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The US mail inspection service advises the public to recognize this Valentine’s Day online “romance scam.”
“Valentine’s Day is when many people speak the language of love,” USPS said in the release. “But the US mail inspection services know that scammers speak different types of languages.
Authorities have provided some general tips for helping the public, including whether you or your loved one is being targeted, and how to protect yourself and others.
“Let me set up a scene for you. You will connect with someone online, perhaps through dating and employment websites,” the USPS release raised. “After a short time of intense relationship building and sharing intimacy, they profess their love for you. Then a request for money follows, what do you do?”
USPS is said to recognize these warning signs:
Those who only know online have publicly declared their love and you haven’t even met them. Your online romantic partner has a sudden emergency or medical problem and needs your financial support. Please deposit your check and then return the wire transfer. You notice spelling and grammar mistakes. This is a feature of fraud response.
Regarding how to protect yourself, USPS provided:
After meeting someone online, you will play safely and will not reveal your last name, address, or workplace until you meet in person. Save personal details about yourself for an in-person meeting. Turn off the location setting for your phone. Investigate the person through a search engine. Perform a reverse image search for new friends photos. Google Check your Google Romancer email address and whether “scam” pops up. Compare the Romancer’s backstory with information about your social media accounts. Resist the push of romancers and move the relationship to email immediately from dating sites. Always keep your webcam off. The con artist eventually tries to persuade the victim to undress the camera and use these images to blackmail them.
And if you believe that romance scammers are targeting your family and friends, USPS said you can protect them with these steps:
Particularly solicit family and friends who have recently divorced or lost their loved one. Make sure you know how to do an online background check for people you may encounter while visiting dating sites and chat rooms. Watch out for the flowers and cheap gifts that are accumulated in the homes of friends and family who are vulnerable to online romance scammers. Get the feeling of the kind of phone that answers the phone while you are visiting family or loved ones and comes to their home. Volunteers review their finances with them and question suspicious payments or large withdrawals.
If a suspicious offer, promotion or solicitation arrives by mail, USPS will give it to your letter carrier, tell them it to the postal inspector and take it to your local post office or criminal investigation services I said I asked to forward the solicitation to the center.
According to the USPS, victims can report the scam via www.uspis.gov or call 877-876-2455 to say it is a “scam.”
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