With Valentine’s Day approaching, it is important to remain cautious of suitors trying to gain access to your personal information online. Con artists are getting more creative now than ever by targeting those Arkansans looking for love. Scammers will befriend someone online, slowly gaining trust and access to more personal information, including financial information, birthdates, and social security numbers. This is commonly referred to as a “sweetheart scam.”
“Scammers will use whatever means they can to steal from Arkansans,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “Guard your heart, bank account and personal information from cons trying to become friends to steal your hard-earned money.”
Attorney General Rutledge released the following tips for social media users:
- Share your hopes and dreams, not your salary and bank information.
- Be honest about your expectations, not your pin number.
- Reveal your hobbies, not your passwords.
- Open your heart to love, not your wallet to a sob story.
- Plan to meet in public, not in a private, secluded or an unknown place.
- Talk about your favorite vacations, not when you’re leaving town.
- Hope for the best in others, but don’t ignore red flags.
The Attorney General’s Office provides a tip card for consumers, how to spot phishing scams, information for parents to spot cyberbullying and tips on internet safety.
For more information and tips to avoid scams and other consumer-related issues, contact the Attorney General’s Office at [email protected] or visit ArkansasAG.gov.
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. Elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn in on January 13, 2015, she is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected as Attorney General. She was resoundingly re-elected on November 6, 2018. Since taking office, she has significantly increased the number of arrests and convictions against online predators who exploit children and con artists who steal taxpayer money through Social Security Disability and Medicaid fraud. Further, she has held Rutledge Roundtable meetings and Mobile Office hours in every county of the State each year, and launched a Military and Veterans Initiative. She has led efforts to roll back government regulations that hurt job creators, fight the opioid epidemic, teach internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge serves as co-chairs of the National Association of Attorneys General Veterans Affairs Committee, re-established and co-chairs the National Association of Attorneys General Committee on Agriculture and was the former Chairwoman of the National Association of Attorneys General Southern Region. As the former Chairwoman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, she remains active on the Executive Board.
A native of Batesville, she is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Rutledge clerked for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was Deputy Counsel for former Governor Mike Huckabee, served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County and was an Attorney at the Department of Human Services before serving as Counsel at the Republican National Committee. Rutledge and her husband, Boyce, have one daughter. The family has a home in Pulaski County and a farm in Crittenden County.
