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Don’t Let Romance Scammers Break Your Heart This Valentine’s Day

Fraudsters are creating convincing online profiles to win your trust – and steal your money. Here’s what you need to know.

 

Ahead of Valentine’s Day, FraudSMART is reminding people to be extra cautious online. Romance scams continue to cause serious financial and emotional harm, and fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Using convincing profiles, emotionally charged messages and carefully crafted stories, scammer build trust over time before asking for money. Anyone can be targeted, which is why staying alert this Valentine’s matters.

What is a Romance Scam:

A romance scam happens when a fraudster creates a fake identity and builds an online relationship to gain someone’s trust, only to exploit it later. Scammers often spend weeks or even months forming what feels like a genuine connection. Once trust is established, they introduce urgent requests for money. These may involve sudden emergencies, claims that their bank account is “frozen for legal reasons”, or pressure to act quickly or keep the request a secret. Over time, the emotional manipulation can make the warning signs harder to recognise and increases the risk of significant loss.

 

Katherine’s story*

Katherine’s experience shows how easily a romance scam can develop and how difficult it can be to recognise while it is happening.

Katherine began chatting online with ‘Marcus’ who showed her consistent attention and interest, asking a lot of personal questions but sharing very little about himself. He encouraged her to move their chats to private messaging, yet always found excuses to avoid video calls or meeting in person. Their conversations quickly became part of her daily routine, and as the emotional intensity grew, she came to trust him deeply.

Eventually, Marcus claimed his bank account was “frozen for legal reasons” and urgently needed help. He asked Katherine to buy gift cards, initially requesting smaller amounts and reassuring her it was temporary. Over time, the demands increased and he encouraged her to keep the situation private.

Katherine mentioned the payments to a trusted friend, who became concerned and advised her to speak to her bank. At first, Katherine couldn’t believe there was anything wrong, but eventually her friend persuaded her to contact her bank and report the situation to the Gardaí. They helped her realise that is was a romance scam, designed to feel like a real relationship, making it difficult for Katherine to recognise the scam while it was happening.

*Some details have been adapted to protect the individual’s identity.

Warning signs – If this sounds familiar, pause and contact your bank:

  1. Despite weeks or even months of communication, the person avoids video calls and meeting up, using elaborate excuses.
  2. Conversations on dating app quickly moves to private messages.
  3. The conversations focus on you. They ask you many personal questions while revealing very little about themselves.
  4. Rapid emotional intensity used to build trust.
  5. Sudden and urgent request for money or gift cards often escalating in value for emergencies or alleged crisis.

How to protect yourself online:

  • Take your time when forming relationships online and be cautious about what personal information you share.
  • Never send money, gift cards or bank account details to someone you have just met online.
  • Remember, anyone can pretend to be someone else online.

What to do if you Suspect Fraud:

If you believe you may have been targeted by a romance scam, it is important to know that this can happen to anyone. Fraudsters are skilled, calculated and trained to exploit trust and emotions.

  • Contact Your Bank: If you think you may have sent money or shared financial details, report the incident to your bank immediately.
  • Report it to your local Garda station: You should also report fraudulent activity to your local your local Garda station.

Stay Informed: Help keep your family and friends safe

Romance scams are constantly evolving. Share this alert with your family and friends so that they too can stay safe and encourage them to sign up for the FraudSMART fraud alerts to stay updated.