Portsmouth expert warns of dangers of romance fraud this Valentine's Day
Romance fraud is on the rise
This Valentines Day, a Portsmouth expert's urging you to be aware of the dangers of romance fraud.
Police say the criminals will lie to gain trust and build a relationship to get money or personal information.
Mark Button, a Criminology Professor and Co-Director at the Centre for Cybercrime and Economic Crime at the University of Portsmouth, is telling us his advice.
He said: "Sadly, it's becoming much more common.
"The exact numbers are very hard to find for obvious reasons, because a lot of people don't report it.
"These days, people find love online and that in itself creates more opportunities for these types of frauds to occur.
"With that greater use of the internet to find love, has obviously come much more romance fraud."
Police say criminals will usually:
- Create a story that sounds believable and start the relationship in a normal way
- Gain your trust over time
- Invent a problem or situation where you may feel like you want to send money or gifts to help them
- Isolate you from friends or family
Mr Button's sharing his advice.
He said: "I think the best thing anyone can do is to kind of share the experience with friends because they're some of the best helpers in these kinds of situations.
"Once you start falling for someone, you get sort of blinkered on the relationship.
"If you are going into this and know you want to be absolutely certain, show a friend and see what they say.
"Show them some of the comments and get their feedback because often an outsider coming in will just see straight away if there's something wrong."