‘Cruel’ romance scams cost Northern Irish victims almost £900,000

Almost £900,000 has been lost to “cruel” romance fraud in Northern Ireland since April, the PSNI have warned.

They say between April 2025 and the start of this month more than £866,700 has been taken in around 100 cases of the crime reported to the forces.

They are using this Valentine’s Day weekend to highlight what they call a “cruel and very personal fraud”.

Chief Inspector Boyd described the amounts taken as “life-changing sums of money”.

He said one person reported losing more than £40,000 after meeting a fraudster online.

“The relationship then grew over time,” he explained “before they were persuaded into transferring money, which happened on multiple occasions, either sending money directly or purchasing gift cards to send codes on to the scammer”.

Another reported victim lost around £15,000 over the course of several months.

The PSNI advise people to protect themselves against romance fraudsters by checking the social media presence of prospective partners to verify the information they are providing.

They also suggest using reverse image search tools to check profile pictures are genuine.

And they say to never send money to someone you have not met in person.