Sometimes even true love is too good to be true.

A growing number of senior citizens have been the victim of romance scams. Lonely people who are looking for romantic partners are targeted through dating websites, applications, and social media.

Do not fall into the trap. All you will have in the end is a broken heart and an empty wallet. The scammer triggers the emotions to con people into giving gifts and money. Some also do the ‘romance scam’ to obtain personal information.

Initially, romance scams were done using online dating websites and applications, but scammers have now moved to email and social media to make it look more authentic.

The con artist usually creates a fake profile which is impressive enough to make you fall into the trap. Furthermore, some of these scammers also impersonate real identities of trusted or popular people such as a professional who works in a foreign country or is a military personnel.

The scammer can go to any extent to gain your trust. They will then express strong feelings and emotions by saying that they feel connected to you. Once you develop similar feelings, they will ask you to send money so they can travel to see you or provide them with personal information, bank account number, gifts or credit card information. In some cases, scammers are interested in asking for intimate images or videos.

Here are some warning signs to help you avoid being a victim of dating and romance scams:

• The scammer will confess and express strong feeling for you within the exchange of a few emails or messages.
• The scammer might ask you to chat privately via an email message or on social media if you two connected on a dating website or application.
• The scammer might ask for your personal contact details for easy
• The scammer’s profile might look odd to you. Either it will not be updated on all mediums or all profiles would lack consistency. This could include profile picture, bio, language or their work and academic history.
• The scammer will make up a story to ask for money or gifts after gaining your interest and trust.

How to protect yourself from being a victim

• There is a possibility that a legitimate person contacts you on a dating website and expresses his or her feelings too soon. Let’s be honest, a person would only message you if they find you attractive or like you. Consider that approach a scam until you are sure it is not. You will have enough time to do your research on your ‘prospective ‘
• You can find the person on all social media platforms and run a Google search to see his online presence.
• Look for spelling and grammar mistakes in their profile. Most scammer profiles are inconsistent and this will give you an idea whether the approach is legitimate or fraudulent.
• If you plan to talk on Skype, make sure that you are not the only one with your camera turned on. It is a scam if their camera is never is working.
• Do not share personal images and videos until you are sure about the person. Many scammers tend to blackmail people after getting hands on such material. It is better that you personally meet them before trusting them.
• If you plan to meet a person from a dating website or application, inform your friends and family so that they know where you will be going.

The Social Security Administration has an excellent post on phishing scams.  Don’t become a victim.

Did you just win a luxurious vacation in a contest or $500,000 in a sweepstakes? It’s possible–many people dream of being the next big lottery or prizewinner in news. And after all, if it can happen to him or her, why not you?

So of course you’re very excited when someone calls to tell you that you’ve won, but beware: IT IS A PRIZE SCAM!

How do we know? Because of a big red flag: if you have to pay to claim it, it is not a prize.

Imagine you get a phone call from an imposter pretending to be a company representative. He says you’ve won a huge sum of money in sweepstakes or a car in a contest. However, the very next moment he asks you to wire or deposit some money before you can claim ‘YOUR’ prize. This is a scam.

Victims of this scam can suffer devastating consequences. In most scenarios, the targets of these scams are elderly citizens who can easily be intimidated with such news. To protect yourself from becoming the next victim of this fraud, it is important for you to learn how to distinguish between a scam and reality.

We have noticed an increase in contest and sweepstake scam calls. Yes, there are legitimate contest and sweepstakes prizes, but in most cases, these calls are phony.

Recently, people have lost thousands–even millions–of dollars to scammers. Here are some signs to help you avoid being a victim of prize scams:

• The scammer will ask you to pay: In order to claim the prize, the scammer will ask you pay a fee before handing you the prize money. Keep in mind legitimate contests and sweepstakes don’t ask for any sort of fees or payments in return if you win. Recently, scammers have called these payments ‘processing fees’ or ‘’
• The scammer will ask for your personal information: If a person on the phone tries to ask your personal information which includes checking account number, real name, date of birth, social security number or credit card number, don’t provide them with any detail. You wouldn’t want to win a contest by jeopardizing yourself.
• The scammer will ask you to ‘wire’ the money: Some scammers ask you to wire a specified amount of money to a well-known company–in the home or foreign country. The wired money is to ‘insure’ your prize, but this is a lie! The catch with wiring money is once it’s successfully sent, you can’t track or recover it. After receiving payment, the scammer will simply take your money and disappear, leaving you waiting for a prize that will never come.
• The scammer will ask you to deposit a check: A scammer will tell you over the phone that you will receive a check from their side, which you have to deposit in your account. After that, your next task will be to wire a portion of the money back to the scammer. The catch here is the check sent to you is FAKE and you will have to pay the money back to the bank.

KGUN9 reports there’s a new phone scam preying on seniors.

Reporting from Tucson, the station says this scam is prevalent in the Southern Arizona area.  A caller claiming or otherwise implying that he or she is a legitimate government employee asks for personal information in order to send the victim an updated Medicare card.

These scammers will pressure the victim into giving up the information and paying a “card replacement” fee, saying a failure to do so will result in the victim’s healthcare being canceled.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also warns seniors to be on the lookout for Medicare scammers, confirming that some have even gone as far as to “spoof” or disguise their number as the actual HHS Office of the Inspector General hotline.

If you reside in Arizona, please be aware of this fraud and take extra precautions to verify the identity of any caller asking for information regarding your Medicare.