Wisconsin Senior Medicare Patrol

Crooks are tugging at heartstrings to get cash from women looking for love online.

Scammers are pretending to be soldiers on popular dating sites. Once they hook a mark, they ask for cash. When they get the cash, they vanish. From the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau:

According to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command, these scammers are using real military photos to create fake profiles and they have received hundreds of complaints in the last year about the scam. Some scammers have even used photos of military members that have passed away.

The Command reports that con artists build relationships with women and then start asking for money for things like internet use, phones, leave papers, money to enable them to come visit the victim, etc. Once the woman sends the money, they never hear from the man again. …

Many of these emails have been traced back to foreign cyber-cafes in Africa but the individuals operating these scams are difficult, if not, impossible to track down.

If you or a loved one uses the net to meet people for relationships, beware this scam. If you or a loved one has been scammed, report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, 800-251-3221,  or the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov,  1-877-438-4338.