Don’t invest your heart in a fauxmance: victims lose over £50 million to romance fraud

People Losing Into Emotionally And Financially Draining Bogus Relationships 

Romance fraud can create a long-term impact where the victim feels emotionally vulnerable and financially drained of resources. Dating services and sites are part of the social system, creating a new relationship. 

Many join such sites and want to have a harmless experience, but the police have asked users to stay alert and avoid those who shower too many friendly messages instantly and refuse to meet in person. 

Such activities account for 10 per cent of the total crimes. Those susceptible easily get trapped in the complex tactics adopted by the con artists, where they tell deceitful tales and seek financial favours. 

One of the victims said she met a person who claimed he was in the British army and had served in Syria, and he wanted some of his belongings to be sent to his place. He sent gifts and chocolates and promised to marry the woman, who was a retired nurse. He wanted to buy a house together. 

Later, he asked her to send money into one account in Germany. She withdrew money from her private pension to pay him, which she lost in the scam. 

In such crimes, people lose confidence, trust and money when they realise they trusted the wrong person. Also, the one on whom they relied was a criminal under a false identity. So the police have been alerting people to spot the signs and released tips to avoid faux. 

• If you meet anyone on such sites, ask as many questions to get to know the person before committing to any relationship.

• Analyse their profiles carefully and check the pictures and phrases or words they use. Then, search for those words on Google with a scam tag, and you can get the alerting texts on the search engine.

• If you meet anyone, tell about your experience to your reliable friends and family members. 

• Never send money or share bank details with the person you meet online.

• Use the messenger service and ensure the person's reliability before meeting in person or at a public place. You need to understand that such a group of people are trained to pretend to be someone else. 

• Bank officials have been advised to note transactions where customers are tricked into paying money into suspicious accounts.