The Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Lanie Chopping has published a Commissioner’s Blog, declaring that not all online romances end up with happy endings.
“In fact, there are some very sad tales involving victims of romance scams,” Ms Chopping said.
“Australians reported losing more than $38 million to romance scammers in 2020, the majority of which was lost through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat,” Ms Chopping said.
“In Western Australia last year, 72 victims reported losing $2.17 million — an average loss of $30,000 each.”
She said those figures prompted Consumer Protection Agencies across Australia to remind people to be cautious and to realise that victims weren’t just those actively seeking a partner.
“It could be you, a friend or family member,” Ms Chopping said.
“Romance scammers will often spend months building up trust before asking for money from their victim, who may agree to send funds because they feel the need is genuine or believe it will be used to buy an airfare so their love-interest can travel to meet them.”
However, while the victim was feeling loved-up, the scammer became cashed-up.
“Often these people will use stock images, or images they’ve taken from someone else’s social media, so before engaging online it’s important to do a reverse-image search via Google or TinEye,” Ms Chopping said.
“Always be wary if the person you’ve met online quickly wants to move communications away from the dating website or app and onto another platform, such as email, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or Viber.”
She said if there was a request for money, but no meeting in person “that’s a big red flag — never give money to someone you haven’t met in person”.
“It’s important be careful about the personal information you share, as many romance scam victims not only lose money, but they can also experience fraud, such as discovering new mobile phone accounts set up in their name, or that their superannuation account has been accessed,” Ms Chopping said.
