Gardaí warn of romance scammers and criminals on dating apps this Valentine’s day

Gardaí have warned dating apps users to be extra vigilant this Valentine’s day as criminals take advantage of an increase in the popularity of dating apps among those seeking romance.

Over €7 million has been stolen from victims of romance fraud in the last five years. Of the 245 victims that have come forward to an garda síochána since 2020, the majority were female and their average financial loss was €28,500. The highest reported loss by a female in Ireland was over €450,000 stolen in 18 transactions, while one male victim had more than €380,000 taken.

Typically, fraudsters use someone else’s photos to set up a fake profile on dating apps and online dating sites to scour through profiles to identify potential victims who they will then target and groom over a sustained period in an effort to extract their money.

The requests for money start small and in some instances if these initial asks are provided for by the victim, they will be repaid so as to build trust. 

In time, the requests will increase in amount and before a victim necessarily realises it they’re being pressured to pay anything from essential medical bills and custom duties, to purchasing flights and Visa’s.

Detective superintendent Michael Cryan of the garda national economic crime bureau said, "A victim will be made believe that they have met their perfect match online, but are in fact being terribly deceived. It becomes a huge invasion of privacy and a breach of trust which can impact your whole view of people and the possibility of romance, but it’s important to remember that this fraud and it is a crime.

"It is often the case that a victim’s money is transferred overseas to fund organised criminal activities such as terrorism, human trafficking, people smuggling and even corruption." 

An example of a romance scam case study involving a female, 30s began after matching on a dating app. The victim was led to believe that her match was an online trader. He added his victim to a messaging app where they spoke for several weeks, and subsequently convinced her to transfer over €20,000 via a neobank. The victim was falsely made to believe that this money was being invested into a trading app.