Mounties in Richmond, B.C., are warning the public after a 含羞草研究社渟ignificant rise含羞草研究社� 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 含羞草研究社渓ong-con scams含羞草研究社� 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含羞草研究社檚 loneliness to build connections and gain trust.
含羞草研究社淪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,含羞草研究社� said Hwang, adding that these scammers have been 含羞草研究社渄oing their homework含羞草研究社� on potential victims.
含羞草研究社淢oney is never mentioned at the beginning. It含羞草研究社檚 always about building that trust and building the rapport with the victim if they have a lot of things in common,含羞草研究社� he added.
Scammers employ a variety of tactic, he said, such as 含羞草研究社淚 used to go to school in that region含羞草研究社� or 含羞草研究社淚 enjoyed that restaurant含羞草研究社� 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.
含羞草研究社淭he criminal might say, 含羞草研究社榃ell, look at the money that you allow me to invest. It含羞草研究社檚 already returned this much profit. Would you like me to give that profit back to you or do you want to reinvest it?含羞草研究社澓卟菅芯可鐧 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 含羞草研究社渙verly attractive含羞草研究社� profiles or strangers who show romantic interests.
含羞草研究社淚f somebody truly is interested in you, I don含羞草研究社檛 think that should come up,含羞草研究社� said Hwang, referring to the romance scammers asking for money following flattering messages.
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