A GWENT woman who lost almost £25,000 through an online romance scam has told her story as part of a bid to stop others from falling victim.
Gwent Police victims were scammed out of more than £451,000 thorugh online dating last year.
Anna (not her real name) is in her 50s and was defrauded out of almost £25,000 in a romance scam. She believed that she was in a relationship with a man working abroad on a ship. They met through a dating app and then began to talk through WhatsApp.
After a while of building trust, the fraudster told her he was struggling to access his money and needed her help to get him to fly home and be with her. She sent him money in varying sums.
He would keep asking for money, using different excuses including ‘it was not received’, ‘the price has increased’, ‘I need to send you a parcel, but you’ll have to pay for the postage.’
Eventually, her bank stopped her sending money and her family were alerted.
Gwent Police’s PC Jeni Cavill, financial abuse safeguarding officer, said: “This scam had a huge effect on the victim and her family, both financially and emotionally. Romance fraud is a particularly callous offence, involving exploitation of an individual’s emotional needs and caring qualities.
“Romance fraudsters will typically spend weeks to months gaining their victims’ trust, feeding them fabricated stories about who they are and their lives – and initially make no suggestion of any desire to ask for any money, so the victim may believe their new love interest is genuine.
“We want to encourage all those who think they’ve been a victim of romance fraud to not feel embarrassed or ashamed but to report it to us. We’re calling on family members and friends to talk to their relatives who may be online dating to help make them aware of the warning signs that they could be falling victim to fraud.”
Gwent Police is supporting Action Fraud’s national campaign to raise awareness of the signs of romance fraud and urging people to be vigilant and cautious when dating online.
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What is romance fraud?
Romance fraud is most commonly an online scam where the fraudsters deceive their victims into a false relationship with the aim of stealing money or personal information.
What are the signs of a romance scam?
- You meet someone online and they declare strong feelings for you after a few conversations;
- They suggest moving the conversation away from the dating website or social media to a more private channel like email, phone or instant messaging;
- Their profile on the internet dating website or their Facebook page isn’t consistent with what they tell you;
- There are spelling and grammar mistakes, inconsistencies in their stories and they make claims such as their camera isn’t working;
- They refuse to Skype or video call or meet you in person;
- Photos generally tend to be stolen from other people – a reverse Google image search can sometimes be used to locate the picture online as usually they are used in multiple scams;
- You’re asked to send money to someone you have not met face-to-face, either through bank/money transfer or through the purchase of gift cards or presents such as phones and laptops. You may even be asked to provide them with access to your bank account or card;
- Upon questioning, the potential victim may be very secretive about their relationship or provide excuses for why their online partner has not video called or met them in person. They might become hostile or angry and withdraw from the conversation when you ask any questions about their partner.
Anyone who thinks they have been a victim of a romance scam should contact their bank immediately and report the scam to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or the police on 101.
