Over £3M lost to romance fraudsters by Kent victims
The latest figures, from Kent Police, revealed there were 240 reports between 2024 and 2025
Over £3M was lost to romance fraudsters by Kent victims last year.
The latest figures, from Kent Police, revealed there were 240 reports between 2024 and 2025 - with every person being conned out of an average of £13,000 each.
Detective Constable Mark Newman is from the police's economic crime team, he said: "Many of the victims of romance fraud are in their later years.
"This for them is perceived as their last chance to find love and happiness and when they realise this is a scam their world falls apart, it's devastating.
"Romance scams fall on our wish to be loved, and that dream for a happy ever after but unfortunately the scammers see this and specifically target the victims."
Swale woman lost her home
A Swale resident was tricked out of almost £100,000 and lost her home.
She was targeted was contacted through social media in 2022 by a person purporting to be an American serviceman, at a time when she was vulnerable following a bereavement.
The victim spoke with them over several months and she grew to trust him. After a couple of years, she was persuaded they were in a relationship and, when he said he was deployed overseas and needed help with food and medical expenses, started to send him cash in the form of gift cards.
Over time, the woman sent more and more money to a point where she found herself in considerable debt and ultimately lost her house.
When she sought to withdraw from the relationship, she was contacted by other fraudsters threatening to disclose intimate details about her on the internet. She was then contacted by another criminal who said he was from the FBI and could assist her with the threats she had been receiving. On each occasion, the victim lost more money.
Kent Police was contacted by the woman’s bank in May 2025 after they suspected she had been the victim of a scam. An investigation is underway and at this stage nobody has been arrested and the missing money has not been traced.
Investigators did, however, approach a jeweller where the victim had deposited a family heirloom to obtain some cash to unwittingly send to the offenders. The managers at the business, once the circumstances were explained, were happy to return the item to the victim at no cost.
How to stay safe from romance fraudsters
Kent Police have this advice to avoid falling victim to a romance scam:
- If you have met someone via a dating app, do not feel pressured to hand over your mobile number and move the conversation over to a chat platform.
- Be suspicious of any requests for money from someone you have never met in person.
- Be cautious about how much personal information you are sharing online and who you are sharing information with.
- Speak to your family or friends to get advice and perspective. Fraudsters will subtly isolate you for their own purposes.
- Profile photos may not be genuine. Performing a reverse image search can find photos that have been taken from somewhere or someone else.