Gardaí urge vigilance against romance scams as woman (30s) in Southern Ireland is swindled out of €20k

Gardaí have urged people in Cork and across the country to beware of romance scams and criminals who are taking advantage of an increase in the popularity of dating apps.

The timely reminder on Valentine’s Day comes as over €7m has been stolen from victims of romance fraud in the past five years.

In one case from 2023, Gardaí said a woman in her 40s based in the South-West lost large sums of money during the course of an online relationship.

“They spoke for months, exchanging photos having met online on a dating site and soon they were a couple despite her being based in the South-West of Ireland and he living overseas.

“During the course of their online relationship, he claimed that his construction business was failing and he required financial support.

“In the course of 100 transactions, €35,000 was stolen from this victim,” Gardaí said.

Another woman in her 30s based in the Southern Region was swindled out of €20,000 from someone she matched with on a dating app after she was falsely led to believe the money was being invested into a trading app.

“A victim will be made believe that they have met their perfect match online, but are in fact being terribly deceived,” Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau said, speaking about romance fraud generally.

“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 Garda Síochána work closely with both Europol and Interpol to disrupt those involved in fraud of this nature as part of our investigations into romance scams.” 

Det Supt Cryan urged anyone who has been impacted, or believes they have been, to come forward.

“If you have previously been or believe that you are a victim of a romance scam, please speak with us at any Garda Station.

“This can very easily happen and no one should feel embarrassed, we are here to help and will treat every report in confidence,” he said.

Among the advice An Garda Síochána have issued to guard against romance fraud is that people should use a reputable dating site and its messaging function; be careful of what personal details you share on your profile; never, ever send money or give your bank details to someone you have met online; take the image(s) they are using on their profile and Google Reverse Image Search; and if you become suspicious, save all your correspondence with the individual and immediately make contact with your bank and any Garda Station.