As Valentine’s Day inches closer, many people are preparing to spend it with their significant other. Of course, this isn’t the case for some, as single people will have to spend the day alone and by themselves. However, some of them may decide to check out dating apps for a person to spend Valentine’s Day with. Unfortunately, these platforms have become a common space for scammers to find their next victim.
Over the past few years, crypto scams have become more and more diverse in nature. While they used to be quite obvious and easier to avoid, scammers have developed much more sophisticated ways to scam people out of their money.
Better Business Bureau Tells People to be Wary of ‘Love Scams’
According to the marketing and communications manager at the Better Business Bureau, Kristin Matthews, the BBB is looking at different kinds of crypto scams. All of these types use a similar method in which the scammer attempts to gain the victim’s information by posing as a romantic interest.
In crypto romance scams, the perpetrators will tell the victim that a friend or relative has a crypto firm. They’ll also elaborate that people who invested in said crypto firm were able to make a lot of money. After some time, the scammer will ask the victim to ‘invest’ in the crypto firm to get incredible returns.
Keep in mind that these are different from messages that are commonly sent by bots and are easier to spot. In fact, these are perfectly orchestrated scams in which the victim will be emotionally invested as well. Because these scams are so manipulative, scammers can use just about any kind of personal or financial data that the victim provides.
How Crypto Romance Scams Work
According to victims of crypto romance scams, everything about the scammer will seem legitimate. They will provide you with in-depth details of their background, family, and where they studied. Because of all these details, nothing will seem out of place, and victims will find the scammer to be trustworthy.
In fact, they will take the conversation toward crypto rather slowly, and they tend to do so by asking about the victim’s finances. Since scammers tend to prey on the most vulnerable people, it allows them to be in a position to offer some friendly financial advice.
In many cases, the victims report that the scammer suggests investing in cryptocurrency, and even shows the impressive returns they can make. Through emotionally manipulative methods, scammers successfully persuade and convince the victim to hand over their information or invest.
Just last year, romance scams involving cryptocurrencies cost victims close to $1.3 billion. Approximately 70,000 victims reported such scams to the authorities, and the average amount of money lost was about $4,400. As the number of such scams is on the rise, it’s important that users are careful about who they trust for financial advice.
Major Crypto Predictions For Valentine’s Day
Robert Kiyosaki, entrepreneur and popular author of the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, has a pessimistic outlook for the markets on Valentine’s Day. While speaking to the public about the market’s current situation, he expects that the following Tuesday will lead to a frenzy in the different financial markets.
This year, key inflation data is set to be released on Valentine’s Day, also known as the US Consumer Price Index. It acts as a marker for inflation; so many analysts use it to understand how the US Federal Reserve’s policy will change.
This can end up affecting the prices of different assets, more especially volatile ones, like cryptocurrencies.
According to his statements, he expects that prices of all assets will decrease, including gold and silver. This also includes Bitcoin, but he advises investors to not panic. That’s because there’s a silver lining to all this. If markets collapse, it gives investors an opportunity to buy the right assets and trade them in for what he calls ‘fake’ dollars.
