Romance scams can be very cruel. They play on people's emotions and vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, they’re also very common, with Action Fraud reporting that £68 million was lost to romance scams in 2020 alone.
A romance scammer will build up trust by developing a convincing relationship with you, usually online. You may meet them on a dating site or on social media where they’ll be lurking behind an apparently genuine profile. Once the scammer has gained your trust, they’ll start asking you to send money, vouchers or gifts. Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and will even find ways to get your personal details or passwords to access your bank account. They’ll invent reasons for needing money such as health issues, business issues or any other troubles they desperately need money to fix.
Romance scammers usually have a story that justifies why they’re asking for money. Question whether this story makes sense, and never send money to someone you haven't met face to face.
Reverse image search the photo of the person you’re speaking to. Scammers will often steal these from legitimate profiles on the internet.
Don't reveal too much information about yourself online, especially on social media.
Talk to people you trust for advice about the relationship to get their view.
If you have lost money to APP fraud from your Barclays account, Refundee could help you get your money back from your bank and you can fill in our fraud refund claim form for a free consultation. Our fee is 15% plus VAT on anything that we get back, and we don't charge anything if we are not successful. For larger cases, the fee is subject to a maximum of £10k plus VAT per case.
Remember you don’t need to use a company like Refundee, you could work your case yourself for free! If you’d like to get a refund yourself, you can do this by following our bank transfer refund guide.
Customers often ask if they can get money back if they paid by bank transfer, or if they can get money back if they pay by BACS. The answer is yes, victims of scams may be able to get their funds when they paid by either of these methods.
Scams we have seen
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