Forewarned means forearmed. That means you should know certain rules before diving into the world of online dating. The services and sites providing platforms for finding a partner are full of scammers and those who are thirsty for your money. How to choose a reliable dating site and detect such a common method of dating scams called identity theft – read below.
Widely used ways to steal an identity
In this paragraph, we will talk about the most known and often cases of identity theft. Fortunately, these schemes have been long ago detected and studied, so even if you are not familiar with the cruel world of dating scams, you may find out everything about it and be ready for the future.
- Phishing – the trick of sending a link to the fake sites you have to insert your data on. This can be your credit card details or personal information that people having bad intentions will later use.
- Hacking – the scammer hacks (breaks the security system on your device or the site and receives access to your profile) you to use your identity to deceive other users and pretend to be you.
- Remote access scams – when a person gets talked into giving out the details of their profile, or their profile is simply hacked for a scammer to get inside the system of a computer. They may subscribe you to the paid service you do not need or even buy goods from your account.
- Malware & ransomware – Malware means downloading a program that allows a third party to spy the external system of your files or even track your operation in the online mode. Ransomware is similar, but instead of getting access to your information, the hacker will detect important files on your computers or programs you are in need of using often and demand to pay for their unlocking.
- Fake online profiles – the most commonly used practice. It means creating an untrue profile that is containing dishonest or imaginary information. To do this, a scammer may use information from the Internet, stole pictures from Google or their acquaintances and come up with the information that best suits their target victims.
- Document theft – access to your mailbox will be needed in this case. After a scammer studies you emails and detects some personal information, they may blackmail you to get money for not sharing the confidential information
How to choose a good dating site
Not only having a reliable antivirus program on your device can help you fight against the scammers. The easiest thing you can do is initially choose a tried and true dating service. It may suit certain criteria:
– Reputation – have you ever heard of any Jump4lovescam scam? Right, you have not. Because such things are impossible on this site, and thus, you should choose the services that proved to protect their users form such situations.
– Verification system – all sites should check their users to make sure they are real people. If when creating a profile on a site, you were not asked to confirm your number, email or photo by using a live camera, you should better not use this one.
– Blocking options – not only should the site protect you. All users should be provided with a feature enabling them to weed out suspicious people and limit the access of such scammers to their profiles.
What should seem suspicious
These signs can mean someone has hacked your computer or stolen:
- Receiving a text, email, or phone call asking you to confirm your logging into the system of a site, service, or email while you haven’t been doing any of these recently;
- Advertisements from a particular site keep popping out on your device, and you cannot turn them off;
- You received the message that someone tried to log into your account from the destination different from where you are now;
- You cannot log into your profile because it seems that the password has been changed;
- A small and seemingly insignificant amount of money goes missing from your accounts with no particular reason;
- You receive the confirmation of a payment you have not applied for or receipts for goods you did not purchase.
Protecting yourself from identity theft
These rules may seem simple at first, yet they are very effective, and such easy steps will protect you from dealing with bigger consequences:
- Get rid of any unverified links and do not ever click the link if you have received them in an email or text form the unknown organization;
- Take the verification process very seriously and better fill in the logging in the form on sites manually each time;
- Never give out the details concerning your credit card;
- Come up with the password not connected to your date of birth, name, city, or any personal details. And never tell it to somebody because your phone may be wiretapped.
