Social networking sites, especially Facebook, are a favourite place for fraudsters.
Last year 4,100 Australians contacted the Commission's Fraud Watch to report being scammed and more than A$25 million was extracted from victims - the largest amount ever extracted by fraudsters from their victims in Australia.
Complaints of scams involving some kind of online celebration of Valentine's Day increased by more than a third in 2016, according to the ACCC, and the amount of money allegedly lost to such fraud increased by almost US$3 million compared to 2015.
"Scammers taking advantage of this day are on the increase and so if you are going to look for love online tomorrow it is absolutely essential that you can recognise the warning signs," said Commission Vice-President Delia Rickard in a statement.
"Fraudsters create very believable profiles and sometimes steal the identities of real and trusted people. If you meet someone who seems too good to be real, do some research to verify that they are a real person," Rickard advises.
Audax Cybersecurity advises:
-Never give out personal financial information or send money to someone you have met on the Internet.
-Request photo authenticity through Google Image. Be extremely wary of being taken off the dating site as scammers prefer to use their personal email or phone to avoid being traced.
- Do not send personal photos of yourself with inappropriate content and do not use webcams for such photography as you may be subject to blackmail.