Log in
My Account
Subscribe 99¢ for 3 months
Newsletter

Today's Digital Newspaper

The Gazette

Weather Block Here

Login
My Account
Subscribe
Newsletter

Archive Information

Carrier Portal

Search

Buy Our Photos

FBI Denver warns Valentine’s Day romance scams are on the rise

By David Mullen February 14, 2022 | updated 3 years ago

While love is in the air as Valentines Day nears, don’t let love be blind, law enforcement warns. Hundreds of people have recently lost $32 million in romance scams, according to the FBI’s Denver office. 

More than 200 of those victims live in Colorado and Wyoming and approximately 60% of them are over age 60, according to the FBI. The scams occurred between October and January.

Officials found these types of scams have been on the rise in recent years with the growing prominence of online dating applications and websites. For instance, the number of victims from 2019 to 2020 grew over 20% and accounted for $605 million in losses, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2020 Annual Report. 

The people most victimized are women over 40, the elderly, widowed, divorced or disabled people. Scammers target these groups because of their “vulnerabilities,” according to the FBI.

Scammers often will begin a relationship under innocent pretenses and eventually become more intimate until they are able to defraud victims.

The scammers also tend to live or work in areas outside of the targeted areas to avoid meeting in person and utilize social media and other outlets to commit their crimes, officials said. Most of the scammers are found to be located in Canada, England, Ghana and Nigeria, according to the FBI.

Officials said there are several warning signs that are commonly associated to these scams such as:

  • The individual presses you to leave the dating app and turn solely to message or email.
  • The individual uses a photo that appears to be a glamour shot.
  • The individual professes love quickly.
  • The individual attempts to isolate you from friends and family.
  • The individual claims to live or work far away.
  • The individual makes plans to meet in person, but always cancels because of some emergency.
  • The individual asks you for money.

The FBI said the best way to avoid these types of scams is to be skeptical about sending anyone money someone you’ve only met online and to be mindful of what you post online because it could be used against you. 

People who suspect they’ve been scammed should file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, contact the FBI Denver field office at 303-629-7171 or contact location law enforcement. 

Sign Up For Free: AM Update Newsletter

let pathVariable;
let pathVariable2;

function handleUrlPathSegment() {

const fullPath = window.location.pathname.toLowerCase();
if (fullPath.includes(‘/business/’)) {
pathVariable = ‘business’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Business Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘/outdoors/’) || fullPath.includes(‘/outdoor/’)) {
pathVariable = ‘outdoors’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Outdoors Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘/opinion/’)) {
pathVariable = ‘opinion’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Opinion Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘politics’)) {
pathVariable = ‘politics’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Politics Newsletter’;
} else {
pathVariable = ‘am-update’;
pathVariable2 = ‘AM Update Newsletter’;
}

console.log(`Current path: ${fullPath}`);
console.log(`Path variable set to: ${pathVariable}`);
console.log(`Path variable 2 set to: ${pathVariable2}`);

applyNewsletterName(pathVariable2);

return { pathVariable, pathVariable2 };
}

function applyNewsletterName(newsletterName) {

if (document.readyState === ‘loading’) {
document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function() {
updateNewsletterElement(newsletterName);
});
} else {

updateNewsletterElement(newsletterName);
}
}

function updateNewsletterElement(newsletterName) {
const newsletterElement = document.getElementById(‘newsletterName’);

if (newsletterElement) {
newsletterElement.textContent = newsletterName;
console.log(`Updated #newsletterName element with: ${newsletterName}`);
} else {
console.warn(‘Element with ID #newsletterName not found in the DOM’);
}
}

function setupFormSubmitListener() {
function getFormattedDate() {
const now = new Date();

const timestamp = now.getTime();

console.log(‘chris: Using Unix timestamp’);
console.log(‘chris: Current time:’, now);
console.log(‘chris: Unix timestamp (ms):’, timestamp);

return timestamp;
}

const formattedDate = getFormattedDate();
var profile = window.blueConicClient.profile.getProfile();
profile.setValues(‘newsletter_category’, pathVariable);
profile.setValue(‘newsletter_signup_date’, formattedDate);
window.blueConicClient.profile.updateProfile(this, function() {
});
}

handleUrlPathSegment();

Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

View all of our newsletters.

function subscribeSuccess() {
var nsltrform = document.querySelector(“#nsltr”);
var nsltrSuccess = document.querySelector(“#successnsltr”);

nsltrform.classList.add(“hideblock”);
nsltrSuccess.classList.remove(“hideblock”);
}

function validateEmail(email) {
return String(email)
.toLowerCase()
.match(
/^(([^()[]\.,;:s@”]+(.[^()[]\.,;:s@”]+)*)|(“.+”))@(([[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}])|(([a-zA-Z-0-9]+.)+[a-zA-Z]{2,}))$/
);
}

function validateEmailAddress() {
const result = document.querySelector(“#result”);
const email = document.querySelector(“#email”).value;

result.innerText = “”;

if(validateEmail(email)) {
newsletterSubscribe(email);
} else {
result.innerText = ‘The email entered: ‘ + email + ‘ is not valid :(‘;
result.style.color = “red”;
}
return false;
}

function newsletterSubscribe(email) {
fetch(“https://services.gazette.com/mg2-newsletters.php?action=subscribe&site=denvergazette.com&emailPreferenceId=69&email=” + email, {
method: “POST”
}).then(res => {
console.log(“SUCCESSFUL POST”);
subscribeSuccess();
});

}

#nsltr {
min-width: 100%;
margin: 10px 0;
padding: 10px 20px;
background-color: #2076b3;

background-image: url(https://static.gazette.com/emails/circ/Audience%20Images/dg%20weekly%207.png);
background-size: cover;

}

#nsltr-header {
color: #fff4f4;
}
#nsltr-body {
text-align: center;
color: #ffffff;
}
#nsltr-button {
margin-top: 5px;
}
#successnsltr {
min-width: 100%;
margin: 10px 0;
padding: 10px 20px;
background-color: green;
text-align: center;
color: white;
}

#successnsltr a {
color: white;
}

.hideblock {
display:none;
}

h6 a {
color: black;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 5px;
background-color: #bbccdd;
font-weight: 600;
}

@media only screen and (min-width: 768px) {
#nsltr {
background-image: url(https://static.gazette.com/emails/circ/Audience%20Images/dg%20weekly%207.png);
background-size: cover;
}
}

ac310130-8b7c-11ec-8726-f33440b1d451

View Original Article | Split View
David Mullen

Reporter

PREV

PREVIOUS

Movie left behind by Denver shooter Lyndon McLeod seemingly shows preparation for murderous rampage

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save A chilling 47 minute movie has surfaced which appears to show preparation and motivation for last December’s shootings which left five people dead and two wounded including a Lakewood police officer. The movie, titled Warhorse, is for sale on the killer’s website, which advertises his […]

NEXT

NEXT UP

Denver police seek robbery suspects

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Denver police are asking for the public’s help in identifying two people suspected of committing robberies last week, according to a news release.  One person is wanted in connection with an aggravated robbery that occurred around 5:31 a.m. Feb. 8 at a 7-Eleven at 100 […]