Sat, 21 Jun 2025

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 Dating app scam victims told 'don't suffer in silence'

Students are being targeted by romance scams on dating apps, but talking to a friend can help avoid the danger.

* Nationwide, the UK's largest building society, warns students against falling victim to blackmail scams on dating apps.
* Fraud teams at Nationwide advise students not to send private or intimate images during new online relationships and to report any scam attempts to the authorities.
* A student in Cardiff shared their experience of how a friend was tricked by fraudsters using AI technology after a drink in a pub.
* The National Crime Agency (NCA) reported an increase in sextortion cases, where criminals pose as young people online, trick victims into sending explicit material, and then blackmail them.
* Nationwide's head of fraud operations said scammers are "efficient and unrelenting" and that such scams are "commonplace" among students.
* A survey by Nationwide found that 28% of students had been scammed, with 50% worried about becoming a victim.
* Police forces in England and Wales reported almost 8,000 blackmail cases related to sextortion in 2023, up from just 23 in 2014.
* Experts advise students not to overshare images or engage with suspicious online activity and to speak up if something doesn't feel right.
* The Chartered Trading Standards Institute warns of a rise in scams targeting bereaved families by impersonating them online and charging for funeral livestreams that should be free.
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