I don’t have personal history with romance scams but this video is a good example of other sites being used. In this instance it was Instagram but I’ve heard of Facebook stories in the past. I’d say it can happen on any website that is designed to have some personal level of interaction, so not the standard screaming match that is Twitter but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn of them happening there too.

For avoiding it, it’s as simple and harsh as “don’t accept invites from people you don’t know” and “don’t send money to people you don’t know”. Going beyond romance scams, such as hacked accounts from friends who are “suddenly in trouble”, do everything possible to be sure it’s them before even looking at a payment link. Consider if this is a person who would ask you for money (some people are too proud to do so and a scammer wouldn’t know that), get them in a call and have a full conversation with them so you can be 100% sure it’s them.

Back on romance scams specifically, particularly good scammers can wait months or even a couple of years before they pull on the money thread. It’s more likely they’ll start off with actually paying the person back (they do this by having multiple victims on the hook at once and just shuffling money around between them to look legit). Slowly but surely, the figures will increase before there’s a sizeable honey pot before they dip.

Golden rule I can say for anyone is only send money to someone you are presently physically looking at, otherwise only send money you’re comfortable with never getting back. This also applies to buying stuff for them with a “I’ll pay you back”. If you’re the sort of person who would feel bad about not helping out a friend in need, you are the target. It’s harsh to say “don’t help the people you think are friends” as a blanket statement but it’s having absolute rules such as “don’t add people” and “don’t send money. EVER” that will keep you out of danger.