She Thought She Was Dating an Astronaut – Then the Money Requests Started

A romance scam involving an elderly woman and someone claiming to be an astronaut is certainly a new twist on being catfished, creating another dating scam.

An elderly woman lost thousands to a romance scammer pretending to be a stranded astronaut who needed money to return to Earth. This situation might have been confusing to the woman, who is only one of many elderly fraud victims. Unfortunately, many scammers target elderly people and prey on their vulnerability and naivete, which can lead to thousands of dollars lost. Here’s how the elaborate scam unfolded and what it reveals about modern fraud.

The Romance scam with an astronaut gone wrong

Some elderly people are simply lonely and will fall for just about any story, and that’s part of the romance scammer tactics that can become problematic for some people. In a strange twist, a Japanese octogenarian woman was swindled out of thousands of dollars when she fell for one of the oddest catfishing schemes ever created. The scammer claimed to be an astronaut in need of money to buy oxygen in space because he was under attack. This led to the money being sent to the scammer $6,700 out of her accounts.

Its strange, but not new

It’s important to use some common sense before becoming a victim of any type of financial exploitation by scammers. Still, scammers can seem genuine and create confusion while preying on the feelings of an elderly person. Even the best internet fraud prevention can’t stop all dating app scams, and it’s up to people to watch out for themselves.

Japan has the world’s second-oldest population, and the elderly woman, who lives alone, fell victim to a romance scam with the thought that she was helping an actual astronaut. Had any family members been around or another person been in charge of her money, the woman might not have been scammed out of her money.

Romans scams are big business

Billions of dollars change hands every year with people falling victim to catfishing scams as they seek love and a way out of their loneliness. Scammers prey on this, with more than 64,0000 Americans taken for more than $1 billion in romance scams in 2023. That figure is double what it was four years earlier, prior to COVID-19 causing many people to stay home and spend time connecting online instead of in person.

Scammers pose as family members

While it’s hard to imagine falling for a romance scam in which the scammer claims to be an astronaut, many elderly family members have fallen victim to scammers claiming to be family members. In some cases, the scammer has hacked the social media accounts of family members, uses photos, or duplicates accounts to confuse elderly relatives. This can lead to financial challenges and confusion between the two family members, which often leads to bringing authorities in to investigate the issue. Unfortunately, by the time police are notified, it’s often too late for anything to happen.

How can you avoid being scammed?

While most of us think we won’t fall victim to a romance scam with a person posing as an astronaut, that doesn’t stop other scams from happening. Here are a few ways to avoid being scammed:

Don’t send money

Unless you 100% know the person and have met them face-to-face and can verify their identity easily, don’t send them money. This, of course, doesn’t stop scammers who pose as family members.

Double check with the person

Before sending money, especially if the only contact you’ve had for the monetary request is online, call the person and make sure the request is real. You might receive a request for money on social media from someone you trust, but when you call them, you find out that their account has been hacked or duplicated for the request.

Avoid clicking links or opening attachments on unsolicited emails

If you didn’t contact the company and give them permission to contact you, don’t open their emails. Many hackers will load these emails with malware that can damage your computer and give them access to your online banking information, which you don’t want them to have.

Don’t share personally identifiable information

Do not give out your personal information, such as birth date, social security numbers, and insurance information. When someone has only contacted you online, especially in an unsolicited manner, you need to be extremely leery of them and avoid giving them any information.

Most people might not fall for a romance scam with an imposter astronaut, but many other scams happen every day. Protect yourself and verify information before getting scammed.