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Spot Oil Rig Scams: Protect Yourself from Online Romance Fraud

Oil rig scams are a great option for romance scammers.

Romance scammers have come up with clever tactics to scam their victims out of their hard-earned cash. They make their victims fall in love with them through catfish profiles, and come up with emergency stories as to why they need money. They also come up with careers that allow them to pretend they are far away so that victims won’t ask questions when they can’t come and see them. Some scammers even pretend to be oil rig workers and claim they need money for their oil rig. This is why it is important to know about oil rig scams when online dating. 

How Oil Rig Scams Work

Romance scammers message their victims through dating apps or social media profiles, stating that they want to get to know them more. They say flirtatious things that their victims want to hear and make the victims fall in love with them. 

Once the victims are wrapped around the romance scammer’s finger, they claim they are in an oil rig with no signal so they can’t video chat their victims. They also claim that they need money to keep the oil rig going, and then over time claim that there was an emergency on the oil rig. They claim that their victims need to help them pay for their oil rig, since they care for them and will do anything for them. 

The victim drains their bank account, but the romance scammer continues to ask for more money! Once the victim tells the romance scammer they don’t have any more money to give them, the romance scammer guilt trips them to try and get their hands on even more money. When this doesn’t work, the romance scammer blocks their victim and never talks to them again.

How to Tell If Someone is an Oil Rig Romance Scammer

  • They are stuck on an oil rig and can’t meet you.
  • They ask for personal information and/or money. 
  • They say they can’t video chat due to poor signal or another excuse.
  • They ask to communicate off the dating app pretty quickly through WhatsApp or Google Hangouts.
  • They claim they love you and that you’re special to them very quickly. 
  • They have poor grammar and an accent when speaking to them, like English isn’t their first language.

What To Do if You’re a Victim of an Oil Rig Scam

  • Report the user on the site you used to communicate with them. 
  • Block them immediately so they can’t convince you to send them more money.
  • Contact your bank if you have already sent them money to try and get it back.
  • If you have given them any account information, change your passwords immediately.
  • If you have given them money or personal information, report the scam to the FTC.

And Lastly…

Visit Social Catfish to make sure that the person you are talking to isn’t a romance scammer. We can look up anyone’s information with a name, username, email address, phone number, social media username, or image to see if they are who they say they are. Are they really an oil rig worker or just another romance scammer? Find out with Social Catfish!

TRY SOCIAL CATFISH NOW

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