Have you ever thought that a nice guy or girl you met on a dating site could use your data for financial fraud? No? I’m afraid you are at risk.
Romance scams have become very prevalent today. Unfortunately, romance scams do not only lead to heartbreak but they further deteriorate into severe financial and legal issues. One of the schemes love scammers use is utilizing victims’ identities to create fake businesses, also referred to as shell companies. In this article, we explore how that happens and how you can protect yourself.
In most cases, romance fraudsters create a fake online profile at the very outset. They use pictures of handsome-looking individuals and make up a character that can intrigue and seem trustworthy. Step by step, they form a rapport with their victim, communicating every day and sometimes sharing personal information. This they do to make the victim attached to them emotionally.
After gaining some trust, favors start to be requested. They can ask for money, profile information, or even document copies, like a driver’s license or passport. The victim usually gives out the information, thinking that helps someone in whom have an interest. And that is what the scammer hopes for.
A shell company is a business on paper only. It does not have any actual operations, employees, or major assets. In most cases, shell companies are deployed to camouflage illegal dealings such as laundering money, evading taxes, or committing financial fraud. They allow money to be moved about without attracting attention.
While it may well be the case that shell companies can be utilized for other genuinely legitimate purposes, they are normally associated with shady activity. This could result in a victim ending up liable for activities of which they are unaware when romance scammers get access to a victim’s personal information to create such fake businesses.
The facility with which one can form a shell company using another person’s identity is very easy. After the scammer has garnered enough information from his victim, he can go ahead and register a business under the name of his victim. This could involve the production of fake documents or forging of signatures. The victim often remains in the dark for a long time.
After the shell company gets started, it could do lots of illegal activities. The scammer opens bank accounts, applies for loans, purchases big things, and all in the company’s name. Since the business is under the victim’s identity, all legal and financial trouble goes straight to the victim instead of the scammer. This can result in a situation whereby the victims have to solve problems they did not even know existed.
Some red flags might indicate a scammer aiming to use your identity. One of them is trying to obtain data from you. A person you meet online starts asking for personal information, especially documents like your passport or social security number. Be cautious if they claim they need this information for something urgent or important.
Another red flag is when they want you to open a bank account or start a business in your name. Most of these scammers may explain to you this is for some legal reason, but it’s usually a trap. Much care should be offered when dealing with any financial information or doing anything with legal implications.
Listen to your gut if it doesn’t feel right. Oftentimes, scammers exert swift pressure and try to make you feel guilty if you hesitate. Never be afraid to step back and think before giving out any personal information.
Just from someone using your identity to create a shell company, you can incur severe legal and financial repercussions. You could end up being responsible for illegal activities done by the fake business. Those could include criminal charges, debt collectors, or even losing your money.
The victims of such scams often spend several years trying to get their names cleared. One has to prove that they never committed those illegal activities and that someone stole one’s identity. It can be a very long, stressful procedure with lawyers, lawsuits, and piles of paperwork.
But, if you come to know that someone has used your identity to set up a shell company, you have to act fast. Let the authorities know about the incident and report the case of fraud. You can also contact an attorney who has experience in Identity Theft issues to guide you through the process.
We want to tell you a real-life example of how this scam plays out. One woman, let’s call her Jane, met someone online and fell in love with him. A few months later, he asked for personal information that could be helpful to his business opportunity. Wanting to feel helpful toward her partner, Jane handed over the information willingly.
Months later, she started getting heaps of letters from the creditors who were demanding money against loans she had never taken. She also got legal notices about some business with which she had no clue. It turned out that her online partner used her identity to create a shell company that ran huge amounts of debt in her name. She then had to spend years getting over the financial and emotional damage.
This story just shows one of how romance scammers can ruin lives.
Protection from identity theft through romance scamming involves keeping a wary eye on the warning signs. Some practical suggestions include:
Never send your personal information: Be careful as to what you post on the internet, especially if you meet that person online only. Scammers operate under fake profiles to gain your trust.
Avoid sending money: No matter how convincing the story, never send your money to someone whom you have met only over the Internet. This is perhaps the most common tactic of scammers.
Be suspicious of people asking for documents: Why are they requesting your passport, driver’s license, or any other document of importance to them? It could be an attempt to gain your personal information.
Research the person: Interesting about a person’s life. If things look too perfect, that could be an indication that something is wrong. Look for information on sites like https://allaboutdatingscams.com/, where blacklists of romance scammers are collected.
Trust your intuition: If there is any feeling that something is wrong, probably is. End the relationship if something rubs you the wrong way about this person’s intention.
If you think you became the victim of a romance scammer, there is no time to lose. You must report the scam to the policy and seek advice from a lawyer about how to protect your identity.
Scams with shell companies can do more than just hurt emotionally. It can also be financially and legally dangerous. There is a tendency for scammers to commit serious crimes using the identity of a victim for some business front. As you try to protect yourself from becoming a victim of such a crime, learn to beware of these sophisticated scams. Remember, your personal information is worth a lot—guard it properly, and don’t let anyone exploit that with the trust you put in a person.
