Earlier this week, a national awareness campaign launched in the United States warning members of the public to take care of relationship investment scams on dating apps in advance of Valentine’s Day. Closer to home, gardaí in Wexford took to the airwaves on Tuesday to warn of the dangers of romance scams after a local woman lost tens of thousands of euro to a fraudster.
Online romance scams, where criminals use fake identities to gain a victim’s affection and trust before eventually asking for money, are becoming increasingly common.
Gardaí have started issuing annual Valentine’s Day warnings about online romance fraud. They say the actual extent of these scams remains unknown because many victims are too embarrassed to report the fraud.
How do criminals find their victims and build their trust? What are the main warning signs to look out for when chatting with someone online? And what measures are gardaí taking to crack down on this growing pattern of fraud?
Consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope joins In the News to discuss the rise in online romance scams, while Dublin woman Stacey* shares her own experience of losing more than €20,000 to an online fraudster who pretended to be a global superstar.
Presented by Sorcha Pollak, produced by Suzanne Brennan.
*Pseudonym used to protect interviewee’s identity
