Increasingly, scammers are pretending to be famous people including celebrities and politicians, making victims fall in love with them and they begin asking for money.
A scammer posing as Nicolas Cage left a women heartbroken and broke; Kerry Senator Mark Daly had his photos stolen and used fraudulently to scam a woman — making both him and the woman victims. On the other hand, rising political star — Tory Andrew Polson – is legitimately accused of scamming a 69-year-old woman out of £275,000.
SocialCatfish.com released a study on the Most Catfished Places in the UK in 2022 after analyzing data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) over the past year. The data was collected on June 1, 2022.
The alarming trend is a byproduct of COVID-19, technology and globalization as people increasingly work, bank, date, and shop online. The surge is in line with global trends as the U.S., Australia and Canadian governments are reporting similar increases.
Here are the Most and Least Catfished Regions of the UK:
5 Signs You are Being Catfished:
1) Will not meet you in person or video chat
2) Wants to move the conversation off the dating app and onto WhatsApp
3) Has poor grammar but their profile says they are highly educated
4) Claims to be in love with you quickly having never met you
5) Begins asking for money
If you believe you have been contacted by a romance scammer report it to ActionFraud.
Help keep news FREE for our readers
Supporting your local community newspaper/online news outlet is crucial now more than ever. If you believe in independent journalism, then consider making a valuable contribution by making a one-time or monthly donation. We operate in rural areas where providing unbiased news can be challenging. Read More About Supporting The West Wales Chronicle
