Romance Fraud

Woman conned out of £40,000

A woman from south Wales was conned out of £40,000 by a conman she had already warned her own mother about.

Romance fraud is increasing as more people turn to dating apps and websites to find love.

The woman first became suspicious after her mother started an online relationship with a man claiming to be from France called Jean Marc. But when he told her he needed help after being robbed, the daughter became suspicious and warned her mother not to send any money.

However, after speaking to the man, the daughter changed her mind “His voice was so lovely and soft” she said “my heart just melted” she told BBC Wales

Eventually she agreed to send him €800 after he sent a photo of him in a hospital bed, despite the fact she thought it looked edited.

She then went on to send 21 more payments, totaling £40,000 before confessing to her husband what she had done.

Increasing reports

The police have said that they are seeing an increase in the number of romance frauds taking place, but believe that many more don’t get reported because of people’s embarrassment at being conned.

It’s easy to steal money in this way, fraudsters will often steal the identity of someone else a genuine person, then use their photos and details to create dating accounts. Fraudsters can often have several fake identities on the go at the same time, and be in contact with multiple victims.

Helpful tips

• Never send money to someone you don’t know. It sounds obvious, but fraudsters are well practiced at pulling on your heart strings and sweet talking you into falling for their lies.
• Always triple check. Look for the users profile on different services, check on the internet, search for the photos they send to see if anyone else has used them.
• Get a friend involved. Ask someone you know personally and who you can trust, to check out the online profile.
• If you willingly send money to a fraudster, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to recover that money unless the police can catch them.
• Fraudsters will often research you before making contact. They’ll look into your friends, your social media profiles, any news about you on the internet, they will build a profile of your life so they can slot into it seamlessly.
• It’s very easy for a fraudster to hide their location, using technology to hide their IP address.