Can a Scammer Fall in Love With Their Victim?

In 2019, romance scams became the second most reported crime to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In fact, over 25,000 people lost around $200 million. These figures prove how rampant and detrimental romance scams are.

Whether you’ve met them on online dating sites, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms, these scammers share one goal: to steal money from you while breaking your heart in the process. However, you might ask, “Can a scammer fall in love with their victim? Technically, yes, but they can never be fully trusted because coming clean is often the second part of the scam.    

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Anatomy of Romance Scams

You may have been romance scammed, but because you were blinded by your genuine feelings for the scammer, you might have missed the signs. It’s crucial to establish how romance scams work. They will create a fake online identity and approach you whether on dating apps or social media. 

Given their attractive photos and interesting profiles, you might be convinced to entertain them. Then, they’ll start showing their affection to make you not only fall in love with them but also trust them. 

However, the attempt to build an intimate relationship with you as early as possible is just an instrument to their real agenda, which is draining your bank account. They never show up — even in video calls — but will ask you to send them money to cover a medical emergency, travel cost, or business-related fees.

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Can a Romance Scammer Fall in Love With Their Victim?

If you’ve been romance scammed, you might still be wondering whether the fraudster cares about you, given that you’ve shared a lot of moments online. While it’s possible, you can never trust a scammer. Even if they come clean, it’s usually part of the scam. They will still resort to gift card scams to gain more money from you. 

Several people end up getting scammed even after “confessing.” They would say sorry for lying about their names, lifestyle, and identity. However, these scammers are manipulative enough and make you empathize with them as they share emotional stories about why they did such things. 

Then, they’ll share how relieved they are now that you already know their real name and identity. They will convince you that they’re genuinely sorry and tell you how happy they are that they can now be more honest with you. 

However, once you believe in their story and trust them again, they will start asking for gift cards and steam cards. They love these options as they’re like cash, and it’s hard to trace the funds.  

Avoiding Romance Scams

While there are people truly looking for love online, there are also romance scammers who are just after your money. So, avoid them as early as you can with these steps: 

• Be mindful of the information you share on social media and other public spaces to avoid becoming an easy target among scammers. 
• Regardless of the person’s reason, do not send any amount to someone you never met in person. Gift card scams and requests for wire transfers are common because these are easy ways to steal money without getting tracked.
• If you’ve given the scammer a gift card, call the company immediately, and ask if they can still refund the amount. 
• Finish a reverse image search to find out whether the person you’re talking to online doesn’t have scam records or is not using a fake online identity.   
•  If you’ve been scammed, report the incident with all the complete details to the FBI’s IC3 or Internet Crime Complaint Center or the Federal Trade Commission. 
• Do not entertain requests for explicit photos or videos, financial information, and other suspicious requests as they can easily use these against you.

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Guard Your Heart and Wallet With Social Catfish

There may be people with pure intentions when talking to you online, but others are just fraudsters eager to perform romance scams and gift card scams. A scammer might fall in love with their victim, but you should never trust them because coming clean is also part of the scam. So, start with an online background check to help protect your heart and savings against scammers.