Grey Bruce OPP are advising residents to be careful of romance scams this Valentine’s Day.
Provincial Police say their law enforcement partners continue to see the impacts associated with romance frauds, including financial losses and significant mental health trauma.
OPP say romance fraudsters prey on victims looking for a partner, companion or love interest online. They try to gain their victims trust and affection through e-mails, popular encrypted chat apps, online chat groups, fake profiles on social media, dating sites, and various online platforms.
Police add a new trend has seen fraudsters sending random text messages to victims, which often read, “where are you?,” where have you been?” or something similar. When the victim responds, a conversation is started and the fraudster attempts to build a relationship with the victim.
The scammer will eventually ask for money for travel, a medical emergency or assistance with a family emergency to try and convince the victim to invest into a fraud crytocurrency platform.
“Remember there is always urgency and associated drama like an old soap opera. The scammer might also ask you to receive money and transfer the funds elsewhere, or purchase items and send them to foreign countries. The scammer always makes excuses for not being able to meet in person, travel to see you, or use video conferencing to talk. Remember if it seems too good to be true, it often is,” says the OPP.
Police recommend not giving out any personal information, not accepting friend requests from people you do not know, not investing money in platforms provided by people you don’t know, being careful who you share images with as they could be used for extortion, protecting your online accounts, and not responding to text messages from phone numbers you do not recognize.
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, romance scam victims in the country reported losing over $59 million to fraudsters in 2022, with victims in Ontario accounting for over $20 million of that.
Last year, the centre reported $530 million in victim losses, nearly a 40 per cent increase from 2021, however, only five to 10 per cent of victims actually report frauds to the centre or law enforcement.
Police encourage if you or someone you know falls victim to a scam, report it to the centre at 1-888-495-8501 or online on the Fraud Reporting System here even in financial losses did not occur.