Brits Lose £106m to Romance Fraud in a Year

City of London Police reported £106m lost to romance fraud in the UK in 2024, with NFIB noting a 9% annual rise to 9,449 reports and average victim losses of £11,222; men reported slightly more cases, but women often lost more over longer grooming periods, and the 50–59 age group suffered £22.1m in losses. The article links these scams to “romance baiting”/pig-butchering crypto schemes, references related U.S. actions and $672m in losses, and offers preventive advice such as staying on dating-app messaging, refusing money requests, limiting personal information, consulting trusted contacts, and using reverse image searches.