Swipe left and avoid the Valentine’s Day swindlers

As plenty of Territorians cross their fingers and hope to find love this Valentine’s Day, Crime Stoppers Northern Territory reminds people looking for ‘the one’ to also be on the lookout for heartless scammers who want to break your heart and swindle your savings.

Crime Stoppers NT Chair, Catherine Phillips, said there was a 44% increase in financial losses to romance scams in 2021, with Australians losing a whopping $56 million according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch.

“Dating and romance scams are very destructive – both financially and emotionally – which is why someone looking for love needs to be on the lookout for signs that they are actually being taken advantage of,” Ms Phillips said.

“We know scammers often approach a victim through legitimate dating websites before attempting to move the ‘relationship’ away from the safeguards these sites have in place; and turn to communicating through email, phone or other options where they can more easily manipulate a victim,” she said.

“The scammer’s objective is to emotionally exploit a victim to take their money. They go to great lengths to develop a strong connection before making a play for money, often with a sob story about needing to cover costs associated with a supposed illness, injury, family crisis, travel or to pursue a business or investment opportunity.”

It is also common for a scammer to target a victim through social networking sites, by ‘liking’ them and then duping someone into believing they share common interests based on personal information that has been sourced from the victim’s own profile.

Ms Phillips said it is hard to accurately understand how many people have fallen victim to a romance scam because often victims are too embarrassed to come forward.

“Our advice is to avoid putting yourself in a vulnerable position by never sending money or offering financial assistance to someone you’re just getting to know – even if they claim it’s an emergency and promise to pay you back,” she said.

“If someone you’ve met online but never met in person asks you to loan or gift them money then alarm bells should be ringing and you should stop communicating with them before it is too late.”

Some ways that can prevent becoming a victim of a romance scam include:

• Protect your personal details: Never share personal information or photos with someone you don’t know and trust – especially photos or webcam calls of a private nature. Scammers can use this material to blackmail a victim.
• Be wary: If a potential online love interest wants to communicate outside a dating website it might be because they are trying to avoid detection. If you plan on meeting someone in person for the first time, then choose a public place and let family or friends know where you are.
• Surf and search: Scammers often use fake photos they’ve found online, so a Google Image search is a good way to check the authenticity of any photos they provide.
• Think twice: Never send money to someone you’ve met online, especially via money order, wire transfer or international funds transfer, because it is rare to recover money that has been sent this way.
• Report quickly: If you think you may have unwittingly provided your account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately so they can freeze your account and take action.
• Regularly monitor your accounts: use Online Banking or your Banking App to track transactions. This will help to quickly detect any suspicious activity. Contact your financial institution immediately if you see something that doesn’t seem right.

Anyone with information about a scammer you can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a tip online.

You can also report a scam to ScamWatch here.

If you believe you have become a victim of a scam, notify your bank or financial institution immediately and contact police.