romance scam

This form of internet scamming has been around for a while but we seem to have now come up with an official name for it.  In this scenario the victim meets the romance scammer online who professes to feeling strongly involved and gradually gains the victim’s trust. Possibly there is a request for intimate photos that can be used later for blackmail. The requests for money begin, often occasioned by some invented crisis. The victim pays and then is asked for more, or doesn’t pay and then is threatened with blackmail. It all ends badly.