Online Safety –Don’t Believe Everything You See!

What is Romance Fraud?

Romance fraud occurs when you think you’ve met the perfect partner online, but they are using a fake profile to form a relationship with you, gain your trust over time and have you believe you are in a loving and caring relationship. However, their end goal is to get your money or personal information.

Criminals are experts at impersonating people. They spend hours researching you for their scams, especially when committing romance fraud.

How to spot the signs

You’ve struck up a relationship with someone online and they declare their love for you quickly. Many fraudsters claim to be overseas because they work in the military or medical profession.
They make up excuses as to why they can’t video chat or meet in person and will try to move your conversations off the platform you met on.
When they ask for financial help, it’ll be for a time-critical emergency, and the reason will be something that pulls at the heartstrings. They may get defensive if you decline to help.
Their pictures are too perfect – they may have been stolen from an actor or model. Reverse image search can find photos that have been taken from somewhere else.
They tell you to keep your relationship private and not to discuss anything with your friends and family.

How to protect yourself

STOP: Take a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information.
CHALLENGE: Is this person really who they say they are? Could it be fake? It’s OK to reject, refuse or ignore any requests for your financial or personal details. Criminals will try to rush or panic you.
PROTECT: Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud. If you’re in Scotland, you can report to Police Scotland by calling 101.

See: Romance fraud | Crimestoppers

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deepfakes

The use of AI is becoming more widely used in these kind of scams. Deepfakes are digitally created and altered content often in the form of fake images, videos and audio recordings. In some cases, this deepfaked content can take on the exact likeness of a real person – this could be of you, of someone you know or even celebrities – perhaps you’d heard about the AI Brad Pitt scam: French woman duped by AI Brad Pitt faces mockery online – BBC News. Deepfakes aren’t always harmful or illegal but they can be used for malicious and criminal purposes, so it is important to be alert.

See: Introduction to AI Guide with a focus on Counter Fraud (HTML) – GOV.UK

Financial Scamming

The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) offer the following tips to keep you and your money safe:

Do: 

Treat all unexpected calls, emails and text messages with caution. Don’t assume they’re genuine, even if the person knows some basic information about you.
Hang up on calls and ignore messages if you feel pressured to act quickly. A genuine bank or business won’t mind waiting if you want time to think. 
Check your bank account and credit card statements regularly.
Consider getting independent financial advice or guidance before a big financial decision. (MoneyHelper has information on how to find a financial adviser).
Check overseas regulators if you’re dealing with an overseas firm (you should also check the list of scam warnings from overseas regulators).

Don’t: 

Give out your bank account or credit card details unless you’re certain who you’re dealing with. 
Share your passwords with anyone (including your social media passwords).
Give access to your device by downloading software or an app from a source you don’t trust. Scammers may be able to take control of your device and access your bank account.

Sextortion

‘Sextortion’ is the short name for ‘financially motivated sexual extortion’. It is a type of online blackmail where criminals threaten to share sexual pictures, videos or information about their intended victim, which can cause enormous emotional distress.

Key things to know about Sextortion:

Key targets are boys aged 14-17, followed by men aged 18-30.
Currently 91% of victims are male, and now the IWF warn of in an increase in girls being targeted.
Largely carried out by organised crime groups
Experts believe over 100 people per day are targeted by these groups, with a 2600% increase in cases reported to IWF from April to October 2024

If ever have any Safeguarding concerns, talk to your Line Manager, Safeguarding Officer or contact JGA’s Safeguarding Lead, Paula Wakelin – safeguarding@jga-group.co.uk. Help and support is there for you if you reach out.