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BBC report about romance scams

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 2:53 pm
by knuckles
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bsvn2c


Billion-Pound Romance Scam
Panorama

It's a crime that breaks the hearts of victims as well as emptying their bank accounts. Thousands of people lose money to romance frauds each year after being conned on internet dating sites. The criminals are called catfish, and they promise love and marriage to get cash. Reporter Athar Ahmad turns the tables on the fraudsters by using his own fake dating profile to expose the international gangs behind the crime.

Re: BBC report about romance scams

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:35 pm
by knuckles
program showed Nigerians as usual up to their scamming ways .in very complicated schemes across all continents that eventually led back to Lagos ,,all facilitated by Western union as usual

Re: BBC report about romance scams

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 1:23 pm
by knuckles
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46260729

It's a tough conversation to listen to.

The woman on the phone thinks she has a fiancé in the US. But the romantic emails she's been receiving are really coming from a small town in Nigeria.

Laura Lyons has to break the bad news.

She's a private investigator who specialises in tracking down online romance fraudsters, otherwise known as "catfish".

"When you have to go back to individuals and explain to them that this person doesn't exist, they're not real, that is really hard to do," she says.

The catfish are often based in Africa and work from pre-written romantic scripts in internet cafes.

Their stories are designed to tug at the heart strings and to empty bank accounts.

More than a quarter of new relationships now start through a dating website or app, so there's no shortage of potential victims.

Most victims are too embarrassed to go to the police, but there are still 10 catfish crimes a day reported in the UK. Those affected by such scams lose on average around £15,000.