Adult romance scam warning in the UK by TSB

Romance Scam have claimed over 7,000 lives in the last three years while stealing over £65million from people.

Currently, the UK banking sector is seeing 64 cases of this per week, with 46% of this lost money occurring among the 51-65 year olds.

TSB says scammers spend time building trust with their targets before soliciting money.

It turned out that the average Relationship – between the first and the last payment made – takes 53 days.

Romance scammers can take the time to connect with a potential victim (Image: PA)

About 60% of the time, scammers simply ask for financial help for bills or living expenses, 21% say they are stuck abroad and need help getting home, and 8% are given money to book trips to meet their “partners”. to visit, but of course never come.

TSB urges the public to remain vigilant across all platforms and singles out Facebook and Instagram as the main culprits as scammers create fake profiles with ease.

TSB Advice on Avoiding Love Scams

• Stay alert on dating sites and don’t give out personal information to someone you’ve never met in person.
• Get friendly, impartial advice about your online connection from someone close to you who can help you spot gaps in a dating site user’s story that you haven’t thought of yourself
• When it comes to money, it’s time to stop
• Scammers invent elaborate and emotional stories to lure people in; So be suspicious of people who explain their absence or try to paint a complicated picture of their working life
• Take your time. No matter how good the individual sounds online, it could all be wrong – don’t get caught up in a story you can’t validate

Paul Davis, Director of Fraud Prevention, TSBsaid: “The best way to hit romance scammers is to talk to friends and family about the relationships you’re in – if you’re ever asked to send money, it’s time to stop.

“Social media and tech companies need to step up to better protect those seeking connections on their platforms.”