A St. Thomas resident is out over $30,000 after falling victim to an online romance scam. Over the course of several months, the victim purchased multiple prepaid visa cards and made several cash transfers to someone they believed to be helping with travel expenses. Requests for money began back in October of 2022 and continued to be exchanged via email, gift cards and transfers. ST23002282
According to the Anti Fraud Centre, romance scams were responsible for the second highest amount of fraud-related dollar loss in 2022.
Protect yourself from romance scams with these tips from the Anti Fraud Centre:
Look out for these red flags and be suspicious:
- when someone you haven’t met in person professes their love to you
- if the person wants to quickly move to a private or different mode of communication (email, text, Whatsapp, Google Hangouts etc.)
- if they always have an excuse not to meet in person
- if you receive poorly/oddly written messages, sometimes even addressing you by the wrong name
- if the individual claims to live close to you but is working overseas
- if they act distressed or angry to guilt you into sending money
- if the individual discourages you from discussing them or their situation with your friends and family (attempting to isolate you from those who may be suspicious of the relationship)
