Since the pandemic, online romance scams have ramped up to scary levels. It is easier to prey on people since we're now more isolated than ever as a society. I think we are a key target audience for these scams. I've had random complimentary messages and fake "wrong number" messages over the years on various social media (yes, also on LinkedIn and most recently on Meetup) but my extremely skeptical nature has been my saving grace. I know personal stories that have gone all the way to pretend long distance relationships until money requests got involved and spidey senses started to tingle.

The recent John Oliver episode prompted this post. But also do share your stories and/or tips on how you handle these attempts.

Ooh. Edit to add: I matched with a psychologist on a dating app some time ago who opened with his job title. While it was weird, I had seen weirder things by that point so I still kept responding. I'll spare the details but I think he was looking for potential clients.