This seemed odd to him, and he was distraught over their lost time together. Then one day Alicia missed an evening of corresponding online with Thomas. As far as Thomas was concerned, although he dearly missed his departed wife, he had now met another soul mate and would do just about anything for Alicia as their relationship progressed. Within a month, Thomas and Alicia were professing their love for each other. The conversation flowed and blossomed into a friendship.Īfter just a few weeks, their correspondence had escalated from polite small talk to more intimate conversations. She had a college-aged daughter and was struggling to make ends meet. One evening, Thomas received a message from an individual who presented herself as a younger woman named “Alicia.” She was attractive, in her forties and a divorcee living in London. This is when a victim is truly ripe for the picking by sweetheart scammers. Thomas was a needy soul at that time in his life-lonely, emotionally vulnerable and looking for love in all the wrong places. With the hope of restarting his life after several months of grieving, he joined a dating website to explore the idea of finding a female companion to share dinners, walks on the beach and other hobbies with. At age 74, Thomas is a wealthy, retired family physician in Beverly Hills, who recently lost his wife to breast cancer.

Let’s take the case of a senior gentleman, whom we shall call Thomas. Most victims are astonished when they realize that these deceptive individuals are adept at manipulating human emotions to get what they want.” A Cautionary Tale Once the scammer has achieved their financial goal, they will drop the unsuspecting victim and disappear. authorities to identify or prosecute them. Since the scammers are usually corresponding with the victim from another country, it is close to impossible for U.S. The victim, feeling the need to help their new-found love, ends up wiring money over and over again to this person, in some cases until they are bilked out of all their money. Eventually the scammer comes up with a story about how he/she has a major problem in their life which requires an outlay of money. The victim thinks they have developed a relationship and over time falls in love. The scammer typically sends photographs of a very good-looking woman or man, depending who their target is. They chat over the internet and exchange photos. “Essentially the victim meets a scammer on a singles or dating website who poses as a person also looking for a relationship online. Unfortunately, it is very common,” Joyce explains. “We do a lot of work investigating various types of scams from the internet. Love, or more accurately the illusion of love, is the key factor in fulfilling the sweetheart scam. It’s important to understand how the sweetheart scam works so you can defend yourself against it and help others do the same. What Is a Sweetheart Scam and How Does It Work? In most cases, the victim’s best option is to break off communication with the scammer as soon as possible and cut their losses.” These investigations usually do not result in the capture of the scammer or the recovery of monies. “Cooperation from foreign governments is often spotty or non-existent. “With most internet scams, including the sweetheart scam, it is difficult to identify the perpetrators due to the fact that they are usually conducting their business from outside of the United States,” he says. Secret Service Tampa Field Office, is no stranger to investigating internet scams. John Joyce, former special agent in charge of the U.S. And it is not gender specific either both men and women are equally victimized. Seniors-especially widows, widowers and recent divorcees-are particularly vulnerable to this manipulation of the heart. Although almost any age group can be lured into this game of deceit, the number one target of sweetheart scams is usually men and women over age 40. People often wonder how someone could be so foolish as to get involved with a stranger and send them money.

Sweetheart memory pictures