Periodically I get friend requests on FB from unlikely sources. These are not friends of friends or persons somehow related to content or page searches, such as pages that I follow or have liked. They are out-of-the-blue requests and they are exclusively from young, pretty women who just happen to want to be my friend. Occasionally they pop up as unsolicited texts on messenger, sometimes masquerading as 'mistakes', but hey, 'why don't we chat anyway?'

They are all identity frauds and the goal of the people behind these stolen photos and made-up profiles is to make money. They usually target middle-aged men (or older) and doubtless they have some success. I have watched a few expose programs on Youtube in which men and women who should know better throw hundreds and thousands of dollars at beautiful young things who promise love or validation.

When it comes to romantic liaisons online, the old rule applies here too - if it's seems to good to be true then it surely isn't true. But there are a lot of lonely people and some are naïve to the tactics of these scam artists. So here are a few red flags just in case.

1. You are contacted by a beautiful stranger out of the blue.

2. Their photos are all of a type and don't reflect a lived life.

3. They have few friends and their relationships seem very shallow.

4. They quickly fall in love with you.

5. They begin asking for money for urgent bills, sickness in the family etc

6. They cannot do video chats, only text messages or email.

7. There may be inconsistencies in their narrative or their memory of your chat history since they are       probably talking to a number of people.

8. If an actual live meeting is planned, they always have an excuse for not attending.

Most recently, a cryptocurrency scam has emerged. The MO is pretty much the same, but rather than ask for sums of money as in point 5, they will ask you to invest in crypto because an uncle or brother or the like has 'inside information.' The entire thing, including all the websites you are lead to, are completely fake. This scam is colloquially known as 'pig butchering.'