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Romance fraud: Scammers move beyond dating websites to prey on innocent victims

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PREYING on players on games websites, using fake photos, and fabricating family emergencies. Police have listed just some of the ways romance fraudsters find their victims and scam them into sending hundreds or thousands of pounds.

Dyfed-Powys Police’s Economic Crime Team is urging people to have their wits about them as it deals with an increasing number of romance fraud cases as people look for friendship or love online.

As part of Dyfed-Powys Police’s INTACT campaign, a communication, education and enforcement campaign led by the force’s Serious Violence and Organised Crime Team, the potentially life-shattering consequences of falling foul of a romance fraud are being highlighted this month.

Fraud safeguarding officer Rebecca Jones said: “We have had victims who have lost their life’s savings, have had to sell their homes, and are completely destroyed after sending huge amounts of money to someone they thought they were in a relationship with.

“Aside from the financial aspect, these victims have lost trust in themselves and others, find it very difficult to open up about what they have been through, and feel totally isolated while trying to recover emotionally.”

Romance fraud is described as when someone creates a fake identity to enter into a relationship with a victim, with the intent to steal either funds or personal information. However, while this kind of crime is also known as a dating scam, relationships are not solely started through dating websites as is frequently believed.

“We do get a number of victims who have gone online to find romance, and have ended up being targeted by criminals,” Rebecca said.

“However, we are now finding that fraudsters are moving into different areas. We have had incidents where two people have met on a games website, where the victim had no intention of finding a partner, and even where a writer had posted work online and was contacted by a scammer who eventually asked for several thousands of pounds.

“As scammers constantly adapt the way they prey on victims, we are urging people to be cautious in all areas of their online lives.”

Despite using various types of websites to seek out unsuspecting victims, the majority of romance fraud incidents follow a similar pattern.

First, trust is gained and a relationship is built up. Then the scammer moves on to asking for money – claiming they have a family or medical emergency, or saying they will use the funds buy a flight ticket to visit their partner. Once this money has been sent, the criminal will keep coming up with new reasons for more money to be sent.

In two recent cases investigated by Dyfed-Powys Police, fraudsters have used photos of international models to set up fake accounts. In one instance, the scammer uploaded a photo of a model with her son, in an attempt to make their victim believe they had a family who needed financial help.

“We do find that victims can be lured in by attractive photos, and very often they do not suspect that these photos have been sourced online,” Rebecca said.

“We know it goes against people’s trusting instincts, but we would highly recommend putting any photos they are sent through a reverse image checker to find the original source. While this is not a fool proof solution, it does offer a layer of protection.”

The Economic Crime Team has also warned that once victims have cut off contact with a scammer, they will still try to find ways of getting in touch with new claims for needing money.

“One of the victims we were supporting continued to receive contact from a person claiming to be a doctor asking for money to cover medical bills, while another posed as a police officer in a series of Skype messages.

“We can’t be sure if the victim told the offender they had reported them, or if they became suspicious after all contact suddenly stopped, but it goes to show the lengths they will take to try and keep the scam going.”

The team also warned that romance fraud can move beyond sending money to the criminal, with victims becoming money mules or being coerced into sextortion.

DC Gareth Jordan said: “Money muling is where the victim is asked to have funds put into their bank account, which is then transferred to someone else. “This is a crime, and we have experienced victims becoming distraught at finding out they have unknowingly broken the law in having their bank account used in this way.

“Sextortion is where the victim is asked to send the criminal sexual videos or photographs of themselves, and then receive threats that these will be shared with family or friends if they do not pay. This can also have a devastating impact on the emotional and mental health of victims, who feel backed into a corner with nowhere to turn.”

While Dyfed-Powys Police has seen a rise in romance fraud reports over the past year, officers fear the impact of lockdowns and isolations through 2020 and the beginning of 2021 is yet to be seen.

“What we know is that people have been increasingly lonely during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said DC Jordan.

“People have been shielding, isolating and living along without their usual level of contact with family and friends. It is natural to crave human contact, and the first place a lot of people will have turned over the past year is to the internet.

“There has been an increase in the number of reports we have received, but we know that some scammers will spend months, or even years, almost grooming their victims, so the true impact is unknown at present.

“We understand how hard it can be to come to terms with learning that the person you’ve built a relationship with – sometimes over a number of years – isn’t the person they said they were. We speak to victims who are dealing with it totally alone for fear of telling friends or family what has happened. We have support mechanisms in place to help you through the investigation stage and beyond.”

Tips to protect yourself:

1. Be cautious when sharing personal details with potential dates: revealing your full name, date of birth and home address could lead to your identity being stolen.
2. Pick a reputable dating website and use the site’s messaging service. Fraudsters will try to convince you to quickly switch to social media or texting so there’s no evidence of them asking you for money.
3. Never send or receive money or give away your bank details to someone you’ve only met online, no matter how much you trust them or believe their story.

Tips to protect a loved one:

1. Ask questions about your loved one’s new relationship: does it sound like both people are sharing the same kind of information at a similar pace?
2. Ask if you can see their profile: does it look genuine? Do they have multiple photographs that are clearly of the same person? Do the photos look too posed, or is the person clearly a model?
3. Don’t be afraid to share your suspicions with police. You are looking out for your friend or family member, and want to keep them safe. We can help.

Spot the signs:

• You’ve struck up a relationship with someone online; they’re asking a lot of personal questions about you, but they’re not interested in telling you much about themselves.
• Fraudsters often claim that they have high ranking roles or busy, important jobs that keep them away from home for long periods of time. This is to avoid suspicion as to why they can’t meet in person.
• They invent a reason to ask for your help, using the emotional attachment you’ve built with them. Your relationship with them may often depend on you sending money.
• Their pictures are too perfect – they may have been stolen from an actor or model. A reverse image search can find photos that have been taken from somewhere else. Ask a tech-savvy friend or relative to help if unsure.

News

Rugby Weekly – Tenby’s promotion push continues

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It’s crunch time for all rugby clubs around the county, whether promotion is their aim or fighting relegation or even just trying to improve their league position, it’s now or never. 

Last weekend saw an important win for Fishguard in division two west which should put any relegation fears to bed completely. James Griffiths added an impressive 18 points for the Seagulls as they defeated Nantgaredig 33-19. 

Elsewhere in the second division, Milford were beaten 32-8 by a good Lampeter outfit. The Mariners are still a little too close for comfort with the drop zone but should have enough quality to see them safe. 

At the other end of the table Tenby sit in second place and have played fewer games than leaders St Clears and third place Lampeter. They won impressively again last weekend, beating Pontyberem 64-19 at Haywood Lane. Fletcher Broadhurst impressed with two tries as did Hywel Baker who also grabbed himself a brace. Another excellent performance in an outstanding season so far in which promotion would be the absolute icing on the cake. 

In Division Three West, Pembroke were well beaten by Laugharne 74-15 in which the outstanding Liam Price and Nico Setaro both crossed the whitewash 4 teams a piece. The latter also added 7 successful conversions. 

There was a local derby at Pill Parks where Llangwm hosted Pembroke Dock Quins and it was an exciting clash. The visitors won narrowly 28-23, Craig Barnett and Gethin Bradney both scored two tries for the Quins. The Wasps battled hard and will be proud of their performance, Gethin Thomas impressed for the hosts with two tries of his own but it wasn’t enough to secure the points. 

St David’s hosted the high flying Cardigan outfit and were unable to score in reply to the visitors 20 points, with it ending 20-0. The Saints however won’t be losing too much sleep over it as they have had a great season so far. 

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Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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