Romance Fraud

Officers urge caution after recent romance scams ahead of Valentine’s Day

We are urging people to be vigilant of falling victim to romance scams ahead of Valentine’s Day this year.

Nationally, more than £100 million is lost by people scammed by this type of fraud every year.

Romance scams involve individuals being conned into sending money to criminals, who will go to great lengths to gain the victim’s trust and convince them they are in a genuine relationship.

In one instance, a woman met a man through social media, who she believed to be a soldier living abroad. She sent him thousands of pounds in anticipation of him flying to the UK. The fraudster made numerous excuses for more cash and never turned up. The victim is now in debt, having taken out loans to send to the suspect.

Another victim, a man, met a woman online and over time became what he believed to be her boyfriend. The female scammer asked the victim to invest in crypto currency, and he initially sent her £2,000 as she had promised him an £800,000 return, when she moves to the UK.

The individual never arrived and continued to make excuses for needing more money. Now, the victim has lost in the region of £300,000.

Scammers use advanced techniques to lure victims into their web of deceit, taking their time to build up trust and the impression that they genuinely care for them.

The ruse enables them to convince victims to send increasing amounts of cash, with more elaborate excuses each time, as to why they never turn up.

This is why we are urging people to keep their wits about them, and if they think they or anyone they know is being taken advantage of, to report it to us so we can investigate.

Some ways you can keep yourself safe from romance fraud are:

No matter how long you have been speaking to someone online or how much you think you trust them. 

NEVER Send them any money

NEVER Allow them access to your bank account

NEVER Transfer money on their behalf

NEVER Take out a loan for them

NEVER Provide copies of your personal documents such as passports or driving licence

NEVER Invest your own money on their behalf

NEVER Purchase and send the codes on gift cards to them

NEVER Agree to receive and/or send parcels on their behalf (laptops, mobile phones etc).

Contact your bank:

We urge you to share this information about bogus callers on to relatives, friends and neighbours who may also be at risk to the scams. We would also like to reassure our communities that we are investigating these crimes and want to hear from anyone who has been contacted in this way. Anyone who is concerned about falling victim to these types of scams should call us on 101, or report it directly to the national Report Fraud service www.reportfraud.police.uk. You can also report crime online here: Report a crime | West Mercia Police

If the crime is still in progress, because for example, you have recently provided bank details or handed over cards or cash or are going to visit your bank or the caller has arranged for someone to visit your address to collect items, you should call the police on 999.

Thank you for your help. It is only by the police and the public working together that we can prevent and detect crime. 

Kind regards,