Recovery of Money lost to Romance Fraud

Scams and frauds using celebrity images are rampant.  The consumer publication Which? points out that fake “get rich quick” adverts pepper social media using bogus celebrity images purporting to endorse a sham investment fraud or product. This creation of fake celebrity images is made much easier by the use of AI.  Stolen photos and AI-generated videos of celebrities are used to scam victims out of thousands of pounds. One of the most reprehensible types of fraud is romance fraud where an individual is targeted by a fraudster proclaiming undying love for the victim.  The use of celebrity images as tactic in this odious type of fraud that is rising.

It was recently reported in the press that a 53 year old married French lady was persuaded by a romance fraudster that he was Brad Pitt and was in love with her.  This delusion was maintained by the fraudster for 18 months during which time the lady had transferred a sums of money to the fraudster.  Initially demands for money were relatively small sums, culminating in a total amounting to £700,000 following demands for money for treatment for kidney cancer, saying that his bank accounts were frozen and he needed urgent treatment.

Joanna Bailey, head of the banking and fraud litigation department, commented “romance fraud is one of the most under-reported crimes as people who have been caught in such a fraud often feel completely humiliated by the fact that they were taken in.  They should be aware that they are not alone and many people are persuaded by the highly plausible fraudsters that they are in a real relationship.”  Joanna further commented “they should also not lose hope of recovering their stolen money as in some circumstances it may be possible to recover their money.  Recovery is more likely if the target of the fraud does not alert the fraudster to the fact that they have recognised that they have been drawn into a romance fraud.”

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) which is run by the City of London Police, report that during the course of last year it received 8,792 reports of romance fraud.  The losses attributed to this type of fraud amounted to over £94.7 million.  

Detective Superintendent Oliver Little, of the City of London Police, said

“Romance fraud continues to be one of the most common types of fraud that is reported and it is shocking to see an increase of nearly ten per cent in the number of reports made in the last year.

Despite this increase, we know romance fraud is a heavily under-reported crime so it is likely to be significantly more widespread. We encourage everyone to come forward if they think they could be a victim.

There is no shame in telling your story, as it is through this sharing of intelligence that can really help us learn about the tactics used and, ultimately, catch those responsible. Your report may be the final piece in the puzzle, as often these callous criminals will target more than one person.” 

Romance fraudsters are prepared to play the long-game and spend on average a year to persuade their victim that they are genuine before pressuring their victims into sending them money.  There are various reasons that are used.

The common excuses used:

• Asking for money due to an emergency, often a medical emergency often involving family members
• Persuading their target that they have an unmissable investment opportunity which will make both the fraudster and their target a fortune
• Money is needed for urgent travel
• Money is needed for a mobile phone
• Sudden financial crisis such as business accounts frozen
• Legal issues such as bail is needed for a much-loved troubled young relative

The romance fraudster’s hunting ground is, unsurprisingly, dating websites.  The most likely people to be targeted are men aged 50–79 and women aged 30-79.  If a person does start an on-line relationship, under no circumstances should you:

• Provide them access to your bank account
• Send them any money
• Act on their behalf to take out a loan
• Provide copies of sensitive personal documents such as your passport or driving licence
• Send them any gift cards

If you think that you have been targeted by a romance scammer, whether or not they are attempting to pass themselves off as a celebrity you can use the facility of Google Lens reverse image search that will show you were an image has been used before.  If the image appears on several sites it could be a sign of a scam.

Romance fraud remains a pervasive issue in the UK.  Joanna Bailey and her team in the banking and financial fraud department have developed strategies to pull back the money that a romance fraudster has extracted from their targets.  Recovery of funds can be pursued through civil litigation, provided the victim reports the fraud promptly and demonstrates they took reasonable care.  Also, our lawyers can establish whether any banks involved in the transaction have failed in their duty of care to protect their customers from fraud. 

Joanna is a partner who heads our banking and financial fraud litigation department.

Joanna frequently leads the litigation against financial institutions involved in cryptocurrency trading disputes, as well as Forex investment issues and regulatory investigations and has some considerable success in retrieving our clients' funds lost in fraud.

She has developed a range of strategies both to find the assets of the individuals perpetrating the fraudulent schemes and restore the funds to our clients. As well as recognising culpability in the organisations facilitating (but not associated with the fraud), by failing to undertake adequate due diligence.

Joanna led the first case in Europe where proceedings were served on Persons Unknown connected with two digital wallets over the blockchain by non-fungible token or ‘NFT’ in a cryptocurrency fraud. Following this ground-breaking case Joanna was named as Lawyer of the Week in the Financial Times.

Joanna is highly experienced in high-value out-of-court settlement negotiations and has in-depth knowledge of the Civil Procedure Rules as well as English common law.

If you would like to know more about recovering your money lost to romance fraud please contact Joanna's clerk Joseph Crick on JC@giambronelaw.com or please click here