More than £18million was lost to online dating scammers last year, figures show, as criminals cashed in on innocent people looking for love during lockdown.
Trade association UK Finance recorded a 20% increase in bank transfer fraud linked to romance scams between January and November 2020, compared with a year earlier.
It said on average, victims lost £7,850 each. Romance scammers can trick people out of their cash in many ways, not just by bank transfer.
The UK's national fraud reporting centre Action Fraud also recorded an increase in romance scam reports in 2020, with total reported losses equating to more than £68million.
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