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Dating Scams.

Today ten people will report an on line dating crime, on average the victim of such a crime will have handed over £10,000, that's in excess of £3 million per month, every month.

National Fraud Prevention and British law enforcement struggle to take action against the fraudsters as they normally operate outside the UK and are very good at hiding.

The true extent of the losses could be significantly higher, as many victims do not want to come forward because of what they have done.

It's important to understand the complexity of the crime; it's not stupid people falling for the scams.

A typical scam will start with a false profile being created on a dating web site, the profile will be designed to target previously identified individual personality traits to create a match. The criminals will look at the lifestyle, age background and wealth of a potential target. Rule number 1 - think twice about the information you are posting, make sure it's not too much.

Once a match has been identified the grooming process will begin, first on the dating website then the criminal will move the conversation away from the web sites moderators and on to an instant messenger platforms. Rule number 2 don't move the conversation away from the dating web site, abnormal activity is checked on many dating web sites.

The first request for money- many of the criminals profiles will be of wealthy individuals working abroad, making it hard to meet up, when the criminal is ready they will ask the victim for an amount of money because of unforeseen circumstances - they have a medical bill, transport problem, wages issue it could be anything always urgent and to the victim, very plausible.

Rule number 3 - never, ever send money to anyone you have never met.
There are instances where the victim will meet up with the criminals associates in more complex crimes, probate cases, money held in stocks and shares, all will have a common thread which is that the criminal will ask for money to help complete the transition, no doubt with a promise of a life together once it is all over.

The scams can be complex, generally not to start with, they want to see if you have money first and are willing to part with it.

Whilst the police will investigate, it's very rare to get any of the funds returned.


Visit 'Get Safe Online' for information about protection.
Or to report a crime call 0300 123 2040

Dating Scams.
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