With more people staying at home due to lockdown restrictions, there has been an increase in especially older women going online to find romance. But that hope of finding love and an exciting new relationship often leads to being out of pocket.
Several victims in the district of cyber scams (all women) have related details of being fleeced out of amounts varying from R8000 to R80 000. The fraudsters manipulate those looking for love for as long as they can – extracting money out of them as payment for ‘gifts’. Once the money has been withdrawn, the ‘partner’ is never head from again.
Kalyani Pillay, CEO of SABRIC (South African Banking Risk Information Centre), confirmed in a press release a surge in the increase in the prevalence of romance scams – which ‘is worrying and very difficult to curb, given that the modus operandi exploits the emotions of the victims, who believe they are in a romantic relationship with someone who allegedly cares for them’.
“Even when banks are able to detect that a victim is about to make a payment based on false pretences, these victims often insist on proceeding with the transaction, as they do not accept that they are being defrauded,” Ms Pillay said.
She further warned that while online dating and romance scams were initially perpetrated by fraudsters who were either operating alone or in relatively small syndicated groups, organised criminals have now entered this arena and the scale and sophistication of these scams have increased significantly in recent times. These crimes are considered low-risk with high-reward by the perpetrators, and because they do not intend to meet their victims, the scam can be executed from anywhere on the globe.
“They target victims, identified mostly through social media platforms, who appear to be affluent,” she said. “A typical profile would be a middle-aged or elderly widow or divorcee who may seem to have access to large amounts of cash.
This information is easily gleaned off a victim’s Facebook or Instagram profile if the security settings are not strictly applied. Sourcing information from online dating sites is also relatively easy, because these victims usually share very freely in the hope of finding a romantic partner. It is important to note that while many victims have been female, men have also been duped with romance or online dating scams.”
But how do seemingly street-wise women fall for these ‘stories’ and part with their money – in these cases, thousands of rands?
Ms Pillay said the scam artists are well prepared and adjust their story-line to ensure it is aligned with what the victim would generally be interested in.
“The persona assumed by the perpetrator is geared to impress the victim, and photographs are carefully chosen. Once a long-distance relationship is established, requests for financial assistance follow. The reasons given vary from assistance with the costs of a plane ticket to visit the victim, to emergency medical assistance. Victims who are tricked into believing that they are communicating with a genuine friend then render the assistance to their own detriment. Promises of gifts from exotic locations are also sent to ‘the new love interest’ who are then told they will have to pay up to “R10 000 to their bank to have the gift released due to foreign exchange rules’.
The account number quoted for the ‘foreign exchange tax’ goes straight to the fraudster and, of course, no gift ever arrives. Victims will be exploited for as long as the perpetrator manages to manipulate them. Funds paid are usually withdrawn immediately and once the victim realises what has transpired, there is usually no opportunity to recover the funds.” 
