According to Wikipedia:
A romance scam is a confidence trick involving feigning romantic intentions towards a victim, gaining the victim's affection, and then using that goodwill to get the victim to send money to the scammer under false pretences or to commit fraud against the victim.
Romance scams in general involve both genders as victims. But it seems most dominant for the females. The scammer usually pretends to be someone they are not and tries to exploit the victim either through physical or emotional blackmail, or both.
I didn't know how crazy this form of scam was until I saw a movie documentary titled Tinder Swindler.
It was about a Man who has scammed multiple women millions of dollars over the years. He meets women on Tinder, He pretends to be a very rich man whose father is King of Diamond and owned a diamond company.
After gaining the trust and affection of his victim,(sometimes goes as far as engaging them) he pretends to be in great need and extorts them hundreds of thousands of dollars, some even taking loans to send to him. He in turn spends the money on a fancy lifestyle and a new lady, trying to buy her heart to repeat the cycle.
It was a romance scam with a spice of Ponzi.
This just goes to show how creative these scammers can be.
The Tinder Swindler is not the only scammer out there and his scamming pattern is just one in many.
It is easier these days for anyone to fall victim to these scams with the availability of online dating apps and websites.
Before watching the Netflix film, I didn't know how devastating and life-ruining the level of some of these scams are.
Women go as far as taking loans and selling their properties just to feed these scammers.
There are different ways this scam can be carried out. With the improvement in technology and innovations, these scammers have gotten more creative with the processes.
That is I have decided to list out ways I believe would help reduce the possibility of falling victim to these scams to the minimum.
It is advisable not to post every subtle detail of your life on social media. This is where the scammer could mine valuable information about you and use it to plot their schemes.
Google search your suitor's profile picture and If you start seeing the picture has multiple names to it, you know that person is a scammer.
One way these scams are carried out is by blackmail, they threaten to send inappropriate pictures of you to your boss at your workplace or colleagues and make you send them money not to. And when you do, they threaten you again. They extort you until you have nothing.
It's easier said than done. And I'm not in an authoritative position when it comes to matters of the heart but I strongly advise we do not send money to persons we meet online as there is a high per cent chance that they are scammers.
It is okay to be in doubt of the genuineness of your suitor and always ask questions. If he or she feels agitated by your questions then I believe that is a bad sign.
I am not in a position of authority when it comes to matters of the heart, in the end, we all make our own decisions. I only advise we take extra precautions and question the things we do in the name of love.
This is my entry to the #100 Ladies Of Hive Community Contest. I invite 
PS: All graphics from this article are owned by me; edited on Canva with free pictures from Pixabay.
Thank you for reading, please feel free to leave a comment ❤
