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West Mercia Police have warned women to be careful of an online dating scam
which tricks them into thinking they are giving money to struggling British
soldiers overseas.
In a statement released on Friday, the police force said that it had been
contacted by a number of women in the region who had been targeted by
scammers posing as soliders on online dating sites.
After carefully building an online relationship with the women, the “soldiers”
ask for money to help them, for example, pay medical bills or fund setting
up a telephone link near their military base.
The most recent report of such a scam was on January 4, when a woman from
Kidderminster told West
Mercia Police that she had been contacted by a man claiming to be a
soldier abroad.
She (news) became suspicious when she worked out some of the details he had given her
about himself were false and decided to close the acquaintance.
According to the National
Fraud Authority , such “dating scams” have become
increasingly common in the past few years as more and people use online
dating websites.
In June last year, the BBC
reported that a group of scammers based in West Africa were pretending to be
US soldiers in Afghanistan order to solicit money from women they met on
dating sites. Some of these men used the names of real American soldiers,
and would take photos from military websites to use as their profile
pictures on the dating sites. Others even sent the women fake military
documents to make themselves seem more authentic.
PC Lee Halford of West Mercia Police said: “We are keen to make women who
use internet dating websites aware of these scams, so that they will
exercise caution.
“So-called ‘romance scammers’ will set out to form an online relationship
over a period of weeks or months and then make a request for money when they
feel they have established enough trust.
“In this latest reported case, the victim was lucky and we hope that by
highlighting what can happen, other women will avoid falling victim to
online fraudsters.”
According to Action
Fraud , victims of romance fraud reported losing over £3 million
between June and November (Berlin: NBXB.BE – news) 2010.
Dr Bernard Herdan, CEO of the National Fraud Authority said that the
fraudsters were “skilled in finding your emotional vulnerabilities,
making you act in a way you wouldn’t normally like sending money to
someone you’ve never met. They will use a number of different stories,
including being a soldier abroad, to cover up why they cannot meet you and
what the money is for.”
Action Fraud
advises all people using dating sites to refrain from trusting people
too quickly, avoid giving personal email addresses, and to never send money
to people not met in person.
Article source: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/Police-warn-overseas-soldier-tele-660632754.html?x=0
Category: Social Media Threats