Cybersecurity in Online Dating: The Dangers are Serious

Hackers are no longer just targeting companies these days. Private persons are also increasingly becoming the target of phishing and other cyberattacks. Artificial intelligence is taking phishing to a whole new level. Nowadays, even online dating can become a threat.

Chatbot or human? The other person doesn’t have to be a real one

Online dating is simple and therefore still hugely popular. You can easily get in touch with your potential dream partner via chat. Nervous about making contact for the first time? Not a chance! Of course, you can show your best side straight away. But at the same time, you don’t know who is hiding behind the other person’s account. Cyber criminals use this opportunity to act as love scammers or launch phishing attacks. It is therefore important to compare different online dating platforms in advance. If you have to legitimise yourself with a portal in advance, the chances of being scammed are much lower. Nowadays, it is often difficult to tell whether you are chatting with a real person or an AI.

This is because chatbots provide customised answers to your questions and are also able to hold a normal conversation. The basic rule of online dating is that you should not exchange data or transfer money until you have met the person. This is because there is a very low probability that your dating partner is a secret agent in need of money. But the scams are also becoming more and more sophisticated. For example, fraudsters use phishing links to try to get your login details for Amazon. Data and payment information can then be stolen unnoticed.

Don’t be blinded by love

There is a simple principle for cyber security in online dating: don’t be blinded by love. Common sense often takes a back seat when you have butterflies in your stomach. Nevertheless, you should be careful what data you share. You may not have heard of social engineering, which is more common on dating platforms than you might think.

An example scenario: Your flirting partner makes you feel particularly attractive. You receive raunchy messages and maybe even photos that make you want more. But then you are asked to present yourself in a revealing way. If you give in to this demand, the cybercriminals will then try to blackmail you.

However, blackmail is also possible if you are perhaps secretly using a dating platform. It’s easy for cyber criminals to ask for your full name and place of residence through the flashlight. They can then use social media to check whether you might be in a relationship. Then they threaten to send your partner your chat history.

Social engineering is therefore not about stealing data or accessing bank information. Rather, it is about playing with people’s actual feelings in order to extort money. Lovescamming is also a well-known form of social engineering. And although people are repeatedly warned against it, love scams still happen much more often than expected.

The problem with the whole thing is that the perpetrators are rarely caught. This is because crypto transfers and encrypted IP addresses from abroad make it difficult for investigators to convict the cyber criminals