Surrey and Hampshire police join campaign over online romance fraud

We are being warned of online romance fraud, as Surrey and Hampshire police forces join a national campaign to raise awareness of the crime.

Called "Fall for the person not the profile", it is aimed at advising people what to look out for, and to encourage victims to contact police.

Surrey Police describe romance or dating fraud as "when you think you’ve met the perfect partner 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. However, the criminal’s end goal is only ever to get your money or personal information."

The multi-agency campaign is running throughout October and follows a national rise of 26% in reports to Action Fraud in the last year.

Surrey Police received 100 reports from January to September this year - a 45% increase compared to the same period in 2019.

These frauds resulted in a total loss to 69 victims of of £2,414,914.

Between August 2019 and August 2020, 222 reports of romance fraud were made to Action Fraud by Hampshire residents.

The total reported loss to Hampshire victims in the same time period was £2million, equating to an average loss per victim of just over £9,000.

Hampshire Constabulary also says there was a rise in reported incidents of romance fraud in the county in July - a 175% increase on the previous month.

The force says it suggests people might have met romance fraudsters during lockdown.

It also says it appears people in the 40 - 59 age bracket were most at risk, accounting 42 per cent of reported incidents in Hampshire during this period.

Residents aged 60-69 were the next age group at risk, while those aged 70 - 89 seemed to be quite low risk, only accounting for 13 percent of all reports.

And it says the top five platforms where victims reported first interacting with the fraudster were Facebook, Plenty of Fish, Instagram, Tinder and Match.com

In Surrey, a 42-year-old woman from the county was recently conned out of £2,500 by a romance fraudster.

Over a period of 3 months, the victim was led to believe she had found someone special online who understood and cared about her.

However, money came into the conversation when the suspect claimed he was stuck in another country and needed funds to get back home.

The victim sent £2,500 as well as a photo of her ID, which displayed her full name, date of birth and address.

She then received an email from someone claiming to be from a foreign government, asking her to make personal contact with them in relation to the suspect being stuck abroad.

The victim became suspicious that the man she was in an online relationship with and the government email she received were connected and contacted police.

Surrey Police say almost anyone can be targeted and fall victim to this type of fraud, as "criminals are highly skilled manipulators of language, and use techniques designed to make people feel at ease and disguise any cause for concern."

They are also urging victims to contact them and not be embarrassed about it.

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Walker, from Surrey and Sussex Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: "Romance fraud is a dreadfully exploitative crime which preys on people's desire to connect with others and has a devastating impact on victims.

"Victims can sometimes feel too embarrassed to come forward but we would encourage anyone who has experienced any type of fraud to report it to us so it can be investigated.

"Our priority is identifying and supporting victims of romance fraud with our dedicated victim caseworkers, our peer support group for victims and our year-round activity to raise awareness of fraud."

How to spot the signs of romance fraud and keep your money safe:

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:

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.

It is also working with money transfer companies such as Western Union and MoneyGram, to roll-out an initiative first introduced by Sussex Police, across the whole of the UK, whereby any money transfer from overseas can be blocked if it is suspected by the authorities to be the result of a romance fraud.

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 to inform their users how to spot the signs of a romance fraud and how to protect themselves online.