Luke From Support – Online Scams
PLANETROMEO has over three million users and our support team is dedicated to answering your questions about using our platform. There will be some questions that pop up more frequently than others. Most companies have an FAQ section, but we decided we wanted our response to have a more personal touch. So, we’re going to look at the most common queries here and Luke, our Social Media Support Agent, will provide you with the answers.
Last time, Luke filled us in on how to reset your password, this time he’s looking at how to deal with online scammers.
Online Scammers
Our fraud prevention team is always working on ways to identify and remove scammers. We have an automated system, Malicious User Detection or MUD for short, that helps in this task. MUD has a few tricks up its sleeve to deal with fakers, but users reporting fake profiles is always helpful too.
We know the hunt for scammers is ongoing and we’re currently extending our efforts to make MUD even more effective. We can’t reveal all of our tactics, as the last thing we want is to help the bad guys get any advantage. Trust us.
Inevitably, some false profiles will slip through the net. We like to think we’ll eventually catch and delete these profiles, but how do you recognise one, and what should you do if one contacts you?
Simple Steps to Defeat Scammers
Firstly – we DO NOT GIVE OUT PRIZES OF €/$ 100,000s. This may seem an obvious one but trust us – we never have and never will do a lottery draw and give out this much money.
Secondly – if someone seems just too good to be true – they probably are. If they look amazing and then start mentioning how they are short of cash – ALARM BELLS! They probably don’t even live in your country, and this is almost always followed with them asking you to transfer money, whether it’s for flights, to help sick relatives, to bail them out of jail – the excuses are endless. Just DON’T transfer them money. They will disappear and your money will be gone for good.
Actually – never give your money OR details to anyone you don’t 100% know and trust as it’s just asking for trouble. If someone decides they want to ‘move the conversation to email’ – MORE ALARM BELLS!000000000000 Now they have your email address and probably your name, which could be used to create other profiles that seem more ‘real’.
If someone sends you a link, saying ‘see me here’ – don’t click it!.
Safety First
We’re not trying to scare you guys here, we are just trying to make everyone aware of the safety that is needed online – not just on our site, but any website. Follow these simple rules and you’ll be in a much better, much safer position.
Spam
What should you do on PLANETROMEO if you receive messages like these? You should mark them as spam. This goes for messages containing links or messages announcing you’re the winner of a prize draw that you never even entered. Marking these messages as spam activates a security check and helps to eliminate scammers quickly and effectively.
Report User
Some scammers are more subtle – we suggest you report them through their profile. You can either use the false identity or the criminal activity options. If they’re doing it to you, they’re probably doing it to someone else too. Receiving multiple reports of the same scammer makes it easier for us to identify them and stop them.
Support
If you’re unsure – just email us with the profile name. We can then investigate directly and make an informed decision on how to proceed, even if that’s just to ask the user to verify their ID.
BE SAFE GUYS,
Luke and the team at PLANETROMEO
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