(February 23, 2012) Online Dating Magazine, a publication and watchdog group for online daters and singles, has issued its first ever urgent warning dealing with a new variation on the romance scam. Online Dating Magazine says that scammers have started using fake Webcam footage to convince people that they are a “real” person. The scammers spend weeks taking Webcam footage from chats with unsuspecting people. They then save the footage then use it in Webcam chats with people they are trying to scam.

You can read (and republish or link to) Online Dating Magazine’s urgent warning at: http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/datingnews/fakewebcamfootage.html

This is a scary evolution of the romance scam which is already the #1 money-making scam online costing victims hundreds of millions of dollars a year worldwide. Now scammers can suggest (or initiate) a Webcam chat with you. They simply use fake video footage they’ve obtained and memorized. They type when the persona types and they can bookmark parts of the footage to instantly appear (i.e. the person starts laughing). They can also pause the video and attribute it to a “connection” problem when there is a need to.

This is very serious and the biggest advancement ever in the romance scam. Please help spread the word! Online Dating Magazine has been in existence for 8 years and this is the first time they’ve ever issued an “urgent warning”.