She mentioned that she was working on the inauguration of a business. Five days after the first contact, she shared a financial problem: she explained that due to a misunderstanding with the cut from her payment terminal, she could not access cash, even though she had sales and salaries already paid. She also said that the money had not yet arrived in her account and needed to buy materials for an important job. At that moment, she asked him for a loan that she could pay back that same night. The request for money came at a time when some 'trust' had already been built in the conversation, and she used terms like 'heart' and 'little one' to address him.
"Is this a trap to ask for money? We cannot say for sure if this is a scam, but the situation shows several characteristics similar to money requests from people trying to emotionally manipulate others. Asking for a 'small loan,' with the promise of quick repayment, is a tactic that can generate a positive response if the other person already feels emotionally involved," warned the Consumer Protection Agency.
The conversation started in a friendly manner, with both discussing their work and personal projects. The Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco) issued an alert to users of dating apps to avoid falling into scams and extortion, especially in February, which celebrates Valentine's Day.
According to the information shared by Profeco, a survey conducted in February 2023 revealed that Tinder is the dating app with the highest percentage of users in Mexico, as 72.2% of people using these apps are there. Next is Bumble with 68.2%; Grindr with 13.6%; Badoo with 11.4%; Happn with 6.8% and Facebook Dating with 4.5%. It added that dating apps offer many opportunities to meet people, but also present challenges and issues for users, such as fake profiles, differing expectations, bad experiences, misunderstandings, and confusion, risk of falling into fraud, scams, or identity theft.
The lack of responses or constant rejections can affect self-esteem, excessive use can lead to emotional or psychological dependency, it can be difficult to establish an authentic emotional connection through text messages, and it can impact the sexual health of young people. Profeco presented a real example of a possible scam in a conversation between a man and a woman.
