Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, October 16 2020 @ 04:56 pm
Last modified on Friday, October 16 2020 @ 05:20 pm
A new report revealed that dating app scams in the UK had significantly increased during the summer as the coronavirus spread and lockdowns continued, and as more people turned to the apps for connection.
More than 600 reports of fraud a month were reported during June, July and August according to Sky News[*1] . In addition, there was a 26 percent increase in reported frauds overall during the past year. Since August of 2019, UK police have seen about 400 reports of fraud per month on average, with victims losing over 66 million pounds total over the past year.
City of London Police reported that the online platforms experiencing the most fraud were Facebook, Plenty of Fish, Instagram, Tinder and Match.com.
As a result, police and other safety organizations launched a campaign in October to try and raise awareness of fraud on dating apps so users don’t fall victim to these types of schemes. Match Group, which owns Tinder, Plenty of Fish, and OkCupid among others, is running the fraud protection campaign throughout October on their platforms.
Most fraud occurs when a dating app user thinks he is communicating over the app with another single who’s interested in dating, but in reality, it’s someone using a fake profile to target and exploit that user. These catfish account holders build trust and a personal connection with a victim, only to extract money or personal information later on. Far too often, they have been successful.
As people are isolating during the pandemic, they are looking for more intimacy and connection, and have been especially vulnerable to catfishing. UK charities like Victim Support saw a need to advertise the dangers to dating app users.
Diana Fawcett, chief executive of Victim Support, said: "Unfortunately, we've seen that circumstances caused by coronavirus were in fact used by fraudsters as a 'hook' to extort money. For example, some have invented lies about needing medical treatment, or urgent travel expenses to leave a country, or funds to keep afloat after a bogus job loss caused by the pandemic."
City of London Police is also working with wire transfer services to flag and block money transfers that could be linked to dating app fraud.
Match Group noted that it offers a service so that users can report suspicious accounts and they can be blocked. Justine Sacco, the company’s chief communications officer, said: "We want all of the members of our community to feel safe on our apps and feel equipped to protect themselves from romance scams."