Scam

Contrary to spam profiles, so-called scam profiles can cause significant harm. Scamming is cybercrime and has the sole aim of taking money out of your pocket. Distributors of scam are consciously searching for users that they can tempt with bait advertising and later blackmail.

How can you recognize a scammer?

Scammers:

try to quickly make contact with you outside of LOVOO.
quickly ask for money and an advance payment after they have convinced you of their misfortune.
often make up a pitiful/striking life story (e.g. they are supposedly abroad due to a job or military action or present themselves as a young, good-looking student/nurse who lives with her uncle in Africa and wants to travel the world one day).
will declare their undying love to you and write corny, slimy messages.
ask for your log in data, bank details or personal documents.
often only communicate in English.

How can you protect yourself?

Never send money to a user that you have never met in person and you do not trust.
Do not send personal information or passwords.
Do not communicate by e-mail or outside of LOVOO if you are unsure.
Never click on links that a scammer sends you.

What should you do if you are the victim of a scam?

Block! Break off all contact immediately. Do not answer any more messages or accept any more calls from the scammer. Block the profile in the app or on the website.
Back up information! Save all e-mails and chat messages as evidence.
Report! Report the user to LOVOO using the corresponding button or inform us of the incident and the user ID using our contact form. You can determine the user ID by opening the profile in question on our website in a new tab (by right clicking) and copying the link from the address bar of your Internet browser (this tells us the user ID).
Get support! We recommend that you then file a report with your local police authorities. Our Customer Care Team will send you all the important information you need for communicating with the authorities.

Male scammers

In the following, you will find examples of male scammer profiles and their typical behavior and techniques.

Profile picture:

stolen images from men in a suit/uniform/on holiday/at home with children or pets
often significantly younger looking than the age given in the profile

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Information in the profile:

Age: 35-70, looking for women aged 40 or older
Marital status: divorced or widowed, often with a child
Nationality: US, UK, NL, CH, FR, DE
Occupation: Doctor, soldier, engineer
Communication: English, gushingly romantic after a short time – does not respond to what the chat partner writes – quickly wants to move the conversation to other platforms – asks for money after telling an emotional/tragic life story – promises lots of money which can only be accessed with external help – appears very devout and God-fearing – often shares images of “his children” in order to appear authentic and evoke emotions in his counterparts etc.

Example of free text in the profile:

“I’m easy-going, optimistic, God-fearing, professionally successful and financially secure man who is comfortable with who I am, with a sharp sense of humor.”

Example of a story:

He is a military doctor currently stationed in Afghanistan but he is about to retire. As his wife sadly passed away, he is looking for true love again. He likes to take walks and loves to read. He has a daughter who he loves more than anything. He would like to transfer a large sum of money, but to do this he needs a new account to which a deposit of €500 needs to be transferred first. In the next step, he needs to cough up transaction fees of a few thousand euros, as it is a great deal of money he is unfortunately unable to do this himself. It may also be the case that he has been taken prisoner and the terrorists/pirates are demanding ransom money.

Female scammers

In the following, you will find examples of female scammer profiles and their typical behavior and techniques.

Profile picture:

stolen images from attractive women
often look significantly younger than the age given in the profile

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Information in the profile:

Age: 25-35, looking for men aged 35 and older
Marital status: single and looking for their dream partner to start a family with
Nationality: US, UK, NL, CH, FR, Eastern Europe
Occupation: Student, nurse, teacher
Communication: English, very affectionate – falls in love quickly – words such as “darling” quickly crop up – quickly wants to take the conversation to another platform – an occasional invitation to start a video chat over Skype or Hangout – usually wants to travel back to Germany but has no money as her beloved uncle fell ill and needs expensive medicine etc.

Example of free text in the profile:

“kind, honest, truthful, caring woman looking for true love”

Example of a story:

She is half German, half Ghanaian and is currently living with a family member in Ghana. She is working there as a nurse. She is looking for the love of her life and unfortunately can’t find this in her area. She would love to travel back to Germany to move in with her new life partner. Different scenarios can then occur: 1) Her beloved family member is seriously ill and she is concerned that her relative will not make it without expensive medicine, which she unfortunately cannot afford herself. Then the doctors determine that their condition is worse than expected, the medicine will not work and the only hope would be to admit them to a private hospital, which is of course far too expensive for the poor girl. There will be other medical bills and so on. 2) She agrees to fly to Germany, but only wants the money for the flight so that she can buy the ticket herself. After the bank transfer, a member of the family gets in contact as she unfortunately had an accident on the way to the airport and is now at the hospital. Now there are hospitalization and doctors’ fees to pay. Later on there are complications. And it just gets more and more expensive.