People looking for love online have been warned to be on high alert for scammers this Valentine’s Day as romance fraud has increased by more than a third, according to data released by Victim Support.
The charity, the UK’s largest provider of services for victims of crime, is circulating a warning to online daters after a 38% increase in the number of victims of romance fraud receiving support from their services. It supported 322 victims in 2022, up from 233 in 2021.
A 39-year-old woman received a message on Instagram from someone pretending to be in the US Army. After chatting for a couple of days, romance blossomed and he told her he loved her. He then started asking for money because he said that he wanted to leave the US Army to be with her, but he needed to pay money to get out of her. At first she sent money, losing £4,000 to him, but then she became suspicious.
“I came across a romance scam website and all I had to do was put in the last name of the person they told me they were and there was page after page after page of people saying ‘don’t talk to this person, he asked me for £3,000’ , ‘He asked me for money and he wants to come to the UK,'” he said. “There were about 17 pages about this person – he was all over the dating sites. It made me feel sick.”
The charity has compiled a series of red flags to help people avoid romance scammers, including early declarations of love and excessive flattery, asking victims to keep the relationship secret and making excuses for not being able to do a video call or meet in person. .
Scammers may demand money by saying things like “but I thought we were in love” if the victim seems reluctant to hand over the money. Some ask the victim to accept money from third parties into their account, a sign that they may be trying to use the account to launder money.
Unauthorized dating profiles can be reported to the website Scamalyticsas well as for support for victims. Victims are urged to report any loss of money to their bank and Action Fraud and to maintain a high level of security on their social media accounts.
Lisa Mills, romance fraud expert at Victim Support, said: “Romance fraud is remarkably common and we often see spikes at times when people feel lonely or isolated. With Valentine’s Day approaching, we know this can be a trigger for some people. We want everyone to be on their guard against romance scammers, who could be posing as your ideal match.”
