Folks over 60 are reeling from online dating scams in Australia

 
Online dating scams do not discriminate by national borders or age.

Julia May of the Sydney Morning Herald reports on how older people in Australia are vulnerable to online dating scams and that victims find little support. And here are some interesting stats about the problem from the story, which offers insights for people who date online everywhere:

Last year, 1,200 people reported losing $25 million to fraudsters, who had romanced them online. But Delia Rickard, deputy chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, estimates that that number represents only 10 per cent of the true levels, as reporting rates are very low.

The commissions data shows that although people aged 45 and over are less likely to fall victim to fraud overall, they are disproportionately vulnerable to romance scams: those aged 65 and over have the highest rate of "conversion" after being contacted by a fraudster, at 55 per cent. 

People aged 45 and over comprise more than 80 per cent of victims in romance scams. Ms Rickard says it's because older people tend to have more money "and they're often at a lonely stage of life. The people we're seeing tend to have been through a divorce or been widowed, or their kids have left home. They're lonely and they want to believe it more."

Hay says the nature of online dating – where communication is in writing rather than in person – makes victims more vulnerable. "If it's spoken you hear it and then it's gone. If it's written you get the opportunity to reread it. You'll reread it 20 times or more so it becomes a romantic piece of poetry. It inspires the heart and gets the endorphins pumping and [victims] get addicted to that." The story points out how the older victims aren't idiots. But loneliness, particularly, can make them vulnerable. And here's another key factor offered by Detective Superintnendent Brian Hay of the Quennsland Fraud Squad, who has investigated sweetheart scammers Down Under since 2005. From the story:

Hay says the nature of online dating – where communication is in writing rather than in person – makes victims more vulnerable. "If it's spoken you hear it and then it's gone. If it's written you get the opportunity to reread it. You'll reread it 20 times or more so it becomes a romantic piece of poetry. It inspires the heart and gets the endorphins pumping and [victims] get addicted to that." 

He says defences are lower online. "We build up self-protecting behaviours from our real-world experiences: sight, sound, touch and smell. If I walked up to you in the street and said 'hey baby, how about it,' you'd go nowhere near me. Whereas if I sent you a lovely piece of verse, you might reconsider. We have the propensity to believe what we read."