Police issue warnings after a rise in romance fraud
Nearly £400,000 was taken from victims in Dorset.
Victims of romance fraud in Dorset lost a combined total of £384,400 in the space of a year.
70 people reported they'd lost money to dating scams in Dorset in the 12 months leading to August 2020.
Each person lost an average of £5,500.
What is romance fraud?
Romance fraud, or dating fraud, occurs when you think you’ve met the perfect person online, but they are using a fake profile to form a relationship with you.
They gain your trust over a number of weeks or months and have you believe you are in a loving and caring relationship.
Chris Conroy is the Cyber Protect Officer for Dorset Police.
He said:
"These people who carry these sort of acts out, they are professionals. It's essentially their job, for want of a better term, and they know exactly what to say, and exactly when to say it to basically leverage people how they want.
"They're very very adept, very clever at convincing people they are who they say they are, and that obviously there's a genuine need for them to send the money.
"Very, very effective and obviously very devastating for the victims."
There's evidence to suggest scammers were more active during the lockdown while people were isolated and feeling cut off from the world.
Action Fraud received 600 reports of dating fraud per month in June, July and August, where they would usually only receive around 200.
Chris says that suggests people were being targeted early into the lockdown and were only realising they had been a victim of fraud months later.
He said it's particularly hard for victims:
"One of the biggest issues we see with things like this is people are often embarrassed or they feel a sense of shame after falling victim. What they need to remember is that they are a victim of a crime.
"The worst thing with romance fraud, it's not just that financial loss, the trauma is twofold in a way because yes they may have parted with money, but there's also the fact that they were in, in their mind, a genuine relationship with someone that they hopefully saw a future with, and that's just taken away from underneath them all of a sudden as well."
How can I stay safe online?
During October the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, will be co-ordinating enforcement activity across the UK and overseas to target and ultimately arrest criminals suspected of committing romance fraud.
The top five platforms where victims reported first interacting with the criminal committing romance fraud were Facebook, Plenty of Fish, Instagram, Tinder and Match.com.
As part of the campaign the Match Group, who own OK Cupid, Plenty of Fish, Tinder and Match.com, are running romance fraud protection adverts throughout October on these platforms, to inform their users how to spot the signs of a romance fraud and how to protect themselves online.
Here are a number of red flags to look out for:
The person you're talking to declares their love very early on.
They constantly make up excuses as to why they can't video chat or meet in person.
Ask for financial help during an emotive, time critical emergency.
They tell you to keep the relationship private.
Here are some ways you can protect yourself:
Avoid giving away too many personal details such as your full name, date of birth and home address.
Stay on the site's messaging service until you meet in person. Criminals want to switch to other platforms so there's no evidence of them asking you for money.
Most online platforms have a reporting tool which you can use if you suspect someone online is using pictures that don’t belong to them, you are suspicious of their behaviour, or they have asked you for money.
And finally, no matter how long you’ve been speaking to someone online and how much you trust them, if you haven’t met them in person do not:
Send them any money.
Allow them access to your bank account.
Transfer money on their behalf.
Take a loan out for them.
Provide copies of your personal documents such as passports or driving licenses.
Invest your own money on their behalf or on their advice.
Purchase and send the codes on gift cards from Amazon or iTunes.
Agree to receive and/or send parcels on their behalf (laptops, mobile phones etc.)