Police are cracking down on the issue
Last updated 19 minutes ago
Fraudsters have conned those hoping to find love out of more than £3.1 million in Hampshire in a year.
The figures for between November 2020 and October 2021, show more than half of those duped by romance fraud were women (56 per cent), while more than a third (34 per cent) were men. One in ten did not specify their gender.
There were a total of 262 reports during the 12-month period, with March recording the highest number of offences.
Those in the 50-59-year age bracket were most at risk of falling victim, making up more than a fifth of people tricked into giving money through dating scams, followed by people aged between 60 and 69 (52 people) and those aged between 30 and 39 (46 people).
Fraudsters will tell a range of believable stories to try and get people to part with their money. Examples include, funding travel to visit the victim, money to pay for emergency medical expenses, lucrative investment opportunities and pretending to be military personnel or working overseas.
Hampshire Constabulary is backing a campaign started by City of London Police to tackle the issue.
Detective Inspector Andy Symes, of Hampshire Constabulary’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said:
“Romance fraud occurs when you think you have met the perfect partner online but they are using a fake profile to form a relationship with you.
“You can meet them via an online dating website or app, social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, or gaming sites.
“They gain your trust over a number of weeks or months and have you believe you are in a loving and caring relationship. However, the criminal’s end goal is only ever to get your money or personal information.
“We can see from the recent figures that sadly, people living in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have fallen victim to fraudsters.
“We would like to remind those who are online dating, and their family members, to take appropriate steps to make sure they do not become targets for online criminals.”
How to help protect people you know are online dating:
• Help your friends and family to ensure they have adequate privacy settings on their social media accounts to ensure strangers don’t have access to their personal information.
• Stay in regular contact with your friends and family who are online dating to help spot any changes in behaviour or things that don’t seem right.
• Make friends and family aware of the signs of romance fraud so that they are conscious of the tactics criminals use to carry out these scams and reiterate that you should never transfer money to someone that you have never met in person.
• Encourage people to report to Action Fraud and the police if they have become a victim of romance fraud and not to be embarrassed about doing so.
If you think you’ve been a victim of romance fraud or a romance-based scam contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via actionfraud.police.uk.
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