Romance scams: what to watch out for
Considering signing up for a dating site? Make sure you don't get your heart broken (and lose your hard-earned cash) by falling for a romance scam.
The internet is littered with dating websites, from MySingleFriend, PlentyofFish and Match.com to Uniform Dating and smartphone app Tinder.
While these legitimate websites help to bring many people together every day, stories of online dating scams are a regular occurrence.
Aside from the emotional heartache, these scams can have a devastating impact on victims' finances.
Data from TSB released earlier this month found that nearly £17 million was lost by all bank customers in the first half of 2022 alone, with an average of £10,000 lost per case.
Many such scams aren't even reported to the police, largely because the victim is too embarrassed to come forward.
How to keep safe
The majority of fraudulent cases involve someone setting up a fake identity using stolen photos and pretending to start a relationship with their victim.
At some point during the relationship, they’ll ask for an urgent sum of money.
To avoid falling victim to an online dating scam, there are several things you can do.
1. Keep your details private
Never share your financial details with someone you meet through an online dating website. Personal information, such as your date of birth, address and passwords should also be kept secret.
2. Choose your website carefully
When you sign up to a website, check the small print on how it verifies new users. Some, such as MySingleFriend.com, won't allow you to join until your profile has been verified by another person.
Others won't upgrade a membership until photos have been added, while apps like Tinder require you to add a phone number.
3. Be on your guard
If you’ve met someone through a dating website, it can be hard to tell if they’re genuine or not.
One thing that should set alarm bells ringing is if they ask you to transfer cash, especially if the reasons are vague and you’ve not actually met them in person.
Action Fraud warns that profile photos may not be genuine. You can perform a reverse image search, which can find photos that have been taken from someone else.
It’s also recommended that you speak to family or friends for advice.
Don’t ever send someone you don’t know money, transfer money on their behalf, take out a loan for them or allow them to access your bank account.
You should also never invest your own money on their behalf or advice, buy and send codes on gift cards or agree to receive and send parcels for them.
4. Report anything suspicious
Online dating fraud is a crime and should be reported to Action Fraud as soon as possible on 0300 123 2040, as well as your bank.
If you receive a suspicious email or message through a website, report it to the site for investigation.
5. Check your accounts
Keeping an eye on your bank accounts and credit card statements on a regular basis is a good way to watch out for any unusual payments.
A number of credit rating agencies offer you a free trial in order to check your credit record.
How to tell if you're talking to a scammer
While the above general tips should help reduce your chances of falling victim to a scam, we wanted to provide more specific information that will help you spot whether the person you're in contact with is a fraudster.
These warning signs were provided by Chris Parker, founder of Whatsmyipaddress.com, for this Mail Online article:
- They travel frequently for work, are posted overseas, or live abroad;
- They declare their love early on and shower you with compliments;
- They ask for money - even a small amount - for a tragic reason;
- They look impossibly attractive;
- They have no digital footprint;
- You have TOO much in common;
- They refuse video calls.
Bank scams: how to get your money back
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Cryptocurrency scams UK: fake celebrity endorsements & more tricks
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Comments
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Anyone who has lost a substantial sum of money (£5000+) can recover it if it involved a transfer to a UK bank. This does not apply to overseas banks or facilities such as Western Union or Moneygram etc. There is a limit as to how far back such transfers can be recovered (or even considered for recovery) but the general view is that the maximum retrospective recovery is six years.
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There can sometimes be warning signs which can be spotted as soon as a message is received from someone. Often the scammers use robot programs to generate multiple false profiles and send out messages in the hope of getting replies. Sometimes, due to the limitations of the programming or the programmer's knowledge, this will generate conflicting information. If you see a profile which says the person is a practicing Catholic, for example, and which also says he/she eats a kosher diet, you would be well advised to proceed with caution. Although it is possible that a committed Christian would choose to eat a strict Jewish diet, but it is unlikely. You might be dealing with an unusual person or then again, it could be a false profile. Similarly, if the profile says the person is a Muslim, but also says he/she drinks alcohol, again it is a possibility, but an unlikely one. Another example might be someone claiming to be on a low income but appearing to enjoy expensive hobbies. Information which appears to be conflicting is not a guarantee that the profile is false (people come in all shades, shapes and sizes, after all), but it does make it far more likely that it is. Being cautious at the start and looking carefully at the information presented could have saved many people heartache later along the line. Scammers don't sleep, but victims sometimes act as if they are.
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It is sad how some people take advantages of other people's misfortune of not being able to get a date and then scam them like that, we live in such a horrendous society. I was a single parent for over 5yrs, so I can understand how it was hard to go out to pubs or other events to end up with a date, I will also admit I signed up with a few online dating sites too, but because of my cautiousness, I won't join any that have to pay, as I don't believe that you HAVE to pay to get a date (not in that way anyway) But sadly, online dating sites aren't the only place that some people take advantages of, even social sites such as Facebook, I had friends that I'd added via Facebook games, and one particular person had his account hacked and he asked me for money because he was stuck in a certain place and lost his money and cannot get home and wondered if I was able to "wire" him some money and even promised to return the money as soon as he got home. Luckily for me, I was also a friend of his wife, so I messaged her and asked about her husband, she was shocked and told me that her husband was sitting next to her and didn't know that was happening, which resulting to her having to inform her husband's friend not to take any action regarding sending money. I guess you just have to be more vigilant when/if anybody ask you for any money and not just send it for the sake of it because you think you are doing that person a favour.
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08 February 2017