Gardaí advise people to be vigilant this Valentine's Day as Longford victims of romance fraud lose thousands of euro

On this Valentine's Day, gardaí in Longford are urging people to be vigilant of romance fraud and they say they are investigating a number of romance fraud incidents.

In one incident, during 2022, that is under investigation, a female victim in her 40’s was defrauded of €19,000.

The victim reports that she was contacted by a male over TikTok app and after a few months of conversing, he offered her to better her life with gifts and money.

He then transferred a sum of money to her bank account and told her to keep a sum of it and rest of the money invest in bitcoin.

He told her to download an app and when she refused to trade in bitcoin, she was told to transfer money back to account numbers he provided. When she transferred money back to the provided account she was informed by her bank that her account was blocked. The victim is at a loss totalling €19,000.

A second incident, involving a male victim in his 60’s, is also being investigated by Longford gardaí.

The victim transferred large sums of money in numerous instalments to a suspect he met online and believed he was in a relationship with.

Sergeant Damian G Bartley, Garda Crime Prevention Officer Roscommon Longford, explained that romance fraud happens all year round, not just around St Valentines Day.

Sgt Bartley added, "It became more prevalent circa 2020 / 2021 due to covid restrictions. Fraudsters are taking advantage of the rising number of people socialising online and ‘preying on people’s loneliness, isolation and vulnerability’. Traditionally they posed as a person with a responsible job, stuck somewhere from where they cannot travel and will use a photo they steal off the internet."

He continued, "This Modus Operandi is changing in 2023 to what is called ‘pig butchering’. This is where the fraudster claims to have insider knowledge of high yielding investment opportunity, usually in the cryptocurrency arena and will offer investment advice to the victim. The less IT savvy the victim is the better. They will offer their services and persuade the victim to download an APP (like AnyDesk), which gives the fraudster control of their laptop and by extension, control of their bank account.

"The victim will get graphs and charts showing huge profits thus being enticed to invest more and more. Eventually when the victim tries or wants to stop / withdrawn money contact is cut off."

HOW ROMANCE FRAUD WORKS:

·         Victims are identified through dating sites where the fraudsters engage in the financial grooming of the victims – this is called social engineering

·         The fraudsters set up a fake profile on the dating website and pose as a person with a responsible job, stuck somewhere from where they can’t travel and they will use a photo they lift off the internet. They usually claim to be American, working on Oil Rigs or doctors in desert

or soldiers in war zones or aid workers etc – somewhere with poor connections / travel chances etc...

·         There have been cases where they pose as famous actors.

·         Early on they will encourage the victim to move ‘off-line’ from the site onto a messaging app like ‘whatsapp’ or email.

·         The initial requests for money will be small and sometimes this money could even be paid back to help with the trust building.

·         They follow a script. They may have a number of victims ongoing at any one time at different stages of the process

·         They say the right things – Initially the fraudster will engage with the victim over some time to build up trust. They use terminology / words / language designed to win over the injured parties trust and demonstrate that they are not a risk. They present as safe, usually claiming to have been married (but now divorced or widowed in order to gain sympathy), claim to have grown up kid(s) and not interested in sexual relationship but just friendship. This is all part of social engineering.

·         The amounts being requested will grow larger with the excuse being that the money is needed to pay medical bills, custom duties, other bills, etc etc. The expense for which the money is needed will have been raised in earlier conversations

·         The requests could merge into investment opportunities with the fraudster claiming to have a great opportunity to invest and make a quick profit and will encourage the victim to also invest and not miss the opportunity ie ‘pig butchering’.

·         Once the victim has had their money stolen or once the victim starts asking questions or looking for their money back, the fraudster will cut of communications.

·         Investigations usually show that the victim’s money is transferred to bank accounts outside Ireland or more recently into cryptocurrencies accounts

Crime Prevention Advice

1. Use a reputable dating site and use their messaging service. Do not move to social media or texting too quickly.

2. Be careful what you share on social media and online dating websites. Do not reveal your full name or home address. Protect your identity.

3. Be wary of anyone asking lots of questions about you but not revealing much about themselves. They want you to provide live videos but they can’t / won’t. Watch out for snippets of conversation which are out of sync with previous chats. These fraudsters are engaging with multiple victims at the same time, following scripts prepared for them and they can get mixed up on occasions as to which victim they are talking to.

4. Never send money or give your bank details to somebody you have never met, no matter how much you believe and trust them. Do not download apps like anydesk at their behest

5. Do not pay for medical bills, purchase flights, or VISAs, pay customs fees or make any payment for them to come to visit you.

6. Do not invest your money in any ‘opportunities’ offered by them or anyone whom you only ‘met’ online. Always seek independent financial and legal advice first

7. Remember individuals can pretend to be anyone they want to be online. You should google an image to see if it comes up on several sites or profiles.

8. Never provide copies of your personal documents such as passports or driving licences.

9. Never make arrangements or travel to meet them unless you are sure of their identity. Make sure you confide in someone and ensure that the person is aware you are confiding in someone else.

10. Save copies of correspondence with him.

11. Don’t be embarrassed about reporting it. You are not alone. These are professional fraudsters who use social engineering tactics

12. If you think you have fallen victim, contact your bank immediately. The quicker you act the better chance of recouping any lost funds

This is organised crime. The money goes abroad and is used to fund other crimes like people smuggling, trafficking, prostitution, terrorism, even wars and to corrupt public officials and Governments.