According to an expert people looking for love are in danger of losing thousands of pounds to a new scam.
ITV's Lorraine had relationship expert, Paul Carrick Brunson, with her to discuss all things "cost of loving crisis". He warned that he is "highly concerned" as millions of people in the UK and around the world are being targeted by online scammers.
Paul said: "When I say targeted they are literally researching you for months and months and figuring out a script. It's not just one person, it's a team of people, and they are winning. The average person is losing between £10,000 and £15,000 for each one of these scams."
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Lorraine asked: "So they target you, like maybe they follow you online? Like what you're doing on Instagram or Facebook or all of these things? And then they specifically target you to get your trust and then start asking for cash?"
Paul replied: "You just said the hook. They get your trust. What they're really trying to focus on is people who are going through some type of emotional turmoil. Like maybe you're widowed or lost someone in your life and they will know this because they're researching you. They'll reach out to you on a dating app typically and will try to reel you in."
He explained some of the "flags" to look out for when being targeted by these cyber criminals. He warned that the first sign is that you never see them as he said: "They never want to meet you."
The second thing to look out for is people suggesting that you should move contact off the dating app quickly. Paul added: "A lot of dating apps today have safety structures in place so they'll try to move you on to email or move you on to a phone call."
He added a third thing as he said: "And then they will profess that they love you... Even though they've never met you. They do this to try and reel you in deeper.
"But then they hit you with 'well I need some money'. And there's always a request for money."
Paul warned that sometimes they will use excuses to ask for the money such as "my son and I are travelling and I've lost my credit card." He said that they try to pull on emotional strings.
The expert added: "Anytime they try and ask for money that is a BIG red flag. Never proffer money to someone you've never met."
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