OPP and CAFC raise awareness of romance scams

In the wake of Valentine’s Day, members of the Southern Georgian Bay OPP detachment say they are partnering with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) to make residents aware of various romance scams.

OPP and the CAFC outlined three different scam variations, which were romance, relationship investment fraud and approval phishing.

According to OPP and the CAFC, a romance scam involves suspects targeting potential victims on dating sites or social media using photos of real people. Examples could include family photos, pet photos or hobby photos.

Suspects are then known to profess their love for a victim to gain their trust, affection and money, and will then attempt to communicate with them through WhatsApp or other different applications.

Police say this type of fraud may last over prolonged time periods, where suspects ask victims for money for fake family emergencies, business expenses, investment opportunities or other favours. Suspects could then continue making empty promises or additional requests without ever repaying the victim.

Relationship investment fraud, according to OPP and the CAFC, is where suspects develop relationships with victims and eventually convince them to invest in a fraudulent cryptocurrency platform, promising large monetary returns.

Suspects may even allow victims to cash out some of their investment to bait them into investing more, but will eventually be unable to return the victim’s full investment.

OPP and the CAFC refer to approval phishing as a newer scam variation that combines romance and relationship investment fraud. Police say suspects could convince their victims to invest in crypto and trick them into granting access to their cryptocurrency accounts.

Suspects are then known to send fake requests that appear to be from legitimate services, asking the victim to approve access to their wallet. By approving the request, the victim unknowingly gives the suspect control of their funds.

Warning Signs

To avoid becoming a fraud victim, OPP and the CAFC are advising of profiles that seem too perfect, strangers professing their love without meeting in person, attempts to meet in person constantly getting cancelled, poorly written messages, suspects appearing distressed or desperate for money, and crypto ‘get rich quick’ investment opportunities.

Police also caution against sharing personal information, accepting friend requests from or sending money to strangers, and investing money in platforms provided by strangers.

Multi-factor authentication is also strongly recommended.

OPP offers a checklist to follow for those who think they may have granted a suspect access to their crypto account.