A major bank has issued a stark warning to those looking for love this summer – watch out for romance scams.
Reports of romance scams skyrocketed by 139 per cent when comparing the period March to April with the period May to June, according to Barclays.
It is becoming more common for shameless scammers to pretend to be interested in a romantic relationship with their victim in order to gain their trust before manipulating them into sending money or personal information
Handing out confidential information can cause the victim significant financial and emotional harm.
Men reported the majority of romance scams to Barclays while women typically lost the most money.
The number of romance scams reported to Barclays has increased by 139 per cent when comparing the period March to April with the period May to June (Stock Image)
Romance scammers ask their victims to send money or to share personal information which can lead to significant financial and emotional harm (Stock Image)
On average, female victims lose £8,900, while men lose around £3,500.
Kirsty Adams, a fraud and scams expert at Barclays, said: ‘It may be surprising to see that men more often fall victim to romance scams, as stereotypes have often incorrectly painted women as more susceptible.
‘This is backed by our additional research, which shows that men are generally more willing than women to transfer money to people they have recently started dating, even if they are yet to meet in person.’
What should you do if you get tangled up in a romance scam?
Ms Adams advised: ‘It can be easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of a new romance, but we’re urging everyone to make sure they have taken the time to truly get to know and verify the identity of the person they are speaking to before transferring any sum of money, no matter what reason they give or how urgent the request seems.’
July accounted for 12 per cent of romance scam claims made last year, with the number of reports around two-and-a-half times higher than the Valentine’s period in February 2024, Barclays’ analysis found.
It added that a significant proportion of romance scams it deals with originate on dating websites and apps, or on social media.
Although more men reported romance scams last year, it appears women were swindled out of more money (Stock Image)
The majority of romance scams originate on dating websites and apps (Stock Image)
Barclays also commissioned a survey of 2,000 people in June by Censuswide to gather opinions on online dating.
It found that 34 per cent of people who are single feel more inclined to try dating in the summer months.
Nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of men said they would consider sending money to someone they were in an online relationship with but whom they had not met in person, compared with 7 per cent of women.
Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of people said they have encouraged a family member or friend to stop online dating due to concerns over romance scams.
A fifth (21 per cent) of people have a friend or family member whom they fear could be susceptible to a romance scam.
Highlighting the role of tech companies in preventing scams, Ms Adams said: ‘We will only be able to drive back the scams epidemic through collaboration – working together, across industries, to stop scams at their source.’
She added that no-one should feel ashamed of falling for a romance scam.
A fraud and scam expert from Barclays said that anyone can fall for a ‘sophisticated’ romance scam
Ms Adams said: ‘It can happen to anyone and scammers often adopt sophisticated tactics and invest a huge amount of time into building a relationship and sense of trust with their victims.
‘It’s important that this stigma doesn’t prevent a scam from being reported.
‘We strongly encourage anyone who has been targeted to report it to their bank and to open up to family and friends for emotional support.’