Tactics used by Fraudsters in Romance Fraud

Financial fraud is an appalling crime at any level and has been assisted by the anonymity of cryptocurrency, in that once your cryptocurrency is in the hands of the fraudsters, without swift action, it can be dispersed into wallets in the fraudster’s control making it very difficult to recover.

One of the most upsetting types of fraud is romance fraud, where an individual believes that they are in a romantic relationship, established over the internet and they succumb to requests for substantial amounts of money by the person that has duped them. Both men and women are targeted, with slightly more men reporting having been defrauded. The victims, on average lose over £10,000 each, however women are likely to lose more than this. Individuals aged between 50-59 years are the main targets as they are still in work and often have more financial reserves than younger people. 

Joanna Bailey a partner in the banking and fraud litigation department, commented “the number of individuals who are defrauded through romance fraud is likely to be far higher than the available statistics reveal as many people who have been defrauded by romance fraud do not want to expose the fact that they were taken in and believed that they were in a romantic relationship”. Joanna further commented “the fraudsters are highly plausible and anyone who has been caught up in such a fraud should take action as it is not impossible to recover the money passed to the swindler”.

The City of London Police, who are the National Lead Force for fraud, state that £106 million was reported as lost to romance fraud last year. A public campaign was launched in the streets of the City with warnings against the emotional manipulation and financial exploitation that the fraudsters use in romance fraud. 

Detective Superintendent Oliver Little, from the Lead Force Operations Room at the City of London Police, said: "Romance fraud isn’t just a financial crime—it’s a deeply personal betrayal that can leave lasting emotional scars. For the second consecutive year, male victims have slightly outnumbered females, challenging outdated stereotypes about who is affected by these scams.

“Despite this, stigma still surrounds romance fraud victims, often driven by misconceptions that they are foolish or lack judgment. In reality, criminals use sophisticated tactics to manipulate emotions and gain trust, making anyone vulnerable.

“We want to remind everyone that romance fraud can happen to anyone, regardless of gender or background. If something doesn’t feel right in an online relationship, take a step back, verify identities, and seek advice. Speaking up can not only protect yourself, but also help prevent others from falling victim and bring those responsible to justice."

One of the major tactics used by romance fraudsters is overwhelming their targets with excessive affection and maintaining constant contact. The victim is usually contacted through social media, often a dating app and the fraudster often suggests the conversation moved to another platform (e.g. WhatsApp or Telegram) very soon after the first contact, or they ask for a mobile number. Be extremely careful about sharing personal information and do discuss the contact with friends and relatives. Fraudsters like to isolate their victims and will back off if they realise that others know about them. Also, even if you have been contacting the person for some time online but have never met them, it is highly suspicious if they ask you for money or they offer to invest your money in a “get rich quick” investment scheme from which they purport to have already gained considerable returns for themselves.

Regardless of whether you feel that you can trust a person you have got to know online, do not do any of the following:

• Send them money or gift cards
• Give them access to your bank account
• Take out a loan on their behalf
• Provide copies of your personal documents
• Invest your money on their advice

Also, do not give them money to invest on your behalf, they will probably tell or show you that you have made a successful investment and encourage you to invest more money. This scam often only lasts for a short time before the fraudster vanishes.

Joanna Bailey heads our banking and financial fraud litigation department.

Joanna frequently leads the litigation against financial institutions involved in cryptocurrency trading disputes, as well as Forex investment issues and regulatory investigations and has some considerable success in retrieving our clients' funds lost in fraud.

She has developed a range of strategies both to find the assets of the individuals perpetrating the fraudulent schemes and restore the funds to our clients. As well as recognising culpability in the organisations facilitating (but not associated with the fraud), by failing to undertake adequate due diligence.

Joanna led the first case in Europe where proceedings were served on Persons Unknown connected with two digital wallets over the blockchain by non-fungible token or ‘NFT’ in a cryptocurrency fraud. Following this ground-breaking case Joanna was named as Lawyer of the Week in the Financial Times.

Joanna is highly experienced in high-value out-of-court settlement negotiations and has in-depth knowledge of the Civil Procedure Rules as well as English common law.

Giambrone and Partners recognises that romance fraud has a highly damaging effect on the victims over and above the financial losses. Our lawyers in the banking and financial fraud department have considerable success in recovering funds lost to fraud and have orchestrated groundbreaking legal cases that successfully enabled our clients to recover their money lost to fraud.

For more information on how you can deal with romance fraud, please contact Demetri's clerk, Helena Balster, on HB@giambronelaw.com or please click here.