GUARDIAN.CO.UK - Sep 28 - More than 200K people in Britain may have been conned by fraudsters posing as would-be romantic partners on dating sites, according a study by the universities of Leicester and Westminster, working with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca). They found 2% of people surveyed personally knew someone who had experienced the crime. Victims tend to be middle-aged women. The faked romances can last for a long time – the longest the researchers heard of was five years.
Soca has compiled a list of tell-tale signs for people to look out for
- A distant location and/or a job in the military
- A fondness for Windows Messenger or similar applications
- A suspiciously attractive and/or rugged-looking photo
- A quick adoption of a pet name:
- A predisposition towards financial or other misfortunes