How to spot a rom-con
Online dating may now be the norm, but some people still use it to carry out scams. VICKY SHAW finds out how to stay safe
FINANCIAL FACT
HOME owners stay put for 19 years on average before moving, a report from Barclays Mortgages has found using data from property analysts Hometrack.
AMAZON FASHION LAUNCHES ‘TRY BEFORE YOU BUY’ SERVICE
PRIME Wardrobe lets Amazon Prime members try items from Amazon Fashion – before deciding whether they want to buy them. On receipt of their order, members have seven days to make a verdict, and then pay only for what they want to keep and return the rest.
COMPLAINTS TO FIRMS INCREASED IN EARLY 2018
THE PPI scandal and banking woes helped to drive complaints to record levels in the first half of 2018, according to the City regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said complaints continued to increase for the fourth half-year in a row, reaching a new record level of 4.13 million complaints made to 3,161 firms. The bulk of complaints continue to be about PPI – which accounted for 42% of all complaints in the first half of 2018.
WARNING TO PENSION SAVERS
PENSION savers are being warned to hang up on cold calls about their pots.
The Financial Ombudsman Service says pension freedoms – allowing people to take their savings as lump sums – have opened the floodgates for phone line fraudsters.
The FOS received 14,912 complaints about this and it upheld a third.
Regulated financial advisers and reputable firms don’t contact people out of the blue, urging them to put pension savings into investments, often demanding quick decisions.
Be wary of offers of a free pension review, a too-good-to-miss investment opportunity or offers to access your money before age 55. If the advice you receive, or the investment, is not regulated then you’ve lost your money.
You can check if an adviser is regulated through the Financial Conduct Authority’s register at register.fca.org.uk
WHAT would you do if someone you were dating asked you for money? While some people may not hesitate before handing over cash to help someone they care about and are romantically involved with, it may be a warning sign of a scam.
One in three romance scams end up with victims losing more than £5,000, according to new research from Barclays. That’s a hefty amount of money!
Of course, the early days of dating are always a bit hit-and-miss, and there’s a degree of good faith involved – but it’s a good idea to be switched on to the possibility that scammers are out there.
Here we look at how these scams often work, the warning signs to look out for, and what you can do to protect yourself...
WHAT IS A ROMANCE SCAM?
THESE scams often start after meeting someone online, perhaps on an internet dating website.
Scammers will build trust with their victim, who believes they are in a relationship with them.
They may use fake online profiles and build up the relationship quickly, but avoid meeting in person.
They are adept at coming up with sob stories before persuading victims to part with their cash – perhaps claiming they need money for medical or family reasons.
Once they have the money, they may then disappear into thin air – leaving their victim heartbroken and dealing with the financial blow.
How much money are victims losing? Barclays found that 37% of romance scams result in losses of more than £5,000. Over half (57%) of cases result in losses of at least £2,000.
WHO’S MOST AT RISK?
BARCLAYS found that 45-64-yearold daters are particularly likely to be vulnerable to this type of scam. Only 45% of people in this age group undertake basic checks to ensure the dating websites they use are reputable.
But it’s not just this age group which may need to take greater care, as more than four-fifths (43%) of daters admit they would trust someone after speaking to them through a dating website for just two weeks – even without meeting them in person.
The research also found 18-24-year-olds are particularly likely to say they would lend someone they were speaking to on a dating app a large amount of money to help with a ‘medical emergency’, saying they’d be willing to lend £112.40 on average – compared with 55-64-year-olds, who would lend £18.60 as a typical amount.
On average, daters said they would lend someone £74.24 if they claimed they needed the money for a medical emergency.
Men are particularly likely to trust a potential partner quickly, with more than half (53%) saying they would trust someone up to two weeks after they start talking, while a third of women said the same.
WHAT COULD PUT DATERS PARTICULARLY AT RISK OF A ROMANCE SCAM?
BARCLAYS has identified tendencies which could put those looking for love particularly at risk – bearing in mind some people are not who they say they are online. These are:
■ Judging someone’s character by their social media profile: 26% of people believe the best way to judge whether someone is trustworthy is their social media profile, compared with 13% who are most influenced by past marital status.
■ Judging someone’s character by their job: 21% of people would judge someone based on what kind of job they claim to have, with doctors or teachers seen as most trustworthy.
■ Throwing caution to the wind when meeting someone for the first time. One in 10 people do not carry out any basic checks before meeting a potential partner for the first time, with only 38% saying they would search a potential partner’s name or username online to check their reputation.
■ Judging the reliability of a website by its appearance. Many daters do not check the reputation of the websites they are using before meeting someone in person.
■ Trusting someone too soon: 51% of people would trust someone after meeting them once, with another one in ten (11%) admitting they would lend a potential partner money to help pay for rent after just three dates.
HOW CAN YOU STAY SAFE?
Here are some tips from Barclays to help protect yourself from a rom-con:
■ Take your time, especially when talking about yourself. You don’t need to give out your life-story the first time you chat – and you shouldn’t.
■ Check to see if there are other records of the person you’re interested in online. If possible, use a search engine to check their profile photos.
■ Always keep your bank and account information private.
■ Be wary of people who ask you to transfer money to a ‘safe account’ – ignore anyone who asks you to do this.
■ Report suspicious behaviour, trust your instincts, and immediately stop communicating with anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable or apprehensive.