Certain that online romance is the real deal?

Romance scam reports have soared during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Which? The consumer group’s analysis of Action Fraud data reports were up 40% in the year to April 2021, compared with the previous year, with more than 7,500 complaints.

Reported losses reached £73.9m during the period – but the true figure is likely to be much higher as many victims are too embarrassed or upset to tell the authorities.

Warning signs of an online dating scam include people making excuses for why they cannot meet up in person, making over-the-top declarations of love when they hardly know the person they are communicating with, and inventing a sob story for why they urgently need money.

Fraudsters often claim they need the money to travel to the UK so they can “build a life” with the victim.

In one case highlighted by Which?, a man was exchanging messages in 2019 with a potential love interest on Older Dating Online with a woman “in

Russia”, who asked for £650 to obtain a passport quickly followed by more requests for cash.

He said: “I became suspicious and contacted my bank to report the scam, but the money couldn’t be recovered. I haven’t dated at all since the scam.”

OlderDatingOnline.co.uk told Which?: “We take the safety of members very seriously. Members undergo assessment by a third party, fraud and scammer detection service, before they can successfully register.”

Another man, aged 65, was cheated out of nearly £4,000 after meeting someone on Twitter. This scammer posed as a young woman, but the victim later discovered he was messaging a man in Nigeria.

The man said he was “heartbroken and upset” after discovering the truth.

He added: “This is such a cruel thing to do to an elderly pensioner who wanted love but instead got fleeced.”

Twitter has since permanently suspended the scammer’s profile.

Online fraudsters may use fake videos as well as fake photos. One Which? member reported via the consumer group’s “scam watch” inbox that she had a strange video call with someone she later discovered was using stolen video footage.

To find out whether a photo is fake, use TinEye or Google Image Search to do a reverse image search, Which? said. This tracks where else on the internet the photo exists to see if it could be a stock or stolen image.

Which? consumer rights expert Adam French said: “Romance scams are particularly devastating for victims, who may be vulnerable when they are targeted – and it is very worrying to see such a huge rise in these scams as criminals look to exploit the pandemic.

“Where appropriate, banks and payment providers should follow the code they signed up to and reimbursing victims of scams that use sophisticated psychological tactics to trick victims into handing over their cash.

“Anyone struggling to get money back from their bank should report this to the Financial Ombudsman Service.”

Are you sure she’s only after love?