Mounties in Richmond, B.C., are warning the public after a 鈥渟ignificant rise鈥� in romance scams and investment schemes in the city, with a loss of more than $16 million last year.
Police said they received 87 reports of romance crimes in 2023, and the trend continues this year with another 12 cases being reported between January and March with nearly $500,000 lost.
RCMP say these 鈥渓ong-con scams鈥� involve grooming of the victims over weeks or months to nurture the relationship enough to convince them to invest their money in the fraud scheme.
The criminals usually find their victims through dating websites or other social media, and police say they entice them with false promises of profit, and may even show fake returns on initial investments, before their victims are financially ruined.
Richmond RCMP spokesman Dennis Hwang said in an interview Tuesday that fraudsters prey on people鈥檚 loneliness to build connections and gain trust.
鈥淪ometimes people are picked randomly, but other times, they will be analyzing certain profiles of people on dating sites to see if they might be susceptible,鈥� said Hwang, adding that these scammers have been 鈥渄oing their homework鈥� on potential victims.
鈥淢oney is never mentioned at the beginning. It鈥檚 always about building that trust and building the rapport with the victim if they have a lot of things in common,鈥� he added.
Scammers employ a variety of tactic, he said, such as 鈥淚 used to go to school in that region鈥� or 鈥淚 enjoyed that restaurant鈥� to befriend potential victims.
As victims slowly let their guard down and become friendly during conversations, scammers will eventually bring up the idea of investing.
鈥淭he criminal might say, 鈥榃ell, look at the money that you allow me to invest. It鈥檚 already returned this much profit. Would you like me to give that profit back to you or do you want to reinvest it?鈥濃�� Hwang said.
The scams usually involve cryptocurrencies, and police say they believe the actual number of victims may be higher as some might be hesitant to come forward due to embarrassment or fear.
Police say people need to stay cautious and be skeptical of unsolicited contacts, especially from 鈥渙verly attractive鈥� profiles or strangers who show romantic interests.
鈥淚f somebody truly is interested in you, I don鈥檛 think that should come up,鈥� said Hwang, referring to the romance scammers asking for money following flattering messages.
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