On the eve of Valentine’s Day, Aussies are being warned to remain vigilant for scammers, with NAB data revealing the number of customers reporting a romance scam has increased 29% year-on-year.
NAB Security Awareness Manager Laura Hartley said there were three main tactics criminals used when connecting with people looking for love, friendship or a casual fling online.
Ms Hartley said some romance scams happen quite quickly, while others last much longer but there are clear red flags to look for.
“With the increase in romance scams last year, we’re working hard to better educate our customers, colleagues and community to recognise the red flags,” Ms Hartley said.
“These scams can have a devastating impact – both financial and emotional – and we see people of all ages, genders and demographics targeted.
“Romance and friendship scams re-enforce the need for a co-ordinated, national approach to the scam epidemic, given many start on dating apps, social media platforms or messaging apps.”
The warning comes as NAB continues its fight against scammers as part of a bank-wide strategy, running ads about romance scams across dating websites and apps. In coming weeks, NAB will also introduce payment alerts to digital banking to help customers spot the potential romance scam red flags.
Ms Hartley said while many Aussies now start long and successful relationships online, it was vital to know how to recognise a potential partner from a scammer.
“Someone you haven’t met in person asking for money – often with an emotional reason why – is the biggest red flag,” she said.
“Another red flag is someone instructing you to accept a money transfer and then transfer those funds to another account.
“A 65-year-old customer came into a Sydney branch recently wanting to transfer more than $1 million across three accounts for his ‘fiancée’, later revealed to be a scammer.
“The banker recognised the red flags, asked questions about the size and purpose of the transfer and it stopped the scam in its tracks. It turned out the customer had never met his fiancée of several months and didn’t know who he was transferring the money to.
“We’re sending 3.2m customers information with advice about how to recognise romance scams and join a free scam education webinar throughout the year.”
Red flag –The person is reluctant to video chat and makes excuses about why their webcam isn’t working.
Tips –Ask why and look at the quality of any images or videos you’re sent. Criminals don’t want you to see what they really look like and the video quality is likely to appear distorted. Do a reverse image search on any images they send you to see if they are being used by other people or have been reported as a scam.
Red flag –The person asks for money for medical, travel or business emergencies.
Tips –Do not send any money. Stop all contact immediately and report what’s happened to your bank and the platform where you met the person.
Red flag –The person can’t meet in person – often working overseas for a government, army or an aid organisation – and there are inconsistencies with what they tell you. For example, “I’m born in America” but then have poor English in messages.
Tips –Remain sceptical and vigilant. Tell family and friends about the relationship. Ask questions of the person and do name searches on search engines like Google or TinEye.
Red flag –The person asks you to have money transferred to your account and then you transfer it on to them or another person.
Tip –Do not accept or transfer any money. It is known as money muleing and is illegal. Stop all contact and contact your bank.
Red flag –Early on, the person pushes to move the conversation to text messages or email.
Tip –Keep conversations happening in dating apps and websites. These companies have more potential to help if the conversations happen on their platforms compared to private channels.
Notes to editors
Watch Chris Sheehan, NAB Executive Group Investigations & Fraud, speak to 9 News about romance scams on Valentine’s Day.
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For all media enquiries, please contact the NAB Media Line on 03 7035 5015
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