Humberside Police Message: It’s a match – Taking to Tinder to raise awareness of dating scams

Over the past few days people in our area have received a ‘Tinder Surprise’ as we’ve been dishing out advice to singletons in a bid to raise awareness of romance fraud and the devastating impact it can have on its victims.

To coincide with valentine’s day, we launched a new campaign reminding people to ask the right questions when dating online, to get to know the person, not the profile and on Wednesday 12 February we joined Tinder to help spread the word.

Detective Sergeant Ben Robinson said “Nationally romance fraud is on the rise. Over the last twelve months several victims in our area have lost over one hundred thousand pounds. If we can get people talking about romance fraud then hopefully we can stop innocent people losing their hard earned cash”.

“It’s all about using every tool at our disposal to make sure we reach as many people as we can to prevent victims of this callous crime”

“We’ve been matching with people and giving out some friendly and useful advice to help keep them safe whilst they search for Mr or Mrs Right”

The data, from police reporting centre Action Fraud, showed that £50m was lost to these scams in 2018 when fraudsters tricked innocent and often vulnerable people into thinking they’re romantically attached. Last year, one of several victims in our area lost over £100,000 after sending money to a man they’d met online.

It can be difficult for the Police and other agencies to recover money lost through romance fraud as scammers often operate overseas, so we would urge people to make themselves and their loved ones aware of how these people operate.

Follow our top tips to help keep you safe while looking for love:

• Don’t rush into an online relationship – get to know the person, not the profile and ask plenty of questions.
• Analyse their profile and check the person is genuine by putting their name, profile pictures or any repeatedly used phrases and the term ‘dating scam’ into your search engine.
• Talk to your friends and family about your dating choices. Be wary of anyone who tells you not to tell others about them.
• Evade scammers by never sending money to, or sharing your bank details with, someone you’ve met online, no matter what reason they give or how long you’ve been speaking to them.
• Stay on the dating site messenger service until you’re confident the person is who they say they are. If you do decide to meet in person, make sure the first meeting is in a public place and let someone else know where you’re going to be.

What to do if you’re the victim of this type of fraud: 

• Don’t feel embarrassed, these fraudsters can be very convincing!
• Report it to Action Fraud, the national fraud and cyber-crime reporting centre. You can do this on-line by going to www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud or by calling 0300 123 2040
• If you’ve paid by credit or debit card for anything, or made a bank transfer contact your card provider/bank and explain that you have been a victim. They’ll be able to give you advice on how to cancel payments and protect your identity from being possibly stolen.
• We’re always here to help. You can call us on 101 or 999 in an emergency.