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February is known as the month of romance - but lockdown rules have resulted in further isolation for singletons, leaving thousands with lonely hearts seeking love remotely.

But with this desperation comes another threat: romance fraud.
It has become a very lucrative industry for fraudsters, and last year victims of this type of scam were collectively fleeced to the tune of £68.2million.

This is according to data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, which also found that there were 6,748 cases of romance fraud in 2020.

Do you know who's romancing you?

The person who claims to love you may not be who they claim to be

By comparison, 89,000 people were scammed through online shopping in 2020 but collectively the losses amounted to £63million in total - less than what was lost to romance fraudsters.

The average loss per victim reported to UK Finance members was £7,850.
This indicates that even though there are fewer people targeted by romance fraudsters, the average amounts that they are scammed out of can be high.

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Similar trends have been identified by Barclays ahead of Valentine's Day.

The bank identified a 46 per cent rise in romance scams during 2020.

Ross Martin, head of digital safety at Barclays, says: 'With most of us in lockdown throughout 2020, those looking for love have had to stick to online dating and apps.

'This has meant that the pool for potential scam victims has risen and more people are being duped, as seen in our latest data.'

Romance fraud occurs when people are duped into sending money to criminals who go to great lengths gain their trust, while at the same time concealing their true identity and 우리카지노 intentions.

They are master manipulators.

Carole Ann Rice, a life coach and founder of The Real Coaching Co, explains: 'It starts with small things like 'I'd love to go out, but I don't have money' or 'could you just lend me…'.

'They usually have some kind of reason behind [their need for money] and a track record of some success.

Sadly, the victims are those that have been lonely for a while.'

Is your online love interest asking you to help fund medical treatment?

If so, it could be a scam

Romance fraudsters are very patient. Paul Davis, retail fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank says: 'Scammers do this for a living - they're in it for the long game and will often spend a lot of time building up a 'relationship' and trust - they can invent convincing stories, waiting for the right moment to start tricking people into sending them money.

'If you've struck up a conversation or begun a relationship solely online and the discussion moves on to sending money, that's the time to stop.

'It might be a little at first, but when they know they've got you then they will try everything to make maximum profit. 

'Social media and technology make it so much easier for them to pretend to be someone else in their profile, so it's more important than ever to stop and think when someone asks you to send cash from your account.'

Carole Ann Rice, founder of The Real Coaching Co, says that romance scammers will try to get money out of victims by saying things like 'I'd love to go out, but I don't have money'

Dating scammers can afford to be patient because as they're starting their 'romance' with one person, they're already distancing themselves from someone else as they've taken their money.

The pandemic has created a perfect cover for romance fraudsters.

These types of criminals often claim to be out of a job or deep in debt, and these scenarios are all the more plausible given that the UK unemployment rate currently stands at around 4.9 per cent.

Peter Hazlewood, 우리카지노 group financial crime risk director 우리카지노 at Aviva, says: 'Romance scammers are exploiting the pandemic and lockdown conditions by preying on people who are spending more time at home, often in isolation, and on the internet.

'Typically, these fraudsters pretend to be someone completely different from who they are in real life.

They usually begin by building trust with their victim, feigning friendship or romance. They then begin to drop subtle hints about needing money for a difficult situation.'