Romance scams are increasingly common. The Council for Older Adults and the Dale Association present “Dating and Relationship Scams: Detection and Avoidance” and General Scam Protection” from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday at the Dale Association, 33 Ontario St., Lockport. It is free to attend and snacks will be provided.
The speakers are Cynthia Stewart, PhD, executive director of DART Collective and founding program manager for the Center for Information Integrity at the University at Buffalo. Stewart is an interdisciplinary scholar with interests across STEM and non-STEM disciplines, especially in the places where they touch on the big, philosophical questions. Co-presenter is Adina Toponak, director for the Council for Older Adults program at HANCI. Adina has been trained in assisting seniors with scam awareness and prevention, including identifying fraudulent activity, guiding the reporting process and providing support with recovery options for lost funds.
If you are interested in learning more, please plan to attend. Presentation will include information such as:
Key Warning Signs to Watch For
• Rapid Love: They profess deep love or start discussing marriage after only a few days or weeks of texting.
• Elaborate Excuses: They claim to be in the military, a doctor on a volunteer mission overseas, or working on an oil rig to explain why they can never meet in person.
• Quickly Moving Platforms: They aggressively pressure you to move the conversation from the dating app to private texts, emails, or WhatsApp to avoid platform fraud detection.
• Investment Advice: They casually bring up cryptocurrency or investment opportunities and try to help you “get started.”
You will learn how to verify information and protect yourself. Remember, if something feels off, trust your gut. Come learn some of the ways to interpret the legitimacy of a situation or signs that it sounds legitimate but really isn’t.
If you suspect you are communicating with a scammer, stop all communication immediately. If you met them on a dating platform, use the app’s built-in feature to flag and report their profile. If you have unfortunately lost money or fallen victim to a scam, report the incident immediately to the FBI via its Internet Crime Complaint Center. You can also track and report scams in your local region. You will learn more about this as well.
This opportunity will help you learn everything you need to know about detecting and avoiding dating and relationship scams and general scam protection. Please call (716)433-1886 to reserve your seat. Walk-ins are also welcome.