FINTRAC’s Project Chameleon initiative has helped many people and businesses identify romantic scammers. It is a comprehensive online database that tracks suspicious financial transactions related to romance fraud and reports them to federal, provincial, and municipal law enforcement. A common red flag for these cases is an e-mail address with a seemingly unrelated business. However, this might not be a problem if the e-mail address belongs to a business that is a FINTRAC member.
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid falling victim to a romance scam. The first step is to become aware of it. Many scammers are skilled at hiding their identity. They have spent hours learning about their victims and perfecting their skills. They will often keep journals and gather information from their online dating profiles and social media accounts. The next step is to like their profile pictures and increase communication with the victim. It is important to make sure the person you’re talking to is not a romance scammer.
Romance scam criminals have been honing their skills for years, and they spend countless hours learning about their targets. They use information they find on social media profiles and online dating profiles to create a more authentic profile. They will begin by liking what they see in a potential victim, and over time will increase their communication. The scammer may even start a relationship on the site without knowing the real person. Then, the scammer will ask for money.