Broken hearts and empty pockets. The National Securities Market Commission, Spain’s market watchdog, has issued an unusual warning about the rise of romance scams, also known as romance scamsa type of fraud in which those affected end up losing large sums of money after trusting a supposed Prince Charming who disappears from social networks before turning into a toad.
The market observer, who usually issues warnings about possible scams in financial beach bars, about the danger of investing in cryptocurrencies, complex financial products or figures such as contracts for difference (CFDs), now draws attention to this type of fraud: “Your new friend is rich, attractive, travels and likes everything you do. But how did he get so rich? By investing in cryptocurrencies, gold or currencies, and he will show you how he did it,” he explains. A type of fraud that in its essence is no different from a normal financial scam, which lures its users through the Internet and social networks to keep their money by promising high returns. The only thing that changes is the hook.
While these schemes usually exploit weaknesses such as greed, the impersonation effect or the bias of authority, what is known as romance fraud appeals to potential victims with promises of friendship or love. The supervisor points out that it is people who live alone or who spend a lot of time on social networks or forums who are most vulnerable to this type of fraud. “Be especially cautious if you are widowed, divorced, or live far from your family and friends. And fight these scams by sharing this information with anyone you know who is in a similar situation,” he says.
In the United Kingdom, this type of scam generated a loss of 106 million pounds, approximately 120 million euros, in the last fiscal year. According to calculations by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), there were 9,449 reports of romance fraud, 9% more than a year earlier, and, on average, each victim saw £11,222 disappear. In the United States, money defrauded in 2021 using this method rose to 547 million dollars, approximately 470 million euros.
In Spain, where between 2021 and 2024 one in five adults was the target of a cyber scam, there is no specific data on this type of fraud, but only several cases connected to it are known: a person was arrested for having defrauded more than 350,000 euros from a man with this method in the region of León, Ribera del Órbigo, in April and in the same month the Guardia Civil, as part of the operation False James, He arrested 21 others for crimes of fraud, money laundering and possession of a criminal organization. They defrauded a total of 1.5 million euros from more than 70 victims. Last year three brothers died in Morata de Tajuña, victims of a score-settling motivated by a fraud of this type. Among the most well-known scammers is the name of Simon Leviev, who for years scammed his friends by posing as a rich businessman with enemies in need of help and who gained notoriety thanks to the Netflix series The Tinder scammer.
The CNMV specifies that these types of scams start very innocently, by meeting someone through social networks, a dating app or a text message saying they have the wrong number. “Before you know it, you’re texting each other every day. He may be ‘bombarding’ you with frequent texts, calls, or developing a non-romantic relationship with you. But you never see each other in person,” the supervisor notes. If the victim invests in the recommended app and tries to withdraw his money, he will find that he cannot and that his friend has disappeared with the money.
Danger signs
The supervisor gives some signals to take into account to avoid falling for this type of scam, such as the speed of the relationship, not knowing each other with the excuse of being abroad, in a military destination or on an oil platform. And warns that one of the main red flag What to keep in mind is that they ask for money or talk about investments: “A person with real emotional interest won’t ask you for money this early in the relationship, much less an investment opportunity,” he points out.
Added to all this are other signals, such as the promise of high profits with little or no risk and the need to urgently make investments so as not to miss the opportunity. Added to this are also the obstacles that alleged scammers usually place in allowing the victim to withdraw their money, going so far as to comment on the existence of “technical problems or even ‘taxes’ or ‘commissions’ to be paid in advance. And above all the search for isolation: “They will try to convince you not to talk about your ‘investment’ with friends or family”, he underlines.
Given all this, the CNMV underlines that the best advice is to ignore this type of message, blocking the possible criminal if necessary; Do not make investment decisions based on what someone you just met, or provide personal information or download possible suspicious programs or applications. If despite all this you suspect that you have fallen for a scam of this type, the supervisor advises you to stop all communication with the scammers and not to give them any more money.
Banking bodies add that if you think you have been scammed in this way, notify the police as soon as possible, save all the data and information of the scammer, as it may be required in the investigation and report his profile in the application or site so they can remove him.
