Ombudsman sees greater than 500 romance rip-off complaints

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Your assist makes all of the distinction. Learn extra Greater than 500 complaints associated to romance scams have been acquired by the Monetary Ombudsman Service (FOS) between January 2025 and March 2026.

Romance scams occur when fraudsters persuade typically weak folks to ship cash to them, by gaining their belief and convincing them that they're in a relationship.

Typically, the service mentioned instances that it sees contain scammers utilizing social media and gaming apps to lure victims, attractive them in the direction of extra personal messaging apps.

Criminals will typically seek for profiles of widowed folks or divorcees, the FOS mentioned.

Patrick Hurley, ombudsman director on the FOS, mentioned: “Being the sufferer of a fraud or rip-off might be deeply distressing and sadly for many individuals the monetary implications might be life-changing.

“Romance scams notably can go away an emotional scar and the affect on victims is usually vital.

“Our service gives free, honest and closing solutions to your monetary complaints. So, should you’re sad with how your monetary supplier has dealt with your problem, you'll be able to convey a criticism to us.”