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GARDAÍ HAVE WARNED the public to be wary of an increase in romance fraud, in which fraudsters will use online dating sites or other social media to ask people to send them money.
In September of 2021 Gardaí were contacted by Hungarian Police about a case of romance fraud where a woman was deceived into sending €3,800 to a fraudulent Irish bank account.
An investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau found that between September 2020 and October 2021, there were 46 suspicious credits into this bank account totaling €109,880.
11 women and one man had been tricked into sending money from Germany, Croatia, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Poland and the UK.
The holder of this account was arrested this month and the investigation continues.
Gardai have said that this particular fraud is enabled via online dating sites or other social media by fraudsters who will provide the victims with well-prepared stories designed to deceive.
The victims develop online relationships with the fraudsters who use fake identities, photographs and life stories.
Inevitably, the fraudster will ask their victim for money. The fraudster will continue to ask for money until the victim has no more money to give or realise they are being deceived.
Fraudsters will often seek out vulnerable people who are more likely to be trusting.
In some recent cases Gardaí have seen criminals targeting people with learning difficulties.
From January to the end of May, Gardaí have been made aware of 31 cases of romance fraud impacting 23 women and 8 men.
The youngest victim was 27 years of age and the oldest was 69 years of age, with the average age of romance fraud victims being in their 40s.
In all cases except one, the victims encountered the suspect over a dating app or through social media.
In total, these 31 cases reported the loss of €812,715.
The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau have issued advice stating that the public should never send money online to a stranger from a dating app to pay for what they claim are medical bills, flights, or VISAs.
“Their interests will mirror yours. If you like classical 18th century French Poetry, then so will they,” Gardaí warned, and added that bank details should never be shared.
Snippets of conversation may seem to be out of sync with previous chats because 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.
Gardaí urged people who believe they may be victims of romance fraud to report it and not be embarrassed.
Anyone worried about being a victim of the scam should contact their bank immediately because the quicker they act the better chance they have of recouping any lost funds, Gardaí said.
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When I used to do ‘Words with Friends’ I was regularly targeted by ‘widowed’ men (who’d all lost their spouse tragically) and also had some high flying job in the army or a multi national oil company. They all tended to look like catalogue models. For added pathos there was sometimes a disabled or dying child in case the heart strings needed that extra tug.
The dead give away was the gushing compliments based on my poor, pixelated profile pic and their inability to construct any word longer than 4 letters.( If you’re using a word game for your scamming you should at least attempt to appear literate)
It was fun stringing them along for a few games then revealing that I worked for the police (I don’t). Puffff! They vanished into thin air!
@Liz O’Neill: lol
Why on earth would you give money to someone never met in person??
@Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown: Have you ever heard of the Catholic Church?
@Pablo Rojas Coppari: I am sorry, but this is not an excuse for being gullible.
@Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown: marriage…
@Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown: it doesn’t happen in one conversation. By the time they’re giving money, thy have developed a bond with the person and want to help them. Loneliness, naivety and kindness aren’t things to scorn. It’s just very sad that they get exploited. And no, I’m not speaking from personal experience as I’m a very cynical and suspicious person. But I do know ppl it has happened to and in all cases it happened because they were lonely, shy and kind and simply couldn’t imagine what kind of person would tell these kinds of lies and steal.
Love is not free, in face-to-face encounters or online.
Facebook is riddled with the chancers, replying to women’s posts and pretending they’re someone they’re not. I saw a real howler a couple of weeks ago, and even kept a screenshot of the profile. It was supposed to be someone called Daven Burr, who was listed as an American army commander in Syria. It said that he lives in Ohio and that he’s from Texas. The photo of the “single” bloke shows an Australian serviceman standing in front of an Australian flag. He did have Burr on his uniform though, so that bit was authentic. It’s as plain as day that these people are scammers, but it must pay off occasionally when some gullible eejit falls for the bs.
@E.J. Murray: — I can’t believe the page still exists :p https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100029135868007
@E.J. Murray: He’s a man of many talents. Fluent in Thai apparently!
@Liz O’Neill: — Yes, he’s a real catch :P
The real guy is, Lieutenant General Rick Burr.
According to Google, and with a similar photo :-
Lieutenant General Burr assumed command of the Australian Army on 2 July 2018. He joined the Army in 1982, graduating from the Royal Military College at Duntroon in 1985 to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps.
What kind of amoeba would buy into that scam????
@Nora McElhinney: victim blaming is not appropriate
@Nora McElhinney: obviously it’s happening so why make a statement like that? These people target emotionally vulnerable people and are very sophisticated at pulling the right strings. They target thousands of people no doubt and why only need to be lucky a few times for it to be profitable.
@Nora McElhinney: Its called being niave. Lots of people believe in god too, but nobody calls them stupid, crazy as that is.
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