How to protect teens from online romance scams

Teens are more susceptible to scams involving matters of the heart than any other age group. They easily walk into blackmail, identity theft, finance scams or much worse because they believe they are actually in love – sometimes with a criminal – or even an algorithm! In order to figure out the reality, here are a few quick questions that they need to find answers to.  
 
Is the online lover absent on app and video, but present on email and text? 
Most apps and websites monitor activity to spot scammers. Fake lovers always want a private chat or email exchanges, and they try to remain invisible. If this behaviour continues, it means there is reason to doubt. If nothing else, a sincere person would never confine him or herself to email exchanges.    
 
Did love happen immediately?  
Teens believe they are awesome in every aspect. Do not damage their self-confidence, but don’t let it turn into foolish pride before a fall. If your teen is constantly talking about an online lover who was mesmerised with his or her personality on a social media page, please check what is going on. True love never happens by looking at a social media profile, not even for very attractive celebrities. Also, praise and extra sweet words from an utter stranger is simply suspicious.   
 
Does the lover have legitimate identity details?  
Fake photos, fake address and work details are all easily believed by teens. So as a parent, warn them of these problems before hand and proactively. Telling your child to check the identity of a love interest on the web or on an app may be embarrassing and tough, but it will get tougher if this ‘person’ is a non-existent malware stealing your money.  
 
Does the lover need rescue from a tight spot? 
All teens love to be superheroes. Generosity is a virtue.  But they should not believe readily if a damsel in distress suddenly falls in love and asks for money. Nor should they plunge in to help a very talented young man needing funds for a project present only on app chat.   
 
Is the lover extremely generous? 
Love interests who go quickly from meeting to extreme trust, and ask teens to do financial transaction on their behalf are scams. These lovers ask teens to encash checks, keep a bit for themselves and send the rest to a person or company. Teens are open to this risk even if we used to these scams as adults, so talk to your kids about it today.