Secure messaging has never been more in the spotlight. Just a few weeks ago, the FBI told Americans to stop sending texts and use responsibly encrypted messaging instead, seeming to reverse its own campaign against such technologies. But putting aside the specifics of what it means by responsible encryption, there is one “red flag” the bureau warns you must always avoid when it comes to messaging.
It’s Valentine’s Day this week, which means millions of dollars lost to fraudulent websites and even more to romance scams, which is now a billion dollar industry. This year-round threat always intensifies in February. And now the FBI says it’s joining with partners “to help you spot the signs of online scammers before it’s too late.”
The bureau highlights three red flags you need to watch for. Two of these should be obvious — beware any romantic engagement on a dating site or social media platform where the person you’re chatting with refuses to meet in person or asks you for any form of money, gifts, investments, loans or anything similar.
The third is less obvious but equally critical. If the person you’re chatting with is “rushing to move chats off dating apps to encrypted messages,” then stop and take a beat. It’s a bad idea to move this stranger chat away from the app or platform where you met to the closed doors of WhatsApp or Telegram’s secret chats or similar. Don’t take that step until you’re sure you know who you’re talking with — beyond any doubt.
The FBI warns that “the criminals who carry out these schemes are experts at what they do. They will seem genuine, caring, and believable. They’ll research their intended victims’ social media accounts to help develop a quick connection, so be careful what information you share online. The scammers’ intention is to establish a relationship as quickly as possible, endear themselves to their victims, and gain their trust.”
And moving from the naturally guarded environment of a dating app to the same encrypted platform you use with friends and family is dangerous. Don’t mix the two — not until you’re sure. There is no safety net on secure platforms, no monitoring and no assurance that you’re talking to the person you think you are.
While this warning comes as part of a campaign for Valentine’s Day related romance scams, it applies more broadly. Don’t rush to secure platforms with strangers, and be especially cautious when you need to give out your real cell phone number. This is where Signal and Telegram offering usernames instead of phone numbers is so critical. WhatsApp is now working on something similar, which can’t come soon enough.
You may not even be talking to someone in your own country. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says, “Americans are more connected than ever before thanks to social media and dating apps,” warning “you may be the target of a romance scammer if the person you are communicating with online claims they live, work or are traveling abroad. [or] lacks proper grammar, although they claim to speak English.”
ICE adds to the list of red flags: a person claiming to be notably younger than you, a person who quickly professes to be in love with you, and again “requests to have conversations/texts moved to a separate app (e.g., WhatsApp, Telegram).”
The FBI’s advice for those of you online dating is simple, common sense. But all too often with romance scams, common sense gives way frighteningly quickly, and then there’s reluctance to even report the crime. As the bureau says:
“If you develop a romantic relationship with someone you meet online:
- Think twice before you share personal information online. Scammers can use details shared on dating sites and social media platforms to better target victims.
- If you try online dating, only use dating sites with well-known reputations. Search people’s photos and profiles online to see if anyone has used the names, images, or information elsewhere.
- Take the relationship slow and ask lots of questions.
- Beware if the person quickly asks you to leave a dating app or social media platform to go ‘offline’ — or tries to isolate you from friends and family.
- Never send money, cryptocurrency, or gift cards to anyone you’ve only communicated with online or by phone.
- Be particularly cautious if the person you’re communicating with is overseas—often times scammers use overseas construction or military jobs as an excuse to not be able to meet in person.
- Scammers can fabricate things like medical emergencies that they need money to pay for, or if wanting to meet in person, request the victim pay for their airfare and travel up front.”
Enjoy Valentine’s Day and trust your instincts more than you trust strangers you meet online. As ever, if it feels wrong it almost certainly is.
