Romance scams are one of the numerous money-mulling sources of feed for criminals intending to fund terrorism, laundry proceeds from drugs and human trafficking. This type of scam is an intricately operated business aiming to allure, “financially groom,” and eventually deplete their victims of their money.
By adopting fake identities online, highly trained individuals dedicate their time from weeks to months to “catfish” their victims, searching numerous social media profiles and looking for a possible “catch.” They study their online posts and pictures, read comments, and pay attention to non-verbal clues (e.g., emojis) to tailor their behavior to a particular individual and search for the best scenario to approach them. When the first point of contact is established, scammers quickly move them to encrypted online messenger applications, such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, etc., for untraceable conversations and to continue luring them into their artificially created web of lies. Their intended victims are emotionally vulnerable and, most of the time, turn out to be elderly customers 60 years old and up, or individuals who have been recently divorced/widowed, incredibly lonely, or desperately seeking attention from others to feel the void in their lives.
Con artists use pictures of attractive people, remember every detail mentioned by their victims, and put extra effort into getting to know their “sweethearts.” They pose as caring and attentive, most of the time playing a “victim” in an extensive scheme who were unlawfully taken advantage of by their jobs, families, and friends who face extreme hardships, like being stuck in a faraway country and not able to get back home, stripped from any financial support, widowed males/females who tragically lost their beloved ones/life-partners due to a sudden unexpected death, prolonged uncured diseases, or unfairly being fired by a company they worked for numerous years, etc.
They are open to expressing their “feelings” by calling the victim “honey” and other endearing names. Possessing phenomenal knowledge of human psychology helps them “get under their victims’ skin” and straight to their hearts by utilizing several techniques, such as:
- Playing a genuine person, opening up about their intimate life with explicit details, and constantly referring to them like “I have shared so much with you, why don’t you want to help me/understand me?!”
- Pressing on urgency and the extreme situation they are “stuck in.” In order to set them free, all the victims have to do is “help” them financially.
- Comparing their victims to other family members/friends/acquaintances who have already sent funds and provided a “good deed.”
- Encouraging secrecy, influencing their victim to only trust them, and attempting to isolate them from friends and family.
- Talking about money, investments, or cryptocurrency and offering to teach their victims.
Our policies and procedures train our personal bankers to actively listen to their customers, pay attention to every detail, read verbal and non-verbal cues and clues (e.g., facial expressions, unusual physical and banking behavior, and analyze customers’ account activities). By asking tailored questions about each situation, they aim to unravel the scheme our customers are so deeply stuck in and help them realize they have been scammed. It is a team effort to stop and prevent romance scams, and it could take a few days for customers to realize the person on the other side of the phone/online is a con artist.
Personal bankers and managers ask straightforward fact-finding questions, express concerns to customers, empathize with them, and maintain a calm and respectful demeanor. They validate their customers’ fears and feelings toward the con artists are real. They carefully intervene and ask for the intended purpose of sending a wire transfer, purchasing a cashier’s check, or making a sizeable out-of-pattern withdrawal. Personal bankers pay attention to the funds’ final destination and compare it to the customer’s story. The investigation progresses to tactfully inquire whether they ever met their “sweetheart” in person or communicated only through online/text/emails/video chats. With the customer’s permission and presence, personal bankers will go the extra mile by conversing with the scammer, either by phone or through text messages, and expose the demands for money are illegitimate.
RECENT REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE
Here is one of the recent success stories that our NDBT personal bankers and their managers had at two of our banking centers:
- An unknown male contacted an NDBT customer via Facebook Messenger and quickly switched their conversation to WhatsApp Messenger.
- He claimed to be a physician working outside of the U.S. in Syria for a few years.
He felt compelled to open up about his personal life trauma, his obstacles at work, and not being able to return home and claim his million-dollar salary because he had to pay upfront $63,000.00. - The con artist used his well-trained skills and deceiving techniques to convince the customer to send him the funds by gaining her attention and affection, building trust, utilizing manipulation, enforcing guilt and pity, and getting furious if things did not go by the well-organized scheme.
- He persistently allured various ways to receive money from the victim by asking the customer to buy gift cards, send a wire transfer, obtain a cashier’s check, and deposit money into a cryptocurrency ATM.
Our bankers detected alarming signs of a romance scam and went out of their way to prevent the customer from sending a wire transfer for $30,000.00 – the customer’s whole life savings. Their responsiveness and persuasion are applauded!
NDBT commits to protecting customers’ safety, privacy, and financial well-being with one goal – to prevent them from losing their life savings. For a few years, the bank has partnered with a local Adult Protective Services division that provides annual training to our bank employees and participates in meet-and-greet events for customers to create public awareness of romance scams and present its impact on already vulnerable individuals.
For more information about romance scams:
https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/romance-scams
https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-romance-scams
