A romance scam is a confidence trick involving feigning romantic intentions towards a victim, gaining the victim's affection, and then using that goodwill to get the victim to send money to the scammer under false pretenses or to commit fraud against the victim. Fraudulent acts may involve access to the victim's money, bank accounts, credit cards, passports, e-mail accounts, or national identification numbers; or forcing the victims to commit financial fraud on their behalf.
A falsified passport used in an Internet romance scam. The deception can be obvious to observers — for example, the photo on this passport does not comply with regulations for size or pose — but victims often overlook these signs.
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Western Union Telegraph Building, lithograph
A Western Union telegram sent on September 7, 1896, to report on the positions of two comets
A 12-year-old Western Union messenger boy in Tampa, Florida, 1911
Advertisement for Western Union "Tourate" telegram service, 1939