The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau says it received nearly 9,000 reports of romance fraud last year totalling £94.7m, an increase of 8.4 per cent on the previous year. The City of London Police run body said that the average loss per person amounts to £10.7k.

Romance fraud is when people are defrauded into sending money to criminals who go to great lengths to gain their trust and convince them that they are in a genuine relationship. Often victims are groomed for more than a year before the fraud takes place; it is targeted financially, emotionally, and psychologically, with nearly half of victims meeting the fraudster via a dating site