Washington, DC, March 7, 2006

Nigerian Scammers Turn to Romance Scamming to Maintain Their 15 Billion Dollar a Year Business

New Blockbuster Book Exposes Internet Romance Scams

Romance scamming has become the fastest growing scam on the Internet. The scammers have discovered a new, wide open "hunting ground” for their scams in the Internet Dating Industry, serving 45 million US singles every month along with many more in Canada, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

As their standard "419 Letters" require more work to generate less money, scammers have found that doing their scamming via Internet dating websites to be a lucrative and more successful alternative.

Now one of the fastest growing problems on the Internet, Romance Scamming has elements of evil not found in any other type of scam. Anna Alden-Tirrill, author, former University Professor, and former Rape Crisis Center Director, explains, "Many Romance Scam victims suffer emotional trauma similar to sexual assault victims.

Once scammers make an emotional connection with their victims, they can extract money from them almost at will. Often, they can entice their victims to commit crimes. Sometimes, only the devastation of arrest and imprisonment causes victims to realize they’ve been scammed and seek help."

Computer system specialist and author, Jonathan van Helsing, claims that Romance Scamming "could be the most insidious evil lurking on the Interet. Because people looking for love are in a vulnerable state, Romance Scammers are in a unique position to take advantage of them. They often succeed when '419 Letters' wind up beig identified as 'spam’ and deleted."

Mr. van Helsing argues that most companies owning Internet dating sites have done little to protect their members from Romance Scammers. He explains, "These companies have no problem spending millions on elaborate security systems. Yet, when a Scammer posts a fake profile on their website and starts 'cruising their site' for victims, they simply do not understand that this is every bit as much a security issue as a virus or spyware installation. Companies choosing to neglect the Scammer issue have started to experience a mass exodus from their sites. The few websites that are proactive on the Scammer issue, however, are experiencing continued growth."

Alden-Tirrill and van Helsing are co-authors of Cyber Love’s Illusions, a book exposing Internet Romance Scamming and identifying sites in the "Scam-Free Zone." The book is presently available at http://cyberlovesillusions.com.

Qualified members of the press may contact Tom Mack at tom.mack@whitecottagepublishing.com for press copies.




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