Online dating services have become increasingly popular in recent years, as evidenced research of GlobalWebindex. Acceptance rates for these services reach 45% in Latin America, 46% in the Asia Pacific region, and 29% in the US and Europe, while more than 40% of bachelors have used a corresponding application or site for the last month, according to the survey.
Of the dozens of applications operating worldwide, the two most popular are tinder and Happn, counting over 50 millions of registered users each.
With such a great deal of dynamism, these services could not fail to target cybercriminals who exploit them to launch malicious scams unsuspecting users.
As her researchers explain ESET, in most cases cybercriminals study their victims' profiles and collect personal information, such as professional activity, income or lifestyle, etc. Based on the profile they have formed, they also use the most suitable method of targeting the victim.
One of the most common methods is for a cyber-robber to emotionally manipulate his victim to send him money, gifts or personal information.
Another common form of deception is the so-called sextortion, which begins as an ordinary relationship between two people who begin to know each other until the crook tries to convey the conversation elsewhere, for example. at WhatsApp. Here, he will try to persuade the victim to send bold pictures or videos to use this material to blackmail the victim.
Another scam is 'catfishing', in which the crook presents a picture different from his own, cheating the victim to engage in a relationship based on a fictitious profile.
As ESET says, this is a huge issue at a global level. In Australia, 2018 has seen 3.981 fraud cases related to online dating through social networks, apps, or sites, resulting in losses over 24 million US dollars.
In the United Kingdom, 2017, according to the National Agency National Fraud Intelligence Office, a case of online dating fraud was reported every three hours. According to more recently data from Action Fraud, κατά το 2018 υπεβλήθησαν περισσότερες από 4.500 καταγγελίες για διαδικτυακές scams with 63% of victims estimated to be women, the BBC said.
ESET reminds users of online dating services that anyone can fall victim to a scam, so they should keep the following tips in mind:
- Check for inconsistent or inconsistent behaviors. If you find one, be careful.
- There is a case that the person you have met, after a while (weeks or months), tells you an elaborate story and ask you for money, a gift or something like that. Remember that we never send money to someone we met online before we meet him personally.
- Suspect someone who always finds excuse not to come close.
- Never share with a person you do not know well about, material and information that may make you bothered if they are made public, like photos or videos.
If you decide to meet someone you have met on the internet, make sure you arrange the meeting to be in a safe, public place.
If I add 2-3 more parameters will I be conservative or bad?
1) Especially the ladies but also the gentlemen, we do not make appointments with people we met from the net in a secluded or "strange" place so that they do not find us crumpled…
2) even if we go to such a meeting, especially ladies, we have informed 1-2 friendly people about who and whom to meet.
3) in case something goes wrong, even in open or public space, especially the ladies, not only is it not bad but it may be necessary to say the magic word "help". Loudly…
After all this, as an epilogue: good dates are blind, but guys and a little more attention does not hurt since the times are not as they were "yesterday"