In this article we are going to talk about the Nigerian 419 scam and how the scammers are using online dating sites to find their victims. We would like to keep you safe in the online dating world and that is why we are highlighting this particular practice.
The Nigerian 419 scam has actually been around for many years and originated in Nigeria in the early 1980′s, when the Nigerian economy took a downturn. (The the number ’419′ relates to an article in the Nigerian Criminal Code that refers to obtaining property by false pretences, and dealing with fraud).
The Nigerian 419 scam comes in many different forms and if you have never heard of this scam before, just google it and your eyes will be opened up to the unbelievable tricks and games these people will play to scam others out of thousands of pounds (See the official ‘Nigerian 419 Scam – The Movie‘ here) .
In short, the Nigerian 419 Scam is about scammers in Nigeria sending emails, faxes or even direct mail to unsuspecting people where they are subjected to very convincing and persuasive stories, with the sole aim of getting them to send money to them for one reason or another.
You may be thinking to yourself, “why would anyone sent money to someone they don’t know?”. However, believe it or not, it has been reported that more than 50,000 people fall victim to these kinds of scams every year in one form or another.
The ‘Nigerian 419 Scam’ and Online Dating
With the increase and popularity of online dating in recent years, this has now opened up alternative channels for these Nigerian 419 scammers to work their nasty scams and pry on genuine people in the online dating world.
Online dating is a great way to meet people, however, falling in love is a very emotional thing, so separating the lies from the truth is not as easy as it may seems, when love as a hold of you. Especially when you only get to fall in love with someone mainly by email!
This is how the online dating Nigerian 419 scam works
Basically, these fraudsters will set up fake profiles of themselves using fake photo’s (usually of a model taken from the Internet), with the sole aim of appearing like a legitimate member of that particular dating site, but with the sole intent of ultimately scamming you, usually for money.
Now, as hard as it is to believe that people do actually fall for these con men or women, these people are extremely convincing and will prey on the more vulnerable people who are using these online dating sites. There isn’t a fixed story that these scammers use to suck you in, but the one common trait to look out for is that at some point or another they will ask you to send them money.
This is when the alarm bells in your head should be shouting “SCAM, SCAM, SCAM”.
No matter what you have been told while interacting with these people, and no matter what emotional connection you may be feeling, and no matter how in love you think you feel, under no circumstances should you send them any money.
This is more than likely Nigerian Scam and you have been LIED to period. Report them, delete all connection with them and move on.
Don’t let the Nigerian 419 Scam put you off online dating
We are not telling you this to put you off online dating, far from it. Online dating is becoming the norm in the modern world and is currently one of the fastest and quickest ways to meet other single online.
However, online and offline scams are constantly on the increase and these fraudsters are always looking for new and innovative ways to prey on any genuine people, and online dating sites are one of many ways they can do this.
We want you to find love and we think online dating is a fantastic medium to do this. However, we feel it is our duty to to make you aware of such online dating scams, such as the Nigerian 419 scam, not only to increase your awareness of such scams in the online dating world, but if we can stop just one person from potentially throwing away their life’s savings, we have done our job.