31 cases of romance fraud, costing victims more than €800,000, were reported in Ireland in the first 5 months of the year.
Gardaí are warning people, particularly those who meet their partners on dating apps and social media.
With the exception of one, all of the cases reported happened online, and the majority of victims were women.
In almost every case, the stolen money was transferred to accounts outside Ireland or to bitcoin wallets.
Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan says most fraudsters won’t ask for money immediately:
“They won’t look for money straight away. It’ll take time and then there’ll be a hard luck story; they’ll have been the victim of a crime, or their credit card, or something like that has been lost and they need a small amount of money. The victim sends it and that’s where it starts from”
