What you see is not always the truth, especially in the virtual world. We must exercise caution when making friends on social media. Don’t get duped into a bogus romantic relationship and fall victim to scammers.

It takes time to establish friendships and emotional connections, and few people will confide in someone they have just met. Scammers who are good at emotional manipulation will meticulously plan and spend a lot of time developing friendships and emotional bonds with their victims. Only after gaining the victims’ trust, they proceed to swindle the victims.

Everything we share online can be traced. Photos, posts, likes and comments, and friends we share or make on social media will offer people, including scammers, a glimpse into our lives.

• Seizing every opportunity to find their victims, scammers will join social media platforms, dating apps, and gaming communities to initiate conversations with potential targets. They will then reach out to those who engage with them, aiming to establish closer relationships and foster emotional bonds.
• Scammers may impersonate an old friend or acquaintance when initiating a conversation. By extensively researching the victim’s interests, social circle, travel experiences and other personal details on social media, these fraudsters can quickly establish a sense of familiarity and rapport, causing the victim to feel an immediate connection during their interaction.
• After the initial interactions, scammers will spend a lot of time communicating with the victims by text message, phone or even video call (using face-swapping tools to impersonate someone else) to build trust and deepen their relationships. Eventually, as the victims lower their guard, they will be coaxed to offer money or join a fraudulent investment scheme.

Since relationship investment scams will lead to financial loss and emotional damage, it is important to stay alert and avoid falling for scammers.