Love Hurts: LPS warning the public of deceiving romance scams

Elton John and Kiki Dee warned you, and now Lethbridge Police say there are some out there trying to steal more than your heart.

According to Lethbridge Police Service officials, relationship and romance scams are described as a “confidence scheme”, meaning the suspect gains the victim’s trust and affection through an online relationship, usually through fake profiles on dating sites and social media. During the relationship, the suspect will bring up a reason to have money sent to them.

Police say some red flags to keep an eye out for include love bombing, wanting to leave the dating site to communicate, always coming up with an excuse not to meet in-person or saying they live close by and are working overseas. Other warning signs include the fraudster asking the victim not to mention them to others and offering “coaching” on crypto or other quick investments. Police advise to also be wary of someone you don’t know asking to send you money because you could unknowingly be committing a crime.

Some advice LPS has when you spot these red flags includes saying ‘no’ to the person and stop talking with them. Also, it is important to not give out personal information such as your date of birth, social insurance number or banking details.

Police suggest you avoid accepting random friend requests on social media or sending money to a stranger on the internet. Protection measures include enabling multi-factor authentication on your banking and social media accounts and avoiding opening or funding new crypto accounts when someone asks.

If you fall victim to romance scams, police encourage you to report the incident, even if you feel embarrassed. Officials say it is important to report the situation because even if something cannot be done right away, it could help someone in the future.

There are two ways to report these cases. If you have not suffered a loss, you can report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and if you have suffered a loss, you are advised to report it to your banking institution and LPS.