The heart (and bank) breaking scandal of romance fraud continues to increase, despite warnings on dating sites, information and advice on websites like Get Safe Online and the raft of real life stories in the media.
I say "heartbreaking" in two contexts …. not only is it gutting to suffer financial losses of the scale that reports suggest, but the prospect of having found someone which whom there's real mutual attraction, only to find they only wanted you for your money, represents a nasty double-header.
Of course, the actual scale of the problem isn't clear – as many victims are too embarrassed to report the fraud. And in a way, you can understand that, especially in the case of educated and intelligent people including teachers and lawyers.
However, such frauds must be reported in order to track down the criminals and understand new trends and developments in how these frauds are perpetrated. Reporting to the police or Action Fraud is completely confidential, and your class of students or your clients won't be any the wiser.
There's a revealing piece in yesterday's Telegraph by investigative journalist & television producer Willard Foxton on just this subject. Check it out here, and make sure you don't get fooled, however genuine your online suitor may seem.
