Gardaí are urging people in Clare to be vigilant of fraud this Valentine’s Day.
70% of all victims of romance fraud last year were female and almost two million euro in total stolen, a rise of 23% on the previous year.
An Garda Síochána works closely with Europol to disrupt the activities of romance scammers, particularly organised crime gangs that engage in this type of criminality; as well as monitoring dating sites for this activity.
Garda Sandra Ryan from Clare’s Crime Prevention Office says “use of the internet for dating purposes has increased and so unfortunately the number of scams associated with it and amounts of money lost.
A romance scam is basically a scam employed by criminals which involves pretending to be romantically interested in a person with the aim of gaining their affection and trust with the perceived promise of a continued romantic involvement; the ultimate purpose of the scam is to encourage the victim to transfer funds to accounts in the control of the criminal under false pretenses”
Garda Ryan says people should be on the look out for the following signs.
-They want to communicate with you through instant messaging and texts, rather than through the dating website or chat room where you met.
-They ask a lot of questions about you but don’t tell much about themselves.
-They quickly start calling you by a pet name or use endearing terms.
-They don’t answer basic questions about where they live and work.
-Their profile picture is too perfect.
-They start asking you to send money using a number of different scenarios.
-They arrange to visit you but need money to pay travel costs.
Garda Ryan is also encouraging people to “trust your instincts; if you think something feels wrong it probably is. Don’t post personal information such as phone numbers on dating sites.
“Use authentic dating websites.
“Never send money or give credit card or online account details to anyone you don’t know and trust.
“Wait until you feel comfortable with an individual before revealing your phone number, place of work or address.
“Always be mindful of what you post on the internet. It’s there for everybody to see and not just your friends. Beware if there are requests for inappropriate photos. These could be used for the purposes of blackmail at a later stage. Think twice before using your webcam.
“Trust your instincts. Do not pay for medical bills, purchase flights, or Visas, pay customs fees or make any payment for them to come to visit you. Do not invest your money in any ‘opportunities’ from someone you’ve met online
“Report unusual or abusive behaviour on websites and if you are the victim of such a scam please don’t be embarrassed to report it”, she concluded.
Listen to the full interview here: