Britons are being warned to be wary of scammers online pretending to work on an oil rig or in the army when being romanced.
In a cruel type of ruse, scammers gain the trust of a victim by posing as a love interest, communicating with their victims daily to build trust and credibility before asking them to transfer a large sum of money.
Typically, they then cease contact and disappear altogether.
Fraudsters use fake profiles to target their victims to start a relationship, which they will try to develop over a longer period.
Once they have established their victim’s trust, the criminal will then claim to be experiencing a problem, such as an issue with a visa, health issues or flight tickets and ask for money to help
Now Lloyds Bank is warning of a sharp uptick in romance scams targeting older customers with thousands of pounds of savings being lost.
Victims of romance scams aged 75 to 84 lost on average the most at £8,068, a 15 per cent rise compared to the previous year. While the average loss across all age groups was £5,219.
The top occupations claimed by romance scammers are members of the armed forces and oil rig workers, Lloyds bank analysis of customer reports reveals.
Lloyds Bank is warning of a sharp uptick in romance scams targeting older customers with thousands of pounds of savings being lost to this ruse.
Scammers often claim to be soldiers, usually stationed overseas or in conflict zones. However, on 1st April 2024, around 96 per cent of UK regular forces personnel were actually stationed in the UK.
Working on an oil rig is another excuse used frequently by scammers, both male and female, which they will then subsequently say makes communication difficult and to not expect a reply.
In 2022 only 3.4 per cent of oil rig workers, known as ‘offshore travellers’, were female, so the chances of speaking to a woman online based on an oil rig are very low.
Who are scammers targeting in romance scams?
Older people have always been targets of romance scammers, with the cruel fraudsters taking advantage of those who are more likely to live alone.
Lloyds reported a 52 per cent rise in romance scams for victims over the age of 55 over the past year, compared to the previous year.
While romance scam cases involving victims aged 35 to 44 rose by 20 per cent.
The most targeted group for this type of scam remains those aged 55 to 64, who make up a fifth of romance scam victims, followed by those aged 65 to 74, who make up 18 per cent of cases.
Lloyds has shared the stories of some of its customers as a warning against romance scams.
A customer named Kathy, aged 80, lost £11,000 to a romance scam after a scammer she had developed a relationship with convinced her he had been arrested travelling back from a job on an oil rig as machinery he had with him was worth £300,000 and he had to pay £30,000 in tax for this machinery.
She agreed to send £11,000 which the scammer said he would return to her but she never heard from him again.
Kathy spoke to her bank, and they informed her she’d been a victim of a scam.
Another customer, Keith, aged 86, lost £2,260 after he met someone called Stephanie on a singles website. Within a few weeks of chatting, Stephanie asked for help with money.
She told Keith she was travelling to Australia with her daughter to retrieve some gold she had inherited.
She asked for money to help them retrieve it, telling Keith he would be reimbursed with some gold. She also sent documents relating to the gold.
Keith arranged to meet with Stephanie and sent her money to cover travel expenses for her to visit him, but she failed to show up.
Keith ended contact with Stephanie, realising he had been scammed.
Below, Lloyds has revealed a real-life transcript between a Lloyds employee and a customer who was attempting to transfer £10,000 to someone he had been talking to online.
It shows the importance of having a member of branch staff or bank customer service to intervene if it looks like a customer could be falling victim to a romance scam.
Oil worker: Romance scammers often use jobs that give an excuse for not meeting
How do scammers convince you to send money?
Once they have established a relationship with their victims, scammers will often claim either they or a family member need urgent medical treatment, often due to something like a car accident.
A scammer might also request money for flights or travel expenses to ‘visit’ the victim. Or they might ask for help with rent, food, or other daily expenses.
Other reasons they might use for needing money include legal fees, making tax or customs Payments or business problems.
Scammers will often ask victims to send money to them via bank transfer, but other tactics include asking the victim to purchase online gift cards and send them instead.
These are easy for the scammer to sell on and profit from.
In one instance, money was hidden inside teddy bears or transferred under the guise of rescuing someone from an oil rig, according to the City of London Police.
Detective Superintendent Oliver Little, from the lead force operations room at the City of London Police says: ‘If you’ve met someone online, stay within the app’s messaging platform, be wary of requests for money, and speak to friends or family before making decisions.
‘Criminals will try to isolate you – don’t give them the opportunity. Remember: if you haven’t met them in person, you don’t owe them anything.’
Have you, a family member or a friend fallen victim to a romance scam? Contact us in confidence: editor@thisismoney.co.uk
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