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- A frivolous relationship: how scammers use the topic of marriage agencies
A frivolous relationship: how scammers use the topic of marriage agencies
Online scammers can use the themes of fake marriage agencies to deceive Russians. The attackers promise an individual selection of the ideal partner using psychological tests and some "smart algorithms", as well as manual verification of questionnaires and confidentiality of correspondence, but in fact all these are just pretexts for deception. For more information about how scammers use the topic of marriage agencies in their scams, what are the dangers of such tricks and how to protect yourself from them, read the Izvestia article.
Why are the topics of marriage agencies interesting to scammers
Scammers try to use people's emotional state and desires to deceive them. One of them is to find your soulmate and live with her in a happy marriage, says Maria Sinitsyna, senior analyst at Digital Risk Protection F6, in an interview with Izvestia. Therefore, attackers can impersonate representatives of marriage agencies.
— Summer and good weather in themselves are a powerful emotional trigger: many people at this time begin to think about arranging their personal lives, — says Sergey Polunin, head of the IT infrastructure solutions protection group at Gazinformservice. — This is the perfect backdrop for fraudulent attacks.
According to the expert, emotionally charged people are ready to share their information faster than usual, and the barrier of critical thinking often falls. Marriage agencies are an ideal legend for social engineering against this background, no matter what the skeptics say, the expert notes. At the same time, there can be many deception scenarios designed for both men and women.
What schemes on the topic of marriage agencies to expect in 2026
Today, experts are recording the appearance of fake dating sites to find partners to build serious relationships, says Olga Altukhova, a cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky Lab. Attackers on such online resources guarantee the individual selection of an ideal partner using psychological tests and some "smart algorithms", and also promise to manually check all questionnaires and keep correspondence confidential.
— To start searching for your significant other, such sites offer to register and answer the questionnaire questions, — says the interlocutor of Izvestia. — If you follow all the instructions, it is possible that the information obtained can be used to deceive in order to obtain personal data or funds.
In addition, fraudsters can charge a victim on behalf of the agency for a "guarantee of acquaintance with a perfect match," and then extort money and data on behalf of a potential bride or groom, adds Maria Sinitsyna. For example, attackers may ask for money to solve family problems or offer to invest funds for a happy life in the future. Sometimes they even show fake documents, such as medical operations, tickets, or fake graphs of capital growth from investments.
At the same time, according to Sergey Polunin, hybrid schemes and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) should be expected to increase in 2026. In particular, through fake payment forms, scammers can extort funds from potential victims for access to non-existent premium functions of marriage agencies, allegedly giving access to particularly desirable candidates or candidates.
"If a phishing site gets promoted, scammers will start playing for a long time, using AI or even live communication to "process" potential victims in chat rooms," the expert predicts.
What "romantic" schemes have you encountered before?
Meanwhile, online scammers have tried to speculate on the topic of romantic relationships before. In particular, according to Maria Sinitsina, in dating schemes, scammers have long been using AI to generate photos, on the basis of which attackers later create videos, including "circles" that they send to users to maintain a dialogue.
"The attackers are also trying to use AI to automate communication with the victim, so that the user thinks he is corresponding with a real person, but in fact the bot would support the dialogue according to a predetermined scenario," says the interlocutor of Izvestia.
In turn, Sergey Polunin points out that scammers used to rely on speed, trying to get money as quickly as possible. Today, experts note that attackers on dating sites have begun to play for a long time: they begin to process potential victims for months, luring them out of small amounts under plausible pretexts. At the same time, the previous schemes with popular legends like "a bride from another country" or "a doctor abroad" have already become folklore and work much worse, but nevertheless they have not disappeared either.
— As a rule, the main targets of scammers are men and women aged 40-55, often after a divorce, living alone and having a stable income, — the specialist gives a portrait of the victim.
And the risks of these people, in his opinion, in the case of fraud are not only financial. Potential victims of "romantic" schemes run the risk of psychological trauma, blackmail, or being involved in various illegal transactions, since any transfer of money to a stranger is always a very serious risk, the expert warns.
How to protect yourself from fraud schemes on the subject of marriage agencies
In order to protect themselves from the tricks of scammers on the subject of marriage agencies, experts interviewed by Izvestia advise following certain rules of cyber hygiene. In particular, Olga Altukhova recommends that you be critical of promises to find the perfect partner and use only well-known resources. When communicating with a new person, you should not click on suspicious links and respond to requests to pay or buy something. In addition, you can install a security solution that protects you from clicking on a phishing or scam link.
In turn, Maria Sinitsyna gives the following recommendations:
— if you decide to use the services of a marriage agency, it is important to check the date of domain registration using Whois services, as well as to study reviews on independent platforms. However, it's worth remembering that they can be hyped, especially if most of the positive comments were created within a few days.;
— if recorded videos come in when communicating with people who only know each other online, it is important to ask them to call through the video app to talk in real time. But we must not forget that AI allows attackers to use "masks" even in such dialogues.;
— you should also keep your financial secret: do not share your personal data or bank card, codes and passwords from SMS messages with anyone. You should never transfer money to strangers under any pretext. If the interlocutor forces you to take any actions related to the disclosure of your data or financial transactions, this is a likely sign of fraud.
— Marriage agencies are, in fact, the same sites as social networks or stores. Recommendations on cybersecurity are applicable to any sites, but in the case of romantic themes, they should be followed especially carefully, since it often reduces the barrier of criticism from users," concludes Sergey Polunin.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
