PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Online scammers apparently have been having a field day since the outbreak of the pandemic. And they’re using the old catfishing method to reel in their victims.
Pennsylvania is number five in the nation on SocialCatfish.com’s list of states with the most catfishing victims, and romance scams are still the top method of separating people from their bank accounts.
The site found that tricks scammers are now using include saying they can’t meet with the victim because of COVID-19 restrictions and that they need money for a coronavirus-related emergency.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has 37 cases this year in which socially isolated lonely hearts were sweet-talked out of their savings or personal information. That’s eight more than last year’s total.
Sarah Frasch, who heads the AG’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said unfortunately, conditions are ripe for rip offs these days.
“Generally speaking, people aren’t dating the way they were pre-pandemic. The restaurants were closed down for some time, there’s not as much going out and getting together especially with people you don’t know. So the online platforms seem to be prime for this kind of conduct,” she said.
She advised people to not give out any money or personal information to people they have not yet met in person.
"It's so hard to convince the person who is being victimized that it's a scam. They eventually get embarrassed or ashamed and we want that to go away. People should not be ashamed. These scammers are smart,” Frasch said.
In Philadelphia, Community Legal Services attorney Vik Patel has been investigating renter catfishing, in which the bait is dangled on websites such as Craigslist, where scammers will make excuses for why they can’t show the place in person.
“They say you can drive by and take a look. They’ll even go as far as drawing up a lease. Then the tenant sends the money, first month and security deposit. And time comes to move in, they find out this isn’t the landlord,” Patel explained.
The pandemic is also making it much easier for scammers to make excuses as to why they can’t show people the property.
His advice is to never hand over anything if the “landlord” won’t meet you on the premises.