When Love Goes Digital: Avoiding Scams This Valentine’s Season

With "Singles Awareness Day" only 10 days away, after Christmas, this is probably the second loneliest day of the year. Although it is globally known as a day of love, for countless men and women, they can no sooner wait for the 15th of February to arrive, maybe secretly hoping that next year will be different.

That longing for love, acceptance, and validation can lead unsuspecting individuals down a path ending in loss of trust, hope, and even money.

In a world that has gone completely online, access is at our fingertips, which makes the job market even harder to navigate. Applicants now come not just from the local area, but from anywhere in the world, competing for the same opportunities even if they have never set foot in your country.

Similarly, someone from a remote village in the Philippines can now meet, connect, and fall in love with someone from a remote village in Albania. The possibilities are limitless, but with the good comes the bad, and it is not only confined to the dark web.

A simple dating app, or singles page on Facebook becomes the perfect playing

field for scammers who set out to find and ensnare “desperate people.” No one is off limits:

• whether that’s sending a nude female photograph to a teenage boy, receiving his photos in return and then demanding $500 or more to not destroy his life by sharing them with his friends and family; or

  
  

• building a relationship with a pensioner and appealing to their good nature by saying that there’s sickness in the family and outstanding medical bills they need help paying; or

  
  

• a recent graduate that’s told that whilst working on an oil rig, their account has been frozen and so they just need to borrow some money.

Even with anti-scam organizations, bank warnings, and adverts, scamming remains highly lucrative because they understand that it isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, different scripts are used for each victim, meaning that no one is completely unscammable.

This Valentine’s Day, put away your credit or debit card, disable Google Pay and Apple Pay, and do not let the search for love leave you with an empty wallet.