Devious scammers bide their time

Following last week's post on dating scams, a few members of www.datepositive.net emailed me to point out how devious some scammers have become.

A couple of site members have been involved in lengthy email correspondence with scammers - most of whom are based in Africa. This seems to be a relatively new approach on the part of scammers. And it shows that they are prepared to take plenty of time in order to cultivate trust and then try to fraudulently extract money from innocent people.

One correspondence lasted for almost six months, so the scammer did an excellent job securing the member's friendship and then trust. Then came the request for money, which unfortunately the member responded to by sending thousands of pounds.

This is a heart-breaking story. It also illustrates the horrid, devious approach taken by today's scammers.

We are becoming more vigilant in identifying scammers and appreciate any help members of Date Positive can provide in terms of identifying scams.

In the very near future we are going to publish a series of columns about how to identify potential scammers.

In the meantime we repeat, never send money to someone you have not met. And do not give out personal information such as bank account details, home phone number or address to anyone you do not know.

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