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Any form of cybercrime and other scams initiated by one person against another is horrendous on the part of the recipient. Preying on people who might be especially vulnerable or who have their guards down is especially reprehensible. An example of this in the world of lonely hearts.
Romance scams – part of the practice of ‘catfishing’ – most often occur when criminals create fake online profiles to trick online love seekers out of their hard-earned money. Catfishing itself refers to an activity when a person takes information and images, typically from other people, and uses them to create a new identity for themselves
While these practices occur worldwide, a new study shows the U.K. is experiencing an unprecedented surge in romance scams across the summer. Heading towards this expected peak, victims have lost a record €104 million to romance scams over the last 12 months, up from €68 million in 2020.
With specific areas, London and South East of England are tied for losing the most money, each losing €14.4 million as of 1st June 2022.
The website SocialCatfish.com has released a study on the ‘Most Catfished Places in the UK in 2022’. This is based on an assessment of data from the British National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). The period examined runs from June 1, 2021 to June 1, 2022.
The study finds younger (and presumably tech-savvy) Britons are being scammed more often than their elders. Young adults ages 20-29 represent…
