As romance scams soar, the dark world of cyber slaves is exposed

In the first half of 2023 alone, Brits lost £580 million to scammers.

Unsuspecting consumers fell for ID theft, bank scams and even police impersonations.

Others were duped by romance scams, a particularly cruel ploy in which people pretend to fall in love with their victim, before asking for or extorting money. Finance UK, which describes romance scams are ‘particularly nasty’, reported a 29% rise.

For victims, losing potentially...