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Do scammers target people of a certain age....

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Do scammers target people of a certain age....

Unread postby Wayne » Mon Dec 12, 2022 10:43 pm

....Or are people of a certain age more likely to be targeted?

Let me explain what I mean. I'm often asked what age group romance scammers target, being expected to say something along the lines of "People between the ages of 45 and 55 are far more likely to be the target of romance scammers". That's not strictly true though.

The reason I'm bringing this up is that today I had a call from an old friend who'd tragically become widowed recently. He's one of those "give you the shirt off his back" types. His age isn't important. The important bits are that he's recently widowed, is lonely, isn't that clued up on technology and wants to meet new people "just to talk to them". After explaining to him how he can talk to his FB friends using a headset, he asked me what sites were good for widowed people to interact with other people in the same circumstances.

Scammers are greedy and opportunistic.

My friend is the perfect victim material for a scammer. Recently widowed, not particularly tech savvy, lonely and desperate for contact with others. The fact he's "of a certain age" may or may not mean that he has some disposable income. That is the only factor his age comes into.

What are scammers looking for?

They're not looking at a person's age. They're not looking at a person's photos. They're probably not even looking at what their profile says. How do I know this? For many years I've used "vinegar trap" profiles on dating sites. Imagine the absolute worst humanity can offer, put them in a blender to create a person, then put him for 5 rounds with a professional boxer. That's what my profiles look like. Yet I've had scammers tell me how handsome my character is, how wonderfully written his profile is and not a word about how my profile describes my character loving bestiality and drinking acid. Side note - oddly enough, the dating sites didn't notice that either, so what does that tell you about them?

What they're looking for is "fresh meat" - people new to the dating site world, who have no idea scammers exist. The fresher the profile, the better. Better they not be tainted by interactions with other scammers. That's what scammers are looking for. When they say "age and distance is just a number" they're not lying. The only numbers they really care about are how many days the person's been on the dating site and how much they can take them for.

I wish my friend luck. He deserves all the best life can offer him after everything he's had to deal with. The last thing he needs is for a scammer to target him purely because he's looking for human interaction.
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Wayne
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