Here’s how a ring of romance scammers tricked victims into falling in love
A report from cybersecurity company Agari claims to expose one corner of the multimillion-dollar romance scam industry: a Nigerian fraud ring it dubs Scarlet Widow. As with other romance scams, members of Scarlet Widow created numerous fake personas to bait lonely men and women into online relationships. The Agari report, not coincidentally published on Valentine’s Day, offers examples of how they hooked victims in one of the most common forms of online scams.
Scarlet Widow created profiles on mainstream dating sites and apps, allegedly beginning in 2015. It also trawled specialized networks whose users might be particularly lonely or vulnerable, including sites for divorcees, people with disabilities, and farmers in rural areas. Its...