How to spot Romance Fraud
Romance scams start with a message on social media or a dating site and a believable story about why you cannot meet. Requests for money follow, small at first, then bigger and more urgent, and they rarely stop until you do.
You came across the person on social media or through a dating site
You may receive an out of the blue message on social media contacting you and requesting to chat about normal things. Fraudsters also regularly use dating sites such as Tinder to find victims. They will act interested at first and conduct a normal conversation before looking to switch to WhatsApp or social media.
A seemingly legitimate story
After initially contacting you and asking details about yourself, they will respond with a well thought of story about themselves. These can be different types of stories, however we usually see that they work away for work for example in the army, or at sea where they are away from home for months at a time. This is a tactic to create a back story for what comes next. They also use the story as to why they cannot meet in person.
Pressure for funds
After they have gained the victim’s trust, fraudsters will use this to their advantage. They will look to request funds from the victim and use multiple different reasons as to why they need the funds. Depending on the initial story they created, they will pressure the victim to send them funds. Here we have seen multiple reasons for this, with some of the most common being:
- They are an expert trader in crypto or investments, and they can make you money too
- They need money to help their family as their funds have been frozen
- They need money to return home from their job
- They have been falsely imprisoned and need money to leave
You were encouraged to “start small” by sending small amounts first
Fraudsters will usually ask you to send smaller amounts first, but as you do this they will increase the amounts they ask for, and the reasons as to why they need it will become even more and more serious. In investment/crypto cases, this will increase when you receive returns at the start, or they will show you how much your investment has made, which is faked by the scammer.
The request for funds don’t stop
Once you have sent the fraudster money, they will not stop until you no longer have any more money to send. They are relentless and will pressure you to invest your life savings until you realize they are not real. If you think you are the victim of this, it is important not to send any more money.
They threaten you when you stop paying
Once the fraudsters stop receiving payments, they will threaten or blackmail you into sending further funds. It is important not to send funds, as this will continue until you eventually cut contact with them. You can read more about this on our Sextortion post.
If you are experiencing any of the issues above, or concerned about your situation, you can check if you’re eligible by starting your claim.