Online dating has become more complicated than ever. Learning how to verify that the person you’re talking to is actually the person in the dating profile can save you from heartbreak and financial loss.

Today’s guests are Kathy Waters and Bryan Denny. Kathy Waters is an expert advocate and an educator on the subject of online romance scams. Kathy is co-founder, along with retired Colonel Bryan Denny, of the non-profit organization Advocating Against Romance Scammers. Both have been working for safer platforms since 2016 with the same goals in mind: justice for victims and educating all online of the cybercrime known to tear people down emotionally, psychologically, and financially.

Show Notes:

• [1:18] - Bryan shares his experience with someone using his name and images in fake profiles.
• [3:00] - Kathy’s mother’s friend was a victim of a romance scam that used Bryan’s photos.
• [4:36] - AARS became a non-profit last year and works to educate not only users, but lawmakers, too.
• [6:01] - Dating profiles of someone in military uniform is a red flag.
• [7:41] - There are many red flags to look for and there will often be more than one indicator.
• [8:50] - Ask a friend in the military about an unusual profile or reach out to Kathy and Bryan.
• [10:23] - It’s tough to get people to report these interactions.
• [11:40] - Prior to Covid, the demographic was more elderly aged people. But a younger crowd has been affected since Covid.
• [13:22] - Younger people are more likely to come forward and talk about their experiences than an older demographic.
• [14:41] - It is also therapeutic to come forward and talk about it.
• [16:07] - Scammers tend to have a similar story, working out of the country.
• [17:51] - Bryan shares that he continues to receive messages about his photo circulating on fake profiles and the stories are all very similar.
• [20:07] - Bryan explains how scammers manipulate videos to pretend to be interacting on video calls.
• [22:23] - If you’re concerned about interacting with someone through video calls, you can ask them to do something like touch their head or look a certain way.
• [24:01] - What do you do if you know you are interacting with a scammer?
• [26:04] - Scammers share where they have had success with other scammers.
• [27:43] - If you are watching this happen to someone else, there are ways to approach it with them. Outsiders tend to see the red flags sooner.
• [28:54] - Unfortunately, they may not believe you. Try to educate them on red flags.
• [29:46] - There are support groups for helping manage the emotional toll this takes on a victim.
• [32:09] - What laws are in place for this?
• [33:19] - Scammers are typically in another country. They are hard to go after legally because they are not in the United States.
• [34:49] - On their website, there are commonly used photos in fake profiles and ways to report a scam.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review. 

Links and Resources:

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• Advocating Against Romance Scammers (AARS) Website