Dating app scam warning

Romance scammers steal millions from victims by grooming them on social media, messaging services and dating apps.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, which analyses data for Action Fraud, has revealed there were 8,792 reports of romance fraud last year - an increase of nearly 10% compared to the previous year. 

It also reported that victims of romance fraud lost almost £100m last year.

The financial loss doesn't account for the scale of damage a romance scam can cause — it can also have a devastating psychological impact on its victims. 

Below, we speak to two scam victims who were conned by fraudsters on dating apps and explain how you can stay safe.

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‘She pushed me into investing in crypto’

When James* first matched with Emma* on Tinder, he was overcome with emotional distress after trying to reconnect with a former girlfriend.

Emma immediately began to bombard James with compliments: ‘You look so sweet,’  she would say. 

She insisted on moving the conversation from Tinder to WhatsApp, which James thought was suspicious but went on to exchange numbers with Emma. After this, she deleted her Tinder account.

Emma said that she lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and worked in a stock exchange. She also claimed to have relatives in the UK.

James recalled two video calls with Emma. The first lasted 10 seconds, while in the second, Emma showed him around the office she claimed to work in. It was empty, and the windows were pitch black, but James just assumed she was working late.

Quickly, the conversation moved on to trading as Emma asked James if he would be interested in trading stocks and cryptocurrencies. He hesitated as he thought crypto was dubious. But Emma said she had been successfully trading for a year and so James opened an account on a platform she recommended.

‘At this point, I was so infatuated with Emma and excited to see her in the UK that I readily believed her words', he recalled.

Emma instructed James to buy crypto from a trader on this platform via bank transfer, and shortly afterwards, her attitude changed.

‘Emma became less interested in romance and more about making investments. When I told her I had no money left and could not buy any more crypto, she insisted on me financing this whole scheme by taking out loans', said James.

‘I was scared and confused. Emma’s words grew more hostile every day I tried to access my money.’

After realising he’d been scammed when he couldn’t withdraw his earnings, James was left £5,928 out of pocket transferred from his NatWest, Wise and Revolut accounts, and owed a £12,298 debt to three loan companies. 

Luckily, the loan companies agreed to let him pay off the loans without interest.

• Read more: how to spot an investment scam

‘He bombarded me with calls’

Over the course of three weeks, Jennie built a relationship with a man she met on the dating app Hinge. ‘He immediately moved our conversation from Hinge to Google Chat and WhatsApp', she recalled.

Eventually, the scammer conjured a story to elicit money from Jennie. ‘He started asking me for financial help, which I willingly gave, believing him to be genuine.'

He said that he was in Hamburg travelling and needed to buy machinery for his company, but his card was blocked. He asked for £7,500 for the machinery and £3,500 for shipping costs, and he would pay her as soon as he sorted his card out.

This was followed by sending Jennie a fake invoice from his company, helping to settle any suspicions she had. Then, he said he needed to pay for a solicitor to fight his bank to reopen his bank account, which he evidenced by sending her a ‘contract’ between him and the solicitor.

The scammer eventually talked Jennie into opening an account on a crypto platform because his bank account was frozen, and she could transfer the money she was lending him to a solicitor there.

Jennie also had a video call with her scammer but later realised that this was a 10-15 second clip of another video call.

After considering selling some of her jewellery to pay the scammer, Jennie had a moment of realisation, cut off contact with him and changed her phone number. However, he still managed to find her and bombard her with constant calls. This time he wasn’t so nice.

In total, Jennie lost £22,000 and reported it to her bank. While she wasn’t reimbursed, a payment of £1,300 was blocked by her bank.

Scam victim reimbursement

Some banks are signed up to the voluntary Contingent Reimbursement Model Code (CRM) for bank transfer scams, which means that they must take a number of steps to protect customers and reimburse scam victims who aren't to blame for the scam.

Which? contacted NatWest and Wise on James' behalf and they reimbursed him. 

NatWest said: 'When we were made aware of this scam we fully investigated and reimbursed our customer for their loss.

'If you have been asked to transfer money to someone you haven’t met, consider that you are giving money to a stranger - ask yourself would you do this with someone you had just met on the street. Speak to your bank before making the payment. If you think you may have been scammed, contact your bank immediately and report it.'

We also contacted Revolut which reimbursed James 50% of his lost funds. Revolut told us that James created an account with the company with the purpose of sending money to Emma. It also said that it intervened six times, warning him that the transactions were potentially fraudulent.

Revolut doesn't have a UK banking licence so it isn't covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). It also isn't signed up to the CRM code.

We've previously reported on the scale of fraud complaints from Revolut customers to the Financial Ombudsman. Complaints outstripped all banks.

Revolut told us: 'We’re sorry to hear of James' case, or any case where our customers are targeted by ruthless and highly sophisticated criminals.

'We deploy many different interventions that are designed to “break the spell” of scammers and fraudsters and invest heavily to protect our customers. We recognise that despite our interventions to stop this scam, the impact this incident has had on James is considerable and have therefore reimbursed him 50% of the money lost.'

• Find out more: best and worst banks 2024

What protections do dating apps have in place?

Both Hinge and Tinder provide the option for users to verify their identity. 

On both apps, users can provide a video selfie, which is scanned to check whether you’re the same person as the person in your images. Once a user has completed this process, their account will be displayed as a verified account.

We spoke to Match.com, the parent company of Tinder and Hinge, and it told us:

‘The unfortunate reality is that scammers may pull on the heartstrings and prey on those looking for love or connection - not just on dating apps but on all online platforms.

‘Over the last several years as these types of scams have grown in popularity, we have taken steps to help prevent and warn users of potential scams or fraud using automated tools to detect suspicious language and proactively intervene.

‘We have also implemented various ways to warn users of potential scams or fraud, from features to education and pop-up messages.

‘Earlier this year, we announced Tech Against Scams, a first-of-its-kind collaboration with companies across social media, crypto and financial institutions to help disrupt scams across the online ecosystem to better identify new adversarial trends and share best practices to combat global scams and drive collective action to protect users.’

Read more: signs your loved one is a money mule

6 signs of a romance scam

Signs that you may be talking to a romance scammer include:

1. Speaking for a while and never meeting up in person.
2. A profile with really good images - use a reverse image search tool, such as tinEye, to see if any images have been used elsewhere on the internet.
3. They want to get off the app quickly and move to another platform, such as WhatsApp.
4. They quickly lovebomb you with lots of compliments from the beginning.
5. They tell you things and ask you not to tell your friends or family.
6. They ask for money, try to get you into investing or trading or ask to put funds in your bank account.

You can report dodgy accounts by using the apps’ in-app reporting features.

If you become the victim of a scam, call your bank immediately using the number on the back of your bank card and report it to Action Fraud or call the police on 101 if you’re in Scotland.

*names changed to protect anonymity