Gardaí suspect a notorious Nigerian gang is carrying the vast majority of romance frauds in Ireland - as they urge people to be wary of online relationships.
The crime has increased by 23 per cent in the last year here as victims lost €1.95million.
Over a four year period, back to 2019, €5.9m overall has been lost by people at the hands of scam artists.
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New figures also reveal that 70 per cent of victims are female.
The Black Axe mob’s emergence here is believed to be a major contributor in the rise of romance fraud.
The gang emerged in the 1970s in Nigeria where they carried out mutilation and ritual murders.
It went on to build a powerful international network and is involved in fraud, drug trafficking and prostitution.
It has sent hundreds of people here facilitate their scams in recent years.
Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan, of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, explained that the gang have used similar methods in the UK and US in fooling people out of millions in romance fraud.
He told the Irish Mirror: “Worldwide, they are suspected of having a monopoly on this. Now that’s not to say there are no individuals doing it themselves.
“But they use the same backstories saying things like ‘I’m a doctor in a warzone’, it’s always similar.
“The assessment here is that it is more than likely is them as they use the same modus operandi.”
Common excuses used by criminals when conning victims is to cover the cost of travel to come see them, for emergency medical expenses or bills as well as a business opportunity which would see the victim make a quick profit.
Recent cases saw an elderly woman lose €100,000 after she met a man on a dating app who claimed to be working abroad and needed the money.
In another, a man in his 40s had befriended a woman online and sent €20,000 to her after he was convinced to deal in cryptocurrency.
Det Supt Cryan says they are seeing cases involving cryptocurrency more and more all of the time.
His team at the GNECB are working closely with Europol to disrupt the activities of romance scammers.
But he explained that by the time most victims come forward, it’s too late to retrieve money.
He told us: “You have just a number of days to retrieve that money.
“But what happens unfortunately is that these things are going on for weeks and months before the victim realises the victim has been scammed.
“And that at that stage the money is gone. You can trace it to a bank account in another country, but once it’s withdrawn, it’s gone.
“Now more and more is going into cryptocurrency which makes it harder to trace.
“Unfortunately chances of getting money back are very, very slim. It’s the nature of the crime that is going on before the victim realises it before the victim realises and at that stage the money is gone.
“In most cases the victim only realises that they have been defrauded once the fraudster stops communicating with them.”
There is also an ever increasing link between romance fraud and investment fraud.
In these cases, scammers will ask victims to invest in a fraudulent scheme or business but the investments ultimately see the funds transferred to the fraudster through a number of linked accounts.
Det Supt Cryan is urging people to spot the red flags in romance fraud, which will see the criminal try to move communications away from dating websites to the likes of Whatsapp.
They will also ask a lot of personal questions while say little about themselves as they scope out whether you have money and if it is worth their while spending months chatting to you.
Det Supt Cryan also insisted not to give away any personal information or data.
But he also said asking a friend about the situation can also help, as they are viewing it from outside the bubble.
He added: “And if you are investing in crypto, go to professionals to get the best advice, not not some fella you met on dating site.”
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