Valentine's day is just a few days away, triggering lonely hearts to search for love again. It's also at this time, when online dating scammers are on the loose.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned against online scammers who lure members of the lonely hearts club to get them into dating, and eventually suck them out of their life's savings.

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The FBI said, criminals use online dating sites in search for romantic victims.  The scammers usually pretend to be Americans working abroad.  Their most common targets are women over 40, divorced, widowed or disabled.  But authorities say, every age group and demographic is still at risk.

The scam begins when the crook contacts a victim, and starts to engage in an interesting and romantic conversation.  The scammer will attempt to send the victim a fake profile, with photos lifted from other websites. They may even send flower and other gifts.  When things get serious, the criminal begins asking for money.

The FBI does not prevent people from taking part in online dating, provided they take extra caution. 

Here are some signs which could tell that a person is a scammer:

-        If the person asks to leave the dating site and suggest to communicate privately

-        If the person expresses love in an instant

-        If the person sends a photo that is most likely lifted from a fashion magazine

-        Expressed plans to visit the victim, but will suddenly cancel citing emergency reasons

-        Will ask for money for different reasons such as medical emergencies, visas and other official documents, or losses from a scam

A popular dating website Match.com has urged the public to be vigilant against these suspicious personalitites. It also advised its clients not to forward any money to anyone.

Authorities said, apart from losing money, the victim may have been used in fraudulent acts such as money laundering schemes. This could be in a form of cashing phony checks, sending money overseas and shipping stolen merchandise.

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