Recognizing Red Flags
Scammers often use tactics that create urgency or emotional appeal. Here are some common warning signs:
- Requests for money or personal information.
- Too-good-to-be-true offers.
- Unprofessional communication.
- Requests to take you off of a website and onto a chatting app.
Stay vigilant and educate yourself on these signs to avoid scams.
Some of the more common Scams
While I acknowledge that there are many types of scams in our world today, I’m going to start out by giving information on some of the most common online and phone scams. Over the course of the last 6 months of 2025, I was scammed out of over $170K.
Online Dating or Love Bomb Scams
This, coupled with a crypto scam is what I fell victim to. Am I saying that people should never use online dating sites to find romance? Absolutely not. There is the possibility of finding true romance on these sites. You just have to be very careful and diligent about certain things and be aware that there will always be vultures ready to prey on the unsuspecting. And it doesn’t matter which site you may want to use. They are ALL vulnerable to scam artists.
Be very careful how you word your profile and what kind of information you use. I will use things that I included in my profile as an example. Thinking that it would get me more responses, I stated my age, that I was going through a divorce, and would soon be retired. The age part probably wasn’t that bad, but the other two were invitations to the vultures. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way.
After being asked to go off of the dating site to a chatting app, the “LOVE BOMBING” started. For a very good idea of what this is, I recommend the follow web site as a start. I’m sure there are many sites you can find information on, but I thought that this site was very easy to understand. https://www.choosingtherapy.com/love-bombing/
I won’t go through all of them, but here are a few examples of love bombing phrases. “You’re my Soulmate, We’re Soulmates, I’ve never met anyone like you.” Another thing that will come up very early in this type of scam is intense talks about your future together. So please be vigilant of these signs and either stop them by setting boundaries with the other person or get out of the relationship.
One of the best web sites that I have come across so far in my research is from an organization called The Society Of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. or SCARS. romancescamsnow.com
Catfishing Scams
The majority of online dating scams, but not all of them, can be classified as catfishing. A simple definition of catfishing is “getting someone into a relationship by means of a fake online persona.” In this AI age that we are living in today, creating a fake identity is very easy to do. Photoshop programs and AI technology have made this incredibly easy for the vultures to do. A good article to check out about this scam (and again, I know there are many on the internet) is https://www.spokeo.com/compass/afraid-youre-being-catfished-heres-what-to-do/.
Military Romance Scams
This is a type of a Catfishing scam where the scammer impersonates someone in the Military. They have good reason to never meet you because of being stationed overseas or at a military base far from you. They can use various like paying for internet services or travel costs which are not expenses for military personal. This type of scam can also come across as an Oil Rig Scam. Same principle, different occupation.
Scams that may come across you Cell Phone
I had never received as many wrong text messages as I have since I retired. I still don’t have any idea how these people get my phone number. There are many ways that they come to your phone’s text message app. Some of the ones I’ve received are listed below. “Hey, I was just texting to see if we were still on for lunch tomorrow” “You said you would call and never did. I was trying to find out why” “Your number came up on my phone and was curious where we met”
There have been a lot of others, but you get the idea. The best thing to do is to ignore them, or block the number, or delete it as spam. I have, however answered a few of them, but with the full knowledge that they will try to run some kind of a scam. Dangerous? Probably. Fun? Absolutely.
It’s kind of fun to see what they try to do. One tried to get me involved in a crypto scam, one tried to get me involved in a gold futures scam, and one was just a lonely young woman looking for a friend. They all had one common trait though. They have all been very beautiful, independently wealthy, young Asian women, that have seemingly gone from hardship to riches in a short period of time. * * I am in no way singling out any race or sex by this comment. I am just stating fact.
Lottery Phone Scam
I have received a phone call from Frank Johnson (could be any one’s name) claiming to be from some National Lottery Company. He stated that my phone number was one of seven phone numbers that had been chosen as a winner in their multi-million-dollar lottery give away. I was even eligible for an extra $100,000 and a 2025 BMW in my choice of red, white, black or silver.
He proceeded to go into details about if an Auto Carrier Semi tractor-trailer could park in front of my house without blocking traffic. Then he started telling me how I needed to go to Walmart, Dollar General, or another location to get a $1,700 gift card, or a confirmation card as he called it, to secure my winnings. I would even receive that money back when I got my winnings. I needed to do this right away, immediately, so that I would be able to get my new BMW delivered by 2 P.M. along with my $1.5 million-dollar winning check.
We somehow got disconnected and he called back, furious that I had hung up on him and insisted that this was a very real, once in a lifetime opportunity. He stated repeatedly that this was real and couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to claim my prize winnings.
So, a couple of things that you need to know. Your phone number will NEVER be used for a lottery event unless you purchase a ticket using those specific numbers. No legitimate lottery will ever ask you to confirm ANYTHING by giving them money on a gift card, even if they promise to give that amount back to you.
Check the link below for some additional information on Lottery Scams.
How to Identify a Lottery Scam – Lotto.com Inc
Cryptocurrency Scams.
Please read my personal story for a good example of this type of scam.