Gardaí have revealed that romance fraud has almost doubled in the last year.
They have warned that people need to be wary of online relationships, especially if they are asked for money or to invest in a scheme or business.
"Romance fraud reports increased by 86% last year," Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan, of the Gardai's National Economic Crime Bureau, told RTÉ's News at One.
"Approximately 70% of the victims are female. The average age is about 50 and over €1.5m was reported stolen in 2021 but we do believe it's underreported because lots of people are embarrassed to report it," he added.
"They don't want others to know they were defrauded and that they fell for it but it is vital that it is reported because in one particular case a victim reported it. Unfortunately, we were not able to recover any of her money but we identified nine other potential victims who were being lined up by this criminal organisation," Detective Superintendent Cryan explained.
He said that romance fraud is generally carried out online.
"It's where fraudsters create a fake profile on a dating website. They are matched with a victim, an online relationship is built up over a period of time and eventually the fraudster either starts asking for money to pay bills or now they're starting to offer investment advice to the victim, usually in the form of cryptocurrency. This type of crime did rise quite a lot over the past two years, probably due to Covid and restrictions on socialising."
Examples of this kind of fraud include a 51-year-old woman who believed she was in an online relationship with a man and transferred €90,000 to him in the belief that it was a loan for his business.
Gardaí also said a 38-year-old man was told by a woman he met online that she needed money to return home from Mexico and sent €3,800 to her via Bitcoin in one transaction.
What are the signs of a scam?
- Scammer tries to move communications away from dating websites and suggest the victim move to instant messaging, text or phone calls instead.
- Asks a lot of personal questions.
- Avoids answering personal questions about themselves and the details that they do tell seem made up or do not reflect reality. For instance, they may say that they are university educated, but their spelling and grammar is poor.
- Try to establish a bond quickly. For example, they may give you an endearing pet name e.g. baby, darling, etc.
- Never meet in person. They fraudster may present obstacles and go as far as making arrangements and cancelling them at the last minute. They may promise to want to see you but offer excuses which delay this, such as financial troubles.
What can you do?
- Use trusted dating websites
- Do not share personal details
- Do not send or receive money
- Think twice before using your webcam
- Trust your instincts
