Barclays issues warning over shameful scam that could cost customers thousands
Summer is for beaches, t-shirts and ice creams, but also for something less obvious – and much less welcome.
Last year, July was peak time for people getting scammed in the search for love.
Many more people were scammed that month than in February just gone, despite Valentine’s Day potentially sending people back onto the apps to find someone to eat overpriced pasta with.
New analysis from Barclays shows that scams are again on the rise as the weather starts to get warmer.
There was a 139% increase in the total value of romance scam reports in May to June this year when compared to the previous period spanning March to April.
They worked this out by looking at business and personal current account customer scam data.
While men account for the majority of romance scam reports received, women typically lose more money, Barclays found. On average, female victims lose £8,900, whole men lose around £3,500.
In scams like this, someone pretends to be interested in pursuing a romantic relationship, when really they are just trying to gain the victim’s trust in order to take their money.
Barclays warned anyone dating online to beware of the scammers out there, and be wary if they are ever asked for financial help by someone they don’t know well.
They said that as well as posing as potential love interests, scammers seemingly have no regard for romance as they will also try and scam people getting married to others.
‘They find out which venue or suppliers you’re using, then send you a fake invoice with their own bank details,’ the bank warned. ‘If you get an invoice with new details, call to check it’s genuine before you pay.’
Kirsty Adams, a fraud and scams expert with the bank, said: ‘It may be surprising to see that men more often fall victim to romance scams, as stereotypes have often incorrectly painted women as more susceptible.
‘This is backed by our additional research, which shows that men are generally more willing than women to transfer money to people they have recently started dating, even if they are yet to meet in person.’
She urged people to ‘make sure they have taken the time to truly get to know and verify the identity of the person they are speaking to before transferring any sum of money, no matter what reason they give or how urgent the request seems’.
The stats on scams
Barclays also commissioned a survey of 2,000 people in June by Censuswide.
It found that 34% of people who are single feel more inclined to try dating in the summer months.
Nearly a fifth (18%) of men said they would consider sending money to someone they were in an online relationship with but whom they had not met in person, compared with 7% of women.
Nearly a quarter (23%) of people said they have encouraged a family member or friend to stop online dating due to concerns over romance scams.
A fifth (21%) of people have a friend or family member whom they fear could be susceptible to a romance scam.
Highlighting the role of tech companies in preventing scams, Ms Adams said: ‘We will only be able to drive back the scams epidemic through collaboration – working together, across industries, to stop scams at their source.’
She added that no-one should feel ashamed of falling for a romance scam.
‘It can happen to anyone and scammers often adopt sophisticated tactics and invest a huge amount of time into building a relationship and sense of trust with their victims.
‘It’s important that this stigma doesn’t prevent a scam from being reported. We strongly encourage anyone who has been targeted to report it to their bank and to open up to family and friends for emotional support.’
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