Over €8 million lost by Irish victims to romance fraud since 2019, Crimecall reveals

In just six years, over €8 million has been scammed out of Irish victims of romance fraud and these figures are only the rise, revealed last night's episode of Crimecall. 

Romance fraud is a new type of cybercrime where criminals typically use fake online dating profiles to lure their victims in by pretending to be romantically interested in them. They first gain the victim's trust over a period of time and then eventually receive their personal and financial information. 

Usually, the scammer pretends to be in love with their victim, showering them in compliments and affection and before long, then begin to ask for money, gifts and/or loans. 

"This is organised crime and it's worldwide," said Michael Cryan, Detective Superintendent at the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau. 

So, with this new scam on the rise, how does romance fraud happen and how can people avoid it? 

Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton is an expert on the psychology of online dating and she shed insight into the tactics used by these fraudsters.

Speaking on Crimecall, Dr Fox Hamilton said, "So they're always creating a profile that's very attractive, right? So the male profiles tend to be a little bit older. They're someone that's quite wealthy, like they've got a good job, they're working abroad, so that's why they can't meet you right away.

"They will often have a sob story, a backstory, a loss, like they're widowed or something like that, that they've lost a child. Something that makes you feel for them and connect with them on an emotional level. They want to talk to you all times of day, they want continuous contact and it's to create a situation where you almost feel dependent on this contact and it's so lovely at the start, very similar to abusive relationships offline.

"It really is a grooming process. There have been cases where it took up to two years before they asked for anything, but usually it will take at least several months. What happens is, you know, when you hear people wonder why someone fell for this, why did you send money to someone you don't know- they're giving to their partner online, who they intend on spending their life with, because this person has very much groomed them into believing that. The scammers are extremely good at what they do. They are very sophisticated at it, and it is not surprising to me that people would fall for it," she concluded. 

Showing examples of real scripts that these scammers have used, they tend to ask the following questions early on, in order to examine and find their 'perfect' victim:

• Are you financially secure? 
• Do you own your own home?
• Do you own your own car?

Shedding more light on the typical process of romance fraud, Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan, said, "It starts small. The first request for money is generally small. You know, he can be talking about about credit cards to pay bills. They won't be huge and will be small amounts of money initially. 

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"Suddenly, what'll happen then is, once you pay the big money, he realizes: 'This is as much as I'm going to get' and communications cut off," he added. 

With the rise of AI, it seems as if these scams are only going to get more believable and sophisticated as Dr Fox Hamilton warns people to be wary of deepfakes, which are created through AI to make it appear as though someone is saying or doing something they did not. This can involve face swapping, where one person's face is replaced with another, or voice cloning, where someone's voice is replicated to say something they actually are not saying. 

Dr Fox Hamilton said, "I think it's one of the worst kinds of scams, because a lot of the victims talk about how the worst part of it is actually losing the relationship that they thought they had. This is someone who really listened to them, who they felt really close to, who they were planning on spending their life with, and now suddenly, none of that is true, and they've been defrauded.

"And there can be a lot of trauma, there can be post traumatic stress, lots of anxiety, depression, feeling like you can't trust anybody anymore. It is a really, really horrible, horrible crime, and it does have a serious psychological effect on victims," she added. 

Romance fraud is one of the highest earners for organized crime groups around the world and the criminals behind these scams know that by moving it through different jurisdictions, it makes it more difficult for law enforcement to track down. 

The gardaí urge all victims of this crime to report it as it can help identify the scripts and processes being used by these fraudsters, as well as identifying the bank accounts that are being used to launder this money. 

The way the scams are calculated varies on the gender of their victim, as Detective Sergeant Niall Smith said, "The male victims- it tends to end in 'sextortion', where a request for money will be made, otherwise intimate images will be shared. The grooming process, we find then, tends to be longer for women, and it's based on love bombing."

Ending the segment with what to watch out for when online dating, they urge people to take note of the following 'red flags':

• If they do not use your name
• Give excuses not to meet in person
• They may offer a sob story like a fabricated accident, or a sick child in need of urgent medical treatment
• The time difference or the broken English used in communication
• Any requests for money

If you think you have been the victim of romance fraud, you should do the following: 

• Stop all communication with the person
• Don't send any money
• Report it to An Garda Síochána 
• Report it to the online platform or social media provider that they are using, or the dating app
• Monitor your accounts for any suspicious transactions 
• Seek support, whether it be from family or friends or the crime victims helpline on 116 006

 "While the relationships are virtual, the consequences are sadly all too real," said Carla O'Brien, host of RTÉ's Crimecall.