What are the signs of a romance scam?
The biggest sign is that the person asks for money, airtime, vouchers or an EFT before you have ever met. Before that comes a pattern: love very quickly, a job that keeps them far away, excuses not to video call and a story that slowly builds towards an emergency.
Romance scammers work from a script. They find you on a dating app, Facebook or Instagram, move you to WhatsApp, chat every day for weeks and make you feel chosen. Then the problems start: a medical bill, a parcel at customs, a plane ticket to come and visit you.
None of these signs on its own is proof. Someone can be shy on camera or really work overseas. It is the combination, and especially the money, that gives it away.
The signs to look for
- They say they love you within days, before you have met or video called.
- Their job keeps them unreachable: an oil rig, a ship, a mine abroad, a peacekeeping mission.
- They always have a reason not to video call, or the call is very short and dark.
- Their photos look like a model or a uniform, and the profile is new with few friends.
- A crisis appears and only money, airtime or vouchers from you can fix it.
Frequently asked questions
- We have chatted for months. Can it still be a scam?
- Yes. Scammers invest months in one person because the payoff is bigger. The length of the chat says nothing about whether the person is real.
- What does Veritaza check for a romance scam?
- The photos (are they used elsewhere under another name), the messages (are they a known script), the number and email, and the name together with words like scam and fraud. R99 per report.
Want to know if there are warning signs about the person you're chatting to? Veritaza checks the photos, the messages, the number, the email address, the name and the ID document, for R99.
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