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Madison Marriage. While it remains possible to fall head over heels in love with a like-minded stranger in a bar or club, the idea of finding a life-long partner by chance at a party today seems sweetly old-fashioned and somewhat unscientific. Speak to any millennial about dating in the s or before and they will look at you with amazement at the constraints singletons once faced without the help of mobile phones, social media, dating websites and apps.

The sites were uninspiring, he had little in common with the dating profiles he came across and many of the women lived far away.

The FBI is advising consumers to be wary when using online dating sites after the agency saw a 70 percent annual increase in reported romance scams. Cybercriminals are reportedly using online dating sites to trick victims into sending money, providing personal and financial information, or even unknowingly acting as a money mule by relaying stolen funds.

Learn these tips for keeping yourself—and your financial accounts—better protected when meeting people online. Romance scams, also called confidence scams, are when a bad actor deceives a victim into believing they have a trusted relationship and then uses the relationship to persuade the victim to give money, personal and financial information, or items of value to the perpetrator. The initial grooming phase can last for days, weeks, or even months , and by that time, the victim may be extremely vulnerable to the scam.

Techniques of romance scammers are varied and may include:. However, elderly people, women, and those who have lost a spouse are often targeted. Fraudsters have used dating sites to find and target victims for some time, but there is a new twist on romance scams that involves international criminal networks using dating sites to recruit money mules. The victim is then asked to receive and send money from that account.