Public reminded to stay safe online as police target romance fraud

The people of Cheshire are being advised to stay safe when dating online as part of a national campaign targeting romance fraud.

Throughout October officers will be raising awareness and providing advice to the public on how to spot the signs to help prevent them from becoming a victim.

Romance fraud, or dating fraud, takes place when you think you’ve met the perfect partner online but they are using a fake profile to form a relationship with you.

They gain your trust over a number of weeks or months and have you believe you are in a loving and caring relationship.

However, the criminal’s end goal is only ever to get your money or personal information.

Detective Sergeant Chris Jacques, from Cheshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “It is important to understand that people who commit these crimes do so in an incredibly sophisticated way and often target those most vulnerable.

“It affects victims emotionally as well as financially and often leaves them blaming themselves.

“Throughout the month we will be going that extra mile to make people aware of what signs to look out for as well encouraging people who have become a victim to report it to us knowing they will be given support.”

The campaign, being led by the City of London Police, will involve supporting vulnerable people and targeting those who commit these crimes.

The top five platforms where victims reported first interacting with a criminal committing romance fraud were Facebook, Plenty of Fish, Instagram, Tinder and Match.com.

As part of the campaign the Match Group, who own OK Cupid, Plenty of Fish, Tinder and Match.com, are running romance fraud protection adverts throughout October on these platforms, to inform their users how to spot the signs of a romance fraud and how to protect themselves online.

These include:

Avoid giving away too many personal details to someone you’ve never met in person – such as your full name, date of birth and home address

Stay on the site’s messaging service until you meet in person

Use the site’s reporting tool if you are suspicious of someone online, which will help protect you and others.

David Keane, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, said: “These fraudsters will do anything for their own criminal gain and leave a serious financial and emotional impact on those they target.

“Economic crime can have a long-lasting impact on its victims, so it’s important we only provide support for victims of economic crime but also provide advice to stop local residents falling victim to scams.

“I know that the Economic Crime Unit is working hard to make the public aware of these scams while narrowing down on the fraudsters who believe they can get away with it.”

For further information and advice visit https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/ 

Spot the signs protect yourself:

You’ve struck up a relationship with someone online and they declare their love for you quite quickly. They may even talk of marriage or other relationship milestones such as buying a house together. Many romance fraudsters say they are based abroad so will claim a big step in your relationship will be them returning to the UK to be with you. They will claim to be overseas because they work in the military or medical profession, or they’re carrying out important charity work. This helps them paint a picture of themselves as being heroic, trustworthy and reliable, and also gives them an excuse for the use of international dialling codes or poor internet connection. Avoid giving away too many personal details when speaking online to someone you’ve never met in person, as it can lead to your identity being stolen. This includes revealing your full name, date of birth and home address - even if you’re doing it for what seems to be harmless reasons, such as your partner wants to send you flowers or a gift.

They constantly make up excuses why they can’t video chat or meet in person and they try and move your conversation off the platform that you met on. Stay on the site’s messaging service until you meet in person. Criminals want to quickly switch to other platforms that are less regulated and have better encryption, so there’s no evidence of them asking you for money. Whatever reason you’re given to move away from the site where you met, if the other person is genuine, they will accept your decision to stay on the platform until you see each other in person.

When they ask for your financial help, it will be for a time critical emergency. The reason will be something emotive, which pulls at your heartstrings. They’ll open up to you about a problem, or something that is worrying them to appear vulnerable and make you feel sorry for them. They may get defensive if you decline to help or make you feel guilty and responsible for the urgent emergency they claim you could have averted. Most online platforms have a reporting tool which you can use if you suspect someone online is using pictures that don’t belong to them, you are suspicious of their behaviour, or they have asked you for money. Reporting their user profile means it can be blocked, which helps protect others.

They tell you to keep your relationship private and insist that you don’t discuss anything you talk about with your friends and family. This also includes the crisis they find themselves in that requires money. They will convince you this is part of the normal privacy that forms a healthy relationship. No matter how long you’ve been speaking to someone online and how much you trust them, if you haven’t met them in person do not:
• send them any money
• allow them access to your bank account
• transfer money on their behalf
• take a loan out for them
• provide copies of your personal documents such as passports or driving licenses
• invest your own money on their behalf or on their advice
• purchase and send the codes on gift cards from Amazon or iTunes
• Agree to receive and/or send parcels on their behalf (laptops, mobile phones etc.)