Romance fraud costs Sussex victims £3m in a year
We're being urged to spot the signs ahead of Valentine's Day
People looking for love in Sussex were scammed out of over £3million last year, according to police figures.
Sussex's Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne has revealed that 256 reports of romance fraud were made in the county in 2020, with the average amount being lost per person at £12,800.
The numbers represent a 63% increase in reports from 2019, at a time when many more are turning to online dating websites and apps during the coronavirus lockdown.
Many of these scams saw people believe they had met their perfect partner online, but in fact a fraudster was using a fake profile to build a relationship with them.
Former lorry driver Mike Curzon from Selsey was conned out of £21,000 by trickster “Patricia” who posed as an American barmaid.
The divorced 60-year-old sold his car and van, wired over his £5,000 life savings and even borrowed £10,000 more from his brother, after she wooed him, said she would marry him but that she needed help to settle her bills first.
Mike was left suicidal after discovering the ruse in June of this year.
He said:
“I was on my own during lockdown and I was really scared and lonely. She definitely took advantage of that.
“I loved this woman. I thought I was going to marry her, and I just wanted to protect her.”
Mike was able to get help from one of two fraud caseworkers acting through Victim Support, who work with people who have not only been scammed out of their life savings but are also coping with the confused grief of losing someone they thought they knew and loved.
Mike added:
“The work they do is brilliant, without their support I wouldn't be here today and I mean that. Just to have a listening ear and being able to talk to someone about how you feel means a lot of support in itself, so I want to thank them for listening.”
Lisa Mills, Senior Fraud Manager at Victim Support, said:
“Romance fraud is a despicable crime which has wide ranging emotional, psychological and financial impacts on victims.
"The fraudsters are very skilled in their use of language and use a variety of other manipulative techniques in order to intensify the romantic feelings of their victims towards them.
"This is with the clear aim of financially exploiting them, with no thought or care for the devastating consequences of such actions, on their victim’s emotional and financial wellbeing.”
Action Fraud has some top tips on how to protect yourself from online romance fraudsters:
Don’t put yourself and your identity in jeopardy by trusting people too quickly – be cautious when getting to know people
Never send any money to people you've not met
Keep all communication via the internet dating site you’re using – avoid using personal email addresses
Report it immediately if you believe you’ve been a victim
When online dating, beware of particular behaviours and language a dating scammer might display/use:
The relationship with someone you’ve met online is solely via emails, text messages and phone calls and doesn’t seem to develop into meeting up
This person’s profile picture and the ones they send you make them look a supermodel
They ask you lots of questions about yourself but don’t tell you much about themselves
They quickly start calling you by a pet name or use endearing terms such as ‘darling’
They want to communicate with you through instant messaging and, texts, rather than through the dating website or chat room where you met
They don’t answer basic questions about where they live and work
They start asking you to send them money
More details on the different types of fraud and how to report fraud can be found on the Sussex Police website.