We have all been taught since an early age that love has no boundaries – it is something special and that can give us hope and happiness.  The online dating industry has capitalized on this idea, promoting their websites and companies as great way to meet that special someone domestically, and internationally.  Every day, thousands of people meet through online dating sites and social networks, where anyone from any country and any age can participate as long as they have an internet connection. It sounds promising, but there are great risks involved too. Online dating scams are one of the most common fraud schemes today.  In Romania, many fraudsters are cashing in on it.

The problem with online dating is how to see who is behind the profile.  In many cases, even the online dating website itself will create the fake profiles.  On top of that, criminals create fake profiles to match what you’re looking for.  It takes some serious work to sift through all this mess and find real people, looking for real relationships.  The greatest problem with dating online comes from not being cautious and ignoring the fact that it is extremely important to verify the people that we meet.  Not doing so can be a costly learning lesson!

Romania is an emerging market for scams

Romania investigators in Bucharest state that the cases of love fraud have increased exponentially in 2014. Romance scams are a global phenomenon that affect people from many different places, but the ‘industry’ has grown widely amongst Romanians.  Romanians are computer and tech savvy, and with the country full of beautiful women, and a poor economic outlook, the conditions are ripe for individuals in Romania to target foreigners for money.  For certain unethical people in Romania, it is easy money.

There could be many explanations for the expansion of fraud here. First of all, the political and economic uncertainty in the eastern European countries is causing trouble for the economies and Romania is not immune to this. Unemployment and access to healthcare are important issues for Romanians. Under these circumstances, many people look for alternative ways to solve their needs and to safeguard their futures, and many of these alternatives have to do with crime. Rural poverty in Romania is over 70% according to the World Bank, and it has one of the largest gaps in living and social standards between rural and urban areas in all of Europe. All of the above create social inequalities that finally push many into crime rings, including those dedicated to committing love scams and other types of online fraud, such as hacking and identity theft. For many Romanians, scamming is just a job, and easy way to solve what the economy and the government have not yet been able to solve for them.

Internet crooks operate like organized crime

An important thing to consider for those dating a Romanian is that fraudsters are not alone, they are not isolated women trying to look for a better future through online scamming. Most of them belong to crime rings with big networks and a lot of experience in the field. Many are not even women, but men who pretend to be a Romanian lady just to get men from developed countries like the United States, U.K., Australia, Canada and more recently New Zealand duped out their money. It is important to mention the existence of the crime rings because international private investigators in Romania have found there is a trend among victims, that after discovering they are being scammed, they try to help out their lady in need. However, most of the time the person they have been talking to is not a real person who made a mistake, but a character designed and created by mafia criminals, which is ‘managed’ by different people including several chatters and the girl posing in the photos.

Professional background checks to stay safe

How can anyone be sure that the Romanian you met is who he or she claims to be?  Contact a professional about a discreet dating background check.  Wymoo International has investigators on the ground in Bucharest and can help verify any individual or entity in the country.  Getting clear evidence and verifying all known information is an important step, and should be done early in the relationship to minimize your risk.

Experienced investigators can verify the person behind the profile, verifying date of birth, passport and immigration records, employment and education history, verify document or ID samples, check address and public records, as well as criminal, court and marriage records, and screen the case for fraud.  In a high risk country, proper Romania background check investigations can bring peace of mind.

Be safe and speak to a professional about how to lower your risk!

C. Wright
© 2014 Wymoo International

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