Romance fraud: £30m stolen in South East in past four years

In the last four years, romance fraudsters have stolen £13.6m in Sussex alone

Victims of romance fraud in the South East have lost more than £30m in the last four years, new figures show.

Data obtained by BBC Radio Kent reveals there were 2,707 cases of romance fraud in Kent, Sussex and Surrey between January 2018 and December 2022.

A widow has told how she sent thousands of pounds to a fake British soldier who claimed he was stationed in Baghdad.

Police have reminded the public to "never assume, never believe, and check everything".

In the last four years, romance fraudsters have stolen £13.6m in Sussex, across 1,128 separate cases.

In Kent and Surrey, this figure reached £10.1m and £6.3m respectively, Freedom of Information data has shown.

'Heartbroken'

Kent Police Det Ch Insp Rob Harper urged those contacted through online dating sites to research the individual and conduct a reverse image search to see if their photo has been used elsewhere.

"If someone is asking you for money and you have never met them, do not send them any money," he said.

"They'll always start small. They'll start with a couple of hundred pounds, but then it becomes bigger and bigger and bigger."

At least one victim in Kent lost more than £500,000 from a dating scammer.

Det Supt Gavin Moss, from Kent Police's Economic Crime Unit, added that romance fraud hurts victims both financially and emotionally.

"Victims have lost their life savings and been left heartbroken, often too embarrassed to tell their families," he said.

Val McKie sent £8,500 to a fake British army major she met through online dating

Following the death of her husband, Val McKie sent £8,500 to a fake British Army major she met through online dating.

The man claimed he wanted to start a new life with her, but needed money to buy himself out of the military.

"I'd never really dated so it was all new to me," she said.

After she transferred the money in three separate transactions, she never heard from the man again.

Ms McKie said she had to deal with a "sense of shame" for many years.

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