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Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 11:51 am
I was chatting with a friend recently and he asked me if I was aware that Facebook had a dating section. I told him yes I’d seen something about that a few years back. I’ve never used it.
Well, he went on to tell me an interesting story. It looks like gift card scams are hitting Facebook dating.
Facebook dating info
As with any dating site or app lately, Facebook dating seems to have a safety section that lays out the usual rules and things to look out for.
The basics are simple things like being cautious when sharing information about yourself. The major one is watching out for scams and not to send money to potential love interests.
That’s pretty common sense if you ask me but again some people get so swept up in the chat that they overshare or feel compelled to send someone money due to a sad story.
How my friend’s chat went
So according to my friend he had a woman reach out to him. They struck up a chat. Well, she gave him the story of being divorced and currently laid off from work. (I’m not doubting that but I do wonder.)
As their chat went on she asked to meet him for dinner. She then proceeded to inform him that she didn’t have gas money to meet up for dinner.
He didn’t think much of that since gas prices are high currently.
Following that comment, she requested a $50 eBay gift card so she could buy gas.
My friend followed up her request by stating he’d reimburse her after she met up with him. To which she replied she didn’t have the gas or the money to drive out to meet him.
When he didn’t reply she messaged him twice asking if he’d gotten her message.
I can’t be the only person that thinks that’s a scam right?
How do you?
How do you pay for gas with an eBay gift card? I know you can purchase gas cards that are for a particular gas station or a reloadable card (Visa/Mastercard) you can use. But never an eBay gift card.
Why I think this is a scam
This has to be a scam. I can’t see someone requesting money so quickly during a chat. Even if you are going to meet someone (hopefully in a public place) you don’t ask for gas money. Especially since she was the one who initiated the meeting.
Another thing that stands out to me is the non-sense of the eBay gift card request.
As we’ve seen in past news stories many scammers request gift cards. From Itunes to store gift cards.
The funniest gift card request I have had was for an iTunes gift card so someone’s sick daughter could sell it. That way she could go to the hospital.
It’s better to be safe
It’s better to be safe in situations like these. Now that online dating is so common. You may not even know you are in a scam until it’s too late.
always alert the dating site, app, or platform you use if you think the person you are chatting with could be a scammer. Or if you feel the profile is fake.
Another thing you can do is ask questions about popular things in your area if the person claims to live near you. Don’t be super specific but ask things that can’t be found on Google easily.
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