People across South Yorkshire urged to 'be wary' of romance fraud
South Yorkshire Police want people to be cautious this Valentine's Day
As people across the country celebrate their relationships on Valentine's Day, South Yorkshire Police has issued a warning to help protect people from romance fraud.
Romance fraud occurs when a victim is duped into thinking they’ve met the perfect partner online either through a dating app or social media, but the perpetrator isn’t who they think they are and is in fact hiding behind a fake profile.
The perpetrator gains a victim’s trust over several weeks or months, making them believe they are in a loving and caring relationship, but in fact the criminal’s end goal is only ever to get their money or personal information.
According to Crimestoppers, over ÂŁ99 million of loses to romance fraud were reported in 2021, with the average person losing ÂŁ10,000 over the period of the scam.
Despite being under-reported, in 2021 reports on romance fraud rose by 30 per cent in comparison to 2020; this in turn was a 20 per cent increase from 2019.
Men and women are also almost equally targeted by fraudsters, with 55.1 per cent of reports in 2021 being made by women, 44.7 per cent by men, and 0.2 per cent of reports from transgender members of the community. Data also shows that people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds are victims, with gay men disproportionately targeted, accounting for 12.4 per cent of victims overall in 2021.
This data from Crimestoppers has been shared as they continue their campaign to tackle romance fraud by encouraging anonymous reporting to the charity – a campaign which South Yorkshire Police is supporting.
Detective Inspector James Smith from the force’s Fraud Co-ordination Team said: “Criminals are experts at impersonating people. To exploit victims in this way, they spend time building up a seemingly genuine relationship with their them, which involves gaining their trust, so that they believe the person they are speaking to may be a sincere love interest. Once this trust has been established, the criminals then take advantage of their victim by asking them for money, in a way that avoids raising suspicion.”
Criminals often use a range of stories to get victims to transfer them money without it raising suspicion. Examples of stories include funding travel to visit the victim, money to pay for emergency medical expenses, lucrative investment opportunities and pretending to be military personnel or working overseas.
DI Smith added: “Just as with meeting someone offline, it’s important to keep in mind that not everyone is genuine. Don’t be afraid to challenge or check details given by the other person to ensure they are genuine. If their photo looks too perfect, and you think it might not be genuine, then a reverse image search can identify photos if the photo has been taken from somewhere else.
“If you’ve spotted any of the warning signs that someone might be at risk of romance fraud or know details about the criminals behind it but don’t feel comfortable reporting it directly to the police, you can speak up via Crimestoppers, who keep your report anonymous, so no-one will ever know you talked to them.”
How to help protect people you know are online dating:
-Help your friends and family to ensure they have adequate privacy settings on their social media accounts to ensure strangers don’t have access to their personal information.
-Stay in regular contact with your friends and family who are online dating to help spot any changes in behaviour or things that don’t seem right.
-Make friends and family aware of the signs of romance fraud so that they are conscious of the tactics criminals use to carry out these scams and reiterate that you should never transfer money to someone that you have never met in person.
-Encourage people to report to Action Fraud or Crimestoppers if they have become a victim of romance fraud and not to be embarrassed about doing so.
-Anyone who is speaking to people they do not know or have not known for a long period of time is urged to follow the Take Five To Stop Fraud advice:
-Stop: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.
-Challenge: Could it be fake? It’s okay to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
-Protect: If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud online at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. Information about how to report anonymously to Crimestoppers can be found on their website here: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/campaigns-media/campaigns/tackling-romance-fraud.