|
||
|
|
||
|
||
|
Officers urge caution after recent romance scams ahead of Valentines Day. |
||
|
We are urging people to be vigilant of falling victim to romance scams ahead of Valentine’s Day this year, after receiving recent reports of individuals being conned out of thousands of pounds. Nationally, more than £100 million is lost by people scammed by this type of fraud every year. Romance scams involve often vulnerable 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. Most recently in Staffordshire, we have had three incidents of romance fraud, affecting both male and female victims. In one case, a woman sent a man, who she believed to be a well-known celebrity, £5,000 in cash allegedly for a flight to the UK. The scammer never turned up and the victim realised she had been duped. In another instance, a woman met a man, who she believed to be a soldier living abroad, through social media. 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 a period of 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. Again, the individual never arrived and continued to make excuses for needing more and more money. Now, the victim has lost in the region of £300,000. Our fraud protect and prepare coordinator, Simon Street, said: “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 signs that the individual you believe you’re in a relationship with may not be who they say they are, include: They want to communicate with you through instant messaging and texts, rather than through the dating website or the chat room where you met They ask lots of questions about you, but don’t tell you much about themselves They don’t answer basic questions about where they live and work They claim to be military personnel, based overseas, who require funds for flights home or early discharge from the forces They cite medical related issues for needing money, such as a sudden need for surgery, either for the fraudster or the fraudster’s family member They’ve arranged to visit you but need money to pay travel costs. Some ways you can keep yourself safe from romance fraud are: Be suspicious of any requests for money from someone you have never met in person, particularly if you have only recently met online Speak to family and friends before you send off any money Do your research first - do a reverse image search on any profile photos so you can check whether images have been taken from somewhere else and used to fool you. Simon added: “It is very important that, no matter how long you have been speaking to someone online, and no matter how much you think you trust them, you must never – no matter how many times they ask: Send them any money Allow them access to your bank account Transfer money on their behalf Take out a loan for them Provide copies of your personal documents such as passports or driving licence Invest your own money on their behalf Purchase and send the codes on gift cards to them Agree to receive and/or send parcels on their behalf (laptops, mobile phones etc). Anyone who is concerned about falling victim to these types of scams should call us on 101, use Livechat on our website or report it directly to the national Report Fraud service. For more information on romance fraud, visit: Romance fraud | Staffordshire Police.
| ||
Reply to this message | ||
|
|
