- Do not respond to out-of-the-blue social media messages from strangers requesting romance, such as a friend request on Facebook.
- Be on your guard if someone you meet on an online dating site asks you to take the conversation over to email or instant messaging.
- Be wary of anyone who confesses their love for you after a short amount of time and has a sudden crisis where they need your financial assistance.
- Remember that just because someone shares personal photos does not mean the pictures are of them – scammers often steal other people’s photos.
- Don’t be fooled into thinking that talking to somebody on the phone means you know them and that they are who they say there are.
- Be concerned if a person refuses to chat real-time via a webcam and be mindful that even Skype is not scammer proof – watch out for pre-recorded videos.
- Know that scammers will bring other fake personalities into the scenario – they may have a fake Facebook profile and people who you think are their relatives or friends might Facebook friend request you.
- Remember it is easy to edit photographs or documents to use within a scam. A photographed sign can be edited to say your name, the writing on a scanned cheque can be altered, fake certificates or airline tickets can be created; it's cheap and easy.
- Be mindful that scammers may present various fictional scenarios, including an urgent need for money for medical treatment involving contact from a fake doctor or investment opportunities where they introduce fake lawyer(s), customs or tax experts into the equation who require fees.
- Alarm bells should ring if someone you do not know personally (have met face-to-face) requests money, particularly by a wire transfer service such as Western Union or even direct bank transfers, which could be going to an account set up with a stolen identity.
Seek advice from trusted family or friends if you are being asked by an online friend to send money overseas.
Before travelling to meet on an online friend overseas be 100% sure the journey is safe – check with police, register with smartraveller.gov.au etc.
What you can do
- Google image search or a tineye.com search to reveal whether photos have been stolen.
- Right click 'properties' on photos to see when and where they were taken.
- Search names, organisations and phone numbers online to check their validity.
- Verify details given by calling numbers sourced independently e.g. the person says they are in a certain hotel. Ask for the room number. Search the hotel's number online and call and ask to be put through to the room. Never use a number given by the scammer as their accomplices will answer.
- Do a BSB number search to see where the bank account is based or whether it’s a pre-paid credit card you are transferring to, which lacks traceability in terms of the owner.
- If you can find out the IP address of an Internet user, you can get an idea what part of the country or world they're in by using an IP lookup tool.
Source: Project Sunbird: a join anti-fraud initiative between WA Police Major Fraud Squad and Consumer Protection.
