Over £3 million lost to romance fraudsters by Kent victims last year

Kent Police is warning people to beware of romance fraud after a Swale resident was tricked out of almost £100,000 and lost her home.

She is one of thousands of victims targeted by dating scammers every year in the UK, with Kent residents losing a total of £3.1 million in the last financial year.

This week the force is supporting a national campaign aimed at raising awareness of romance fraud and helping people to spot when someone may be trying to take advantage of them.

A total of 240 reports were received from Kent victims in 2024/25, with each person being conned out of an average of £13,000 each.

Vulnerable

The Swale resident who was targeted was contacted through social media in 2022 by a person purporting to be an American serviceman, at a time when she was vulnerable following a bereavement.

The victim spoke with them over several months and she grew to trust him. After a couple of years, she was persuaded they were in a relationship and, when he said he was deployed overseas and needed help with food and medical expenses, started to send him cash in the form of gift cards.

Over time, the woman sent more and more money to a point where she found herself in considerable debt and ultimately lost her house.

When she sought to withdraw from the relationship, she was contacted by other fraudsters threatening to disclose intimate details about her on the internet. She was then contacted by another criminal who said he was from the FBI and could assist her with the threats she had been receiving. On each occasion, the victim lost more money.

Kent Police was contacted by the woman’s bank in May 2025 after they suspected she had been the victim of a scam. An investigation is underway and at this stage nobody has been arrested and the missing money has not been traced.

Investigators did, however, approach a jeweller where the victim had deposited a family heirloom to obtain some cash to unwittingly send to the offenders. The managers at the business, once the circumstances were explained, were happy to return the item to the victim at no cost.

Cruel offence

Detective Chief Inspector Helen Smithers of Kent Police said:

‘Romance fraud is a particularly cruel offence because the criminals responsible prey on the emotions of their victims, letting them think they are falling in love when they are actually falling for an elaborate scam. ‘Unfortunately some victims do not realise until it is too late, by which point they have already lost thousands of pounds to the fraudsters who often invent stories as to why they need their money. This can include to pay for flights to meet them or because they need financial support for a sick relative. ‘Our best advice is to never send money to someone who you have never met in person or do not completely trust. If you have any doubts about a person’s intentions, always speak to a family member or friend for advice because if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.’

Advice

• If you have met someone via a dating app, do not feel pressured to hand over your mobile number and move the conversation over to a chat platform.
• Be suspicious of any requests for money from someone you have never met in person.
• Be cautious about how much personal information you are sharing online and who you are sharing information with.
• Speak to your family or friends to get advice and perspective. Fraudsters will subtly isolate you for their own purposes.
• Profile photos may not be genuine. Performing a reverse image search can find photos that have been taken from somewhere or someone else.

It is important that no matter how long you have been speaking to someone online and how much you think you trust them, do not:
• send them any money, even in the form of gift cards;
• allow them access to your bank account;
• transfer money on their behalf;
• take a loan out for them;
• provide copies of your personal documents such as passports or driving licences;
• invest your own money on their behalf or on their advice;
• purchase and send the codes on gift cards; or
• agree to receive and/or send parcels (e.g. laptops/mobile phones etc.) on their behalf.