Have you had the blessed opportunity to comfort a stranger-turned-friend-turned-suitor online by shipping money to his (or her) bank account in, say, Nigeria?Evidently, this is a big scam in Australia where the Brisbane Times reports that financial wolves masked in Christian lambs' lingo are raiding the bank accounts of lonely Christian women online.
In her story, headlined, "Thou shalt not fleece," (hat tip to CathNewsUSA for pointing me there) Amelia Bentley says fraud specialists estimate& Australians are sending $4.5 million a month to Nigeria "where romance scamming is a thriving cottage industry."
Police revealed two out of three victims of romance fraud are women, who scammers target on social networking pages, dating sites and Christian chat rooms.
Detective Superintendent Hay said a recent study of 200 victims of online fraud found 120 had fallen for romance-related scams and had collectively parted with more than $21.5 million.
And Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson told Bentley:
There is something particularly brutal and cruel about targeting someone who is lonely and vulnerable, looking for company or a partner in their life.
Do you worry that sharing your faith on dating or social networking online sites could attract people who treat your values as stepping stones to a scam -- financial or spiritual?
