Who Do Romance Scammers Target?
Romance fraud is one of the most sophisticated cybercrimes affecting people online. Every year, thousands of people are exploited through their desire for human connection.
The Scale of Romance Fraud Across the UK
In the past five years, almost 40,000 romance fraud cases were reported, with total losses exceeding £400 million. With both the frequency of these scams and the financial impact per person continuing to climb, romance fraud is one of the most common and costly attacks affecting people across the UK today.
Romance Fraud Findings
Romance fraud affects people of all backgrounds, but there are some key trends we are observing. The Cyber Helpline’s data indicates that women are the most likely to fall victim to romance fraud compared to other gender identities. Other research suggests there is a near equal split between victims reporting who identify as male and female, with reporting and financial loss patterns differing by gender.
Historically, older generations are more vulnerable to fraudsters, and our data supports this. Those aged between 40 and 66 are the most susceptible, but we find younger age brackets are increasingly targeted. In fact, adults aged between 25-39 and 18-24 are the second and third most common age brackets that fall victim respectively. Dating app and social media usage is high amongst young people, increasing the likelihood of exposure to contact from fraudsters. Overall though, older age groups remain most likely to lose significant sums and represent a majority of romance fraud cases.
When it comes to police reporting, at the point of contacting The Cyber Helpline just 13.1% of romance fraud victims reported their case to the police, compared to 86.9% who did not report.
There are many barriers that stop individuals reporting to the police, especially as this crime involves an intimate, emotional relationship. Embarrassment, fear of not being believed, lack of awareness or recognition that what has happened is a crime are all key factors that lead to underreporting. Pair this with circumstances such as feeling reporting procedures are unclear, that nothing will come of reporting, or fear of public exposure, and suddenly, reporting to the police seems like an impossible task.
Associated Crimes
We find that romance fraud is not always a standalone crime. Other crimes that commonly occur in conjunction with romance fraud are:
The shame associated with falling victim to any of these crimes prevents many from reporting and seeking help. It is through greater online vigilance and education we can remove the stigma from victims and recognise these crimes for what they really are - sophisticated attacks that can affect absolutely anyone.