According to the AARP announcement, Americans lost $82
million to online dating fraud in the last six months for 2014. AARP thinks
that dating web sites could do more to protect their members by:
·
Cracking down on scammers by identifying and
shutting accounts of those who pay with stolen credit cards, cardecking IP
addresses to verify profiles’ listed locations; employing algorithms to detect
suspicious language patterns used by scammers; and using image searches to
identify fake profiles used across
various dating websites.
·
Issue early warning alerts to any member who has
been in contact with someone using a fake profile.
·
Educate members with tips on how to spot and
avoid romance scammers and provide resources and contact information for those
who have been victimized.
The online announcement provides an easy to fill out
petition to submit to AARP. AARP says it will deliver the petition to the top
dating websites such as Match.com, eHarmony, Plenty of Fish, Zoosk, OK Cupid,
SeniorPeopleMeet and Out Time.
Comment: Getting to most scammers is very difficult. Most
scammers in schemes like the romance scam are beyond the borders of the U.S. and
therefore beyond the jurisdiction of most law enforcement agencies both local
and national. AARP’s strategy is to convince online dating sites to get
involved to protect their members. If the sites voluntarily take measures to
limit the scammer’s access to legitimate members then the effectiveness of
romance scams should be greatly reduced. While not eliminating the scam 100%,
the actions proposed should help protect online dating consumers. There are no
guarantees that this effort will succeed in bringing the online dating sites on
board, but it is a start in finding effective ways to fight this new form of
crime.
To see the announcement with a video explaining the scam and
tips to avoid it go to:
AARP:
Associations Now:
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