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With Valentine’s Day proper across the nook, FBI Jacksonville is warning individuals to watch out for on-line romance scams, as victims in 10 Northeast Florida counties lost nearly $3 million to such scams in 2022.
“Romance scams begin when well-rehearsed criminals build relationships with vulnerable users of dating and social media networking sites. Upon gaining the trust of their victims, romance scammers request money for false purposes including medical, travel, or legal fees,” FBI Jacksonville stated in a news launch.
According to a preliminary report from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), right here’s how a lot cash victims lost to romance scams:
- A complete of 19,050 victims reported shedding $739,030,292
- In Florida, 1,475 victims reported shedding $53,412,471
- In FBI Jacksonville’s 40-county territory, a complete of 387 sufferer complaints with a complete reported lack of $15,004,250
- In 10 Northeast Florida counties (Hamilton, Suwanee, Columbia, Baker, Union, Bradford, Clay, St. Johns, Duval and Nassau), 98 victims reported shedding $2,789,855
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Recent developments uncovered by the FBI present that criminals are pressuring victims to make investments in cryptocurrency and the FBI stated it anticipates a “higher reported financial loss” due to this pattern. Here’s how a cryptocurrency rip-off works:
- The rip-off begins equally to an internet relationship, however as an alternative of asking for money, the scammer convinces the sufferer to make investments in cryptocurrency.
- To display the returns on funding, victims are directed to web sites that seem genuine however are as an alternative managed by the scammer.
- Once the sufferer makes a purchase order, they’re denied the flexibility to money out their investments and the scammer cuts off contact.
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“Online dating is common today, but unfortunately scammers also thrive on those same sites,” stated Sherri E. Onks, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Jacksonville. “Whether you’re looking for love or a friendship online, be sure you first understand the risk of being exploited. Remember, a scammer will always eventually ask you for something, so set a boundary early on and never, ever send money to someone you’ve never met.”
Learn the warning indicators of romance scams at www.fbi.gov/romancescams. If you observed your on-line relationship is a rip-off, stop all contact instantly and report the incident to your monetary establishment and the FBI at www.ic3.gov. Filing a grievance with IC3 permits the FBI to determine patterns to help federal investigations and public consciousness efforts.
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