Words with Friends can be quite the rewarding and fun game. Millions of people have left many thousands of great reviews, but what happens when one of those people fall victim to a dating scam? Most of all, how can you prevent this from happening to you?
This is exactly what we are going over in this article. While usually Words with Friends provides a typical fun gaming experience, dating scams are unfortunately present as well. And this game provides the perfect atmosphere for the scammer to milk his victim.
A dead giveaway is when they mention that they have been playing for a while, yet have extremely low scores. You can even look to check how long ago they joined. They may even use a very low quality or stock photo, which with a quick Google image search, will help you determine if they are real or not. More on this important tactic later.
Quick Navigation
The Words with Friends Dating Scam
Virtual lobby
In many cases, this scam starts out with the scammer and victim playing a round in the same virtual lobby. The scammer will pick his victim by checking out different profile photos in the game, and once he sees someone on the older end of the spectrum, such as a senior woman, he throws his hook out.
The scam doesn’t only happen to seniors, however. In fact, this can happen to any age, even underage children — and for entirely different reasons.
Chatting
Nonetheless, the scammer will begin chatting with the victim in the chat feature; casually talking about numerous topics. At first, nothing seems out of the ordinary.
Eventually, though, the scammer will begin flirting with the victim, throwing out keywords such as “I really enjoy chatting with you” to start. Weeks later, they will then begin mentioning how he would like to get to know her better and that he wishes he had a woman like her. But once the victim bites the hook, this is where the real scam begins.
Using another platform
The scammer may ask you to begin communicating with him on another platform, such as email. This is due to the possibility of the spam feature built into Words with Friends, which may lead to this person being temporarily suspended or banned.
Oftentimes, the scammers use Words with Friends as a mill in order to find vulnerable victims. Once he has you using another platform, he will move on to the next step — where the real scam begins.
Sudden emergency
The scammer will begin explaining how he is stuck on a ship attempting to make a living for his daughter, whose mom died years earlier; once he mentions this, he will wait about a week before he asks the big question.
The scammer is going to mention that he is on his way to his hometown to see his daughter, who has just been in a terrible accident. He will go on about how it will cost twenty thousand dollars to pay for the surgery. Over time, the scammer and victim will have become very close, so the victim explains that she would love to help.
Funds sent
In situations where the victim may not have the entire amount, the scammer will mention that for a quarter of that, he could get an emergency loan to cover the expenses. The scammer is hoping that she has funds to send over, and in some cases, this happens.
Unfortunately, even after sending money to him, this man may continue scamming you if you were unlucky enough to not realize you had gotten scammed. A sailor isn’t the only thing to look out for, though, because they use many different careers. Any time anyone begins asking for money, especially on a game out of all places, then this is certainly a scam and you should block this person.
Preventing Words With Friends Dating Scams
Social Media
Often, scammers have a vulnerable area in which their cover is easy to blow. Social media is probably one of the best ways to check whether or not they are who they say they are.
Checking their Facebook can help you determine this. Lack of structure, such as very few friends, one profile photo, barely any page follows or post engagement can all be a huge red flag. This holds the same for other social media platforms.
Video Call
This is without a doubt a great way to determine whether or not you are talking to a scammer. Requesting a video chat can help you determine if the person you are talking to matches his online profiles. You will also be able to read his facial expressions. More often than not, scammers use fake profile photos online, so if they decline a video call, especially more than once, this is definitely something to be suspicious about.
Google Reverse Image Search
Another great way to determine this is to try searching for their photo using the reverse image search feature on Google. This works by searching through billions of websites using the photo you upload. Once the results are available, look and see if there is more than one name connected to the photo. If you find this is the case, then this is very likely a scam.
Something to Keep In Mind
It should go with saying that you should never send money to anyone online, especially if you do not know this person. Romance scams are at an all time high and many of these scammers work out of low income countries, such as Nigeria.
Because they live in such poor conditions, they push aside any morals they do have; and will suck your bank account dry in an instant. In some cases, they may even work in a large building with many other people performing the same scam on other victims.
Scripts that are used in scams are often sold to other people in the area so that they can scam as well. Plus, this makes the scammer more money; so you could imagine how many of these people are out there.
Words With Friends Dating Scam Story
A lady received a friend request from a man and at first, she declined it; but this continued happening and finally, after the third time, he asked her why she would not accept his friend request.
She simply responded “because I don’t know you” and the rest is history. She said that she always had something in the back of her mind telling her that he was probably up to no good; however, she continued playing with him. Though the reasons for sending him money is not mentioned, it is likely due to some sort of emergency. When it was all said and done, she had sent this person a hefty amount of more than sixty thousand dollars.
You can read more about this story here. An honest person will never ask for money in almost every case. The scenario where an honest person would ask for money from a stranger is an extremely rare one; so once asked, block this person immediately to avoid trouble.
Could You Be A Victim Of A Words with Friends Romance Scam?!
It is important that you perform a quick background check on who you are actually speaking to on the internet (you can do that here). The common questions that spring to mind are:
- Are they using fake identities?
- Am I really speaking to a real person from the USA?
To help the users of this site we have partnered with BeenVerified so you can check exactly that. This checking service reveals everything about this would be romance scammer and if they are a real person!
Helpful Information Available on BeenVerified:
- Criminal Records (Please check this!)
- Photos (Helps check if the same photos are used for multiple profiles with different names)
- Email Addresses
- Phone Numbers
- Social Profiles (IMPORTANT – Do they have a real social profile or multiple)
- Home Addresses
- Relatives & Associates
- Sex Offenders Register (Be safe who you are meeting!)
- And More…
If you have the slightest doubt about who you are speaking to… Please use this service!