Valentine’s Day Online Scams you need to be careful of in 2025
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and what should be a time for love and romance might just be the perfect time for online scammers to get busy and steal your hard-earned cash especially since they know that everybody’s busy, excited and emotional. So what should we be looking out for in 2025 when it comes to online scames revolving around Valentine’s Day.
Here are some of the scams that we need to keep an eye on lest we get hit hard or worse lose our money and livelihood on.
Fake Online Stores for gifts
Consumers need to be wary of fake online stores that look like legitimate websites or social media pages of known brands or service providers. There were instances in the past where scammers managed to fool a lot of people to make purchases for Valentine’s day including chocolates and jewelries. You’re credit card or online payment details might be compromised in this kind of scam.
Phishing Sites with Coupons or Discounts
There are also several scammers that create phishing sites of discounts and coupons. The goal here is to trick you into leaving your sensitive information. Everything in the website or even on that one page was designed to steal your information like your credit card and even birth days and social security number which could be used also for future purchases. The sensitive information can also be sold to information brokers and be even shared to the dark web or the darker side of the Internet.
Romance Scams
In this scenario, scammers create fake social media profiles on Facebook or even on dating sites and pretend to be somebody else that is looking for a lasting relationship. They usually target lonely or desperate people or people who are pressured to have a date during the Valentine’s Day season. Along the way and as the “connection” goes deeper, the scammers can demand or ask for the money citing either personal or family emergencies. Once the designated or desired amount has been sent, they will abandon the account leaving the victim “ghosted”.
Fake Flower and Gift Delivery Services
In this scenario, scammers launch sites and pages that advertise flowers and gift deliveries specifically geared towards Valentines Day. Once you enter your order the flowers or gifts will never be delivered. What’s worse these scammers may even steal your credit card information to make illegal purchases or products. To avoid this from happening it would be great to look for dependable websites and sellers. You can also check on the website’s security features, check their reviews from outside sources and more.
Looking for Red Flags
Get a dependable app like Whoscall on your phone to block out the nasty emails and messages including the ones requesting for money or have this specific “Valentine’s Day” messaging in it. Also try to make sure that the website you are visiting has the “https:” security URL.
In case you have the choice between paying credit card or cash, it would be best to go for credit card payment as there are other layers of protection.