

• Also known as “love bombing”, they profess their love within days or weeks.

• They may use terms like “honey,” “babe,” or “my future wife/husband” very early to create a false sense of intimacy.

3. They avoid face-to-face contact

• They always have an excuse for not being on camera, like bad Wi-Fi or claiming their camera is broken. 

• They cancel plans to meet, often citing a last-minute emergency. 

4. They move the conversation to a private app

• They quickly push to move the conversation from the dating or social media app to encrypted apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Signal. These apps may lack the security filters and monitoring of standard social networks.

5. They ask for money

• They claim a financial or medical emergency and ask for help. Or they position themselves as a cryptocurrency expert and propose an investment opportunity on a (fake) platform.

• They will almost always ask for untraceable payments: Cryptocurrency, wire transfers, or gift cards.

How Can I Protect Myself from a Romance Scammer?

If you suspect someone might be a scammer, take these steps immediately:

• Reverse image search: Upload their profile picture to a reverse image search engine. If the photo appears under different names or on stock photo sites, it’s a scam.

• Dig deeper: Ask questions about where they live and their friends and family. Pay attention to inconsistencies. If they claim to be from Vancouver but they can’t name their neighbourhood or don’t know local landmarks, be wary.

• Don’t send money: Never send money to someone you haven't met in person, no matter how desperate their story sounds or how lucrative the opportunity seems.

• Talk to a friend: Scammers try to isolate you. Tell a trusted friend or family member about the relationship — an outside perspective can be a good reality check.

A social media monitoring service, like the one included in Equifax Complete™ Protection and Equifax Complete™ Protection for Family, can also help flag suspicious accounts and activity. If the scammer is using a bot account (a computer program) or a profile from a known database of fraudulent accounts, a monitoring tool can flag the account if it has been reported before.

It can also alert you if the scammer posts a suspicious link on your account that might lead to a scam site or contains malware that could steal your personal information.

What Should I Do If I've Been Scammed?

If you believe you’ve fallen victim to a scam, there are some steps you can take to help minimize the damage:

1. Cut off all contact immediately but save the evidence. Take screenshots or save emails and texts related to the fraud before you block them. Don’t give them a chance to try to explain or convince you that you’re mistaken. Scammers are well-trained to try to get as much money from you as possible. 

2. Call your bank and credit card companies. Tell them you’ve been a victim of fraud. They can cancel and re-issue your credit cards, freeze your accounts, and they might be able to stop pending wire transfers. 

3. Report the crime. Report the scam to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and to your local police. The police can provide a “police file number” that’s often required by banks and other financial institutions to process fraud claims.

4. Place a free fraud warning. A fraud warning on your credit report encourages lenders and other credit granters to contact you before extending new credit, which can help stop scammers from opening credit accounts in your name.

5. Change your passwords. If you shared any login details with the scammer, change your passwords immediately. You can use a password manager, like the one included with Equifax Complete™ Protection and Equifax Complete™ Protection for Family, and enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for additional security.

Romance scams can be financially and emotionally devastating. Staying vigilant and using the right tools can help you stay safe in the digital dating world.