Fall for the person not the profile – campaign to raise awareness of romance fraud launches today

Surrey Police are working together with partners in a nationwide campaign, co-ordinated by City of London Police, to raise awareness of the devastating crime of romance fraud and provide clear and unambiguous protection advice to the public.

The multi-agency campaign will run throughout October following a national rise of 26% in reports to Action Fraud in the last year. Surrey Police has received 100 reports from January to September 2020 - a 45% increase compared to the same period in 2019. These frauds resulted in a total loss of £2,414,914 from 69 victims.

Romance fraud, or dating fraud, occurs 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.

A 42-year-old woman from Surrey was recently conned out of £2,500 by a romance fraudster. Over a period of 3 months, the victim was led to believe she had found someone special online who understood and cared about her. However, money came into the conversation when the suspect claimed he was stuck in another country and needed funds to get back home. The victim sent £2,500 as well as a photo of her ID, which displayed her full name, date of birth and address. She then received an email from someone claiming to be from a foreign government, asking her to make personal contact with them in relation to the suspect being stuck abroad. The victim became suspicious that the man she was in an online relationship with and the government email she received were connected and contacted police.

Far from the popular idea that only the gullible or vulnerable fall for a romance scam, the reality is that criminals are highly skilled manipulators of language, and use techniques designed to make people feel at ease and disguise any cause for concern. Almost anyone can be targeted and fall victim to this type of fraud.

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Walker, from Surrey and Sussex Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: "Romance fraud is a dreadfully exploitative crime which preys on people's desire to connect with others and has a devastating impact on victims. Victims can sometimes feel too embarrassed to come forward but we would encourage anyone who has experienced any type of fraud to report it to us so it can be investigated. 

"Our priority is identifying and supporting victims of romance fraud with our dedicated victim caseworkers, our peer support group for victims and our year-round activity to raise awareness of fraud."

T/Detective Chief Superintendent Alex Rothwell, from the City of London Police, said: “Romance fraud is a devastating crime that impacts victims both financially and emotionally. It is a crime that we in policing across the UK, are committed to tackling with help from key partners. Through this campaign we want to empower people to understand what to look out for and feel confident that if they have fallen victim to a fraud, to report it to us. 

“Criminals are experts at impersonating people. They spend hours researching you for their scams, especially when committing romance fraud. We’re reminding everyone to stop and think: fall for the person, not the profile, it could protect you and your money.”

Here’s how to spot the signs of romance fraud and keep your money safe:

• Be wary of giving out any personal information to someone you don't know. This could be your address, even if it seems to be for a harmless reason such as sending you a gift or flowers
• Never agree to keep your online relationship a secret
• It's a big red flag if someone keeps making excuses not to video chat or meet in person.
• Get to know the person and not the profile
• Never send money or share your bank details on the platform, even if you're told a story which pulls at your heartstrings and seems like a genuine emergency
• Stay on the dating messenger service until confident the person is who they say they are
• Run a search on the internet for their name or any picture they have sent along with the term ‘scam’

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.)

During October, the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, will be co-ordinating enforcement activity across the UK and overseas, to target, and ultimately arrest, criminals suspected of committing romance fraud. It is also working with money transfer companies such as Western Union and MoneyGram, to roll-out an initiative first introduced by Sussex Police, across the whole of the UK, whereby any money transfer from overseas can be blocked if it is suspected by the authorities to be the result of a romance fraud.  

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.  

Operation Signature is Surrey Police’s campaign to identify and support vulnerable victims of fraud. We publish a monthly fraud newsletter so members of the public can stay in the know about scams in their area and have a wealth of advice on how to protect yourself and your money at https://www.surrey.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/wsi/watch-schemes-initiatives/os/operation-signature/ .