It has come to my attention today that another actor's photo is being used in romance scams. More than a year ago when I was still using the dating sites, a scammer contacted me using a photo of the actor Kieffer Sutherland. I never watched the television show 24 but I did recognize the actor, having seen him in many movies over the years. Because I recognized the photo, I knew the profile was fake and did not make further contact.
In the past couple of weeks I have seen posted on another scam reporting site that Robert Sean Leonard, who portrays the character of Wilson on the television show HOUSE has also had his photo stolen and used in romance scams. Now today I see posted that the same thing has happened with photos of Josh Holloway who portrayed the character of Sawyer on the television show LOST.
Please when you see a profile that interests you, do a "save image as" and take that photo to Tin Eye.
Tin Eye is a website that will check photos you plug into their site and show you where else those photos have appeared online. This means that if you are looking at a celebrity, or possibly a model photo on a dating profile, you will be able to find out that the photo is not the person represented in the dating site profile. In other words, this is a very quick and easy way to let you know right up front that the profile was created by a romance scammer.
When you find a celebrity of any type in the profile photo at an online dating site or social network (and that social network is not the official website for that celebrity) you can be sure that photo was stolen and being used by a scammer. When you find profile photos that look "too good to be true", or too posed, it is most likely a model photo stolen from a professional modeling agency. It seems more and more the scammers are using television and movie actor photos for profile pictures.
Be aware! Be vigilant! Don't let a romance scam happen to you. If you can't get past the profile photo, there is no need to go further into the profile, and there is no need to make contact, or continue contact if already started.
cp
In the past couple of weeks I have seen posted on another scam reporting site that Robert Sean Leonard, who portrays the character of Wilson on the television show HOUSE has also had his photo stolen and used in romance scams. Now today I see posted that the same thing has happened with photos of Josh Holloway who portrayed the character of Sawyer on the television show LOST.
Please when you see a profile that interests you, do a "save image as" and take that photo to Tin Eye.
Tin Eye is a website that will check photos you plug into their site and show you where else those photos have appeared online. This means that if you are looking at a celebrity, or possibly a model photo on a dating profile, you will be able to find out that the photo is not the person represented in the dating site profile. In other words, this is a very quick and easy way to let you know right up front that the profile was created by a romance scammer.
When you find a celebrity of any type in the profile photo at an online dating site or social network (and that social network is not the official website for that celebrity) you can be sure that photo was stolen and being used by a scammer. When you find profile photos that look "too good to be true", or too posed, it is most likely a model photo stolen from a professional modeling agency. It seems more and more the scammers are using television and movie actor photos for profile pictures.
Be aware! Be vigilant! Don't let a romance scam happen to you. If you can't get past the profile photo, there is no need to go further into the profile, and there is no need to make contact, or continue contact if already started.
cp
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