More than £650,000 lost to dating scams in Cambridgeshire in 13 months
We're being warned to stay vigilant this Valentine's Day
With more than £650,000 lost in dating scams across Cambridgeshire over the last year, crime experts are warning us to stay vigilant this Valentine's Day.
In the last 13 months, Cambridgeshire Police received 136 reports of victims being emotionally blackmailed by fraudsters posing as love interests, according to figures from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau's Fraud and Cyber Crime Dashboard.
Research from Lloyds Bank found the number of people falling victim to romance scams increased by 22% in 2023 compared to 2022.
While customer data from building society Nationwide showed women are likely to lose more to love scams, with an average loss of £10,610 compared to £8,181 for men in 2023.
David York is the fraud and cyber crime prevention officer at Cambridgeshire Police:
"Many people don't report this type of fraud through embarrassment, reluctance; sometimes they don't even realise they're being defrauded so it is a massive problem," he said.
"A great deal of these (cases) originate outside of the UK, so therefore outside our jurisdiction so even if we could find out who they are, finding where they are and getting some sort of justice is very difficult.
"Our weapons are only making people aware, educating people and hopefully when they do report it, even though they might feel embarrassed, we can use that information to disrupt the scammer's activities."
What is a 'romance scam'?
Jim Winters, Nationwide's director of economic crime, said criminals can act convincing when they're talking to someone looking for a relationship.
"Criminals can be persuasive enough to get someone looking for love or feeling lonely to give them their trust, personal details and ultimately their money, even when they haven't actually met each other in person.
"Our data shows all ages can be a target of romance scams as criminals will cast their net far and wide to stand the best chance of snaring a victim."
Nationwide warned that fraudsters will try to move interactions away from dating apps and websites and may encourage people to use private emails, phone calls and instant messaging that cannot be easily tracked.
Romance frauds can go on 'for sometimes years'
Gary Murray, from Crimestoppers, said: "These romance frauds, they go on for weeks, months and sometimes years, building up that relationship online.
"They never want to meet and then eventually, when the time is right, and they have managed to get your details that they want, then they go in for the big kill.
'If it is too good to be true, and if they want to know everything about you but don't want to reveal anything about themselves, it should be a warning signal."
Mr York told us some of the signs a romance scam may be happening:
"Alarm bells should be going off as soon as the person you're communicating with starts asking you for money.
"People need to be aware that is the time to draw a halt to the communication.
"We've heard about love at first sight, but love at first sound or message; people need to be thinking about 'why is this person declaring their love for me so early on?'
Cambridgeshire Police have shared tips on how to stay safe from a romance scam:
- Assume nothing
- Believe nobody
- Check everything
- Talk about your experience with someone you trust