By Neil Shaw
Copyright walesonline
A jump in reports of over-55s being conned by romance scams has been recorded by a major bank, as it disclosed the most common jobs these criminals claim to be doing, and the most likely excuses they make for urgently needing cash. Lloyds recorded a 52% rise in romance scams among victims aged over 55 over the past year, compared with the previous year. Lloyds said 55 to 64-year-olds are the most targeted age group, making up a fifth (20%) of romance scam victims, followed by those aged 65 to 74, who make up 18% of cases, according to its data. Alongside the jump in reports involving over-55s, Lloyds has also seen a 20% annual rise in cases involving victims aged 35 to 44. Victims aged 75 to 84 lose the most on average to romance scams, at £8,068, Lloyds said. The average loss across all age groups is £5,219. Romance scammers will often claim to be doing certain jobs to give an excuse for why they may be hard to contact or cannot meet up in person. According to Lloyds’ data, the most common occupations claimed by romance scammers are: – Military personnel. Scammers often claim to be soldiers, perhaps stationed overseas or in conflict zones. – Oil rig workers. This excuse is used frequently by scammers, both male and female, which they claim makes communication difficult, Lloyds said. – Other common occupations scammers claim to hold are business owners, engineers and doctors, often claiming to be working abroad in conflict zones or on humanitarian missions. And the most common excuses used by romance scammers for needing money, according to Lloyds’ data are: – Medical emergencies. Scammers sometimes claim either they or a family member need urgent medical treatment, such as after a car accident. – Travel and living expenses. Criminals may request money for flights or travel expenses to visit the victim. Or they might ask for help with rent, food, or other daily expenses. – Other reasons they may use for needing money include legal fees, making tax or customs payments or business problems. Scammers will often ask victims to send money to them via bank transfer, but other tactics include asking the victim to purchase online gift cards and send them instead. These are easy for the scammer to sell on and profit from, Lloyds said. In one case highlighted by Lloyds, an 80-year-old woman met someone online through a word game. The person claimed his son was working on an oil rig near Germany. He then claimed his son was in a car accident and had died, and that he was going to work on the oil rig to finish the job in place of his son. He then claimed he had been arrested while travelling and needed to pay a tax bill and the women agreed to send £11,000. She later spoke to the bank and was told that she had been scammed. In another case, an 86-year-old man met a woman on a singles website and they started texting. She claimed she had a bad line for phone and video calls. Within a few weeks of chatting, she asked for help with money, claiming she was travelling to Australia to retrieve some gold she had inherited. He sent her money to cover travel expenses for her to visit him, but she failed to show up. He ended contact, realising he had been scammed. He had lost £2,260. Liz Ziegler, fraud prevention director, Lloyds said: “Our specialist fraud prevention teams work hard to protect and safeguard customers from fraud, and romance scams are some of the cruellest cases they deal with. Taking advantage of people who are looking for love and companionship, fraudsters play with victims’ emotions when they could be at their most vulnerable. “Whilst they can be convincing, it’s easy to spot some of the most obvious mistakes these scammers can make. Always take a step back and ask yourself if what they are telling you sounds believable. Never in any circumstances send money to someone you’ve met online. No good relationship starts off in this way, and there aren’t many valid reasons in 2025 why someone can’t speak to you on the phone. “If you have an older person in your life that is active online, make sure to educate them as best you can on the risks and signs of potential fraudsters looking to take advantage of them.” Detective Superintendent Oliver Little, from the lead force operations room at the City of London Police said: “Romance fraudsters are highly manipulative and often operate with chilling precision, coercing victims through emotional control, false urgency, and elaborate lies.” He added: “If you’ve met someone online, stay within the app’s messaging platform, be wary of requests for money, and speak to friends or family before making decisions. Criminals will try to isolate you – don’t give them the opportunity. Remember, if you haven’t met them in person, you don’t owe them anything.” This is a real-life transcript between a Lloyds employee and a customer who was attempting to transfer £10,000 to someone he had been talking to online. Some details have been omitted for clarity and to protect the identity of the customer. Lloyds employee It’s not going to be easy to hear this, and I do apologise, but this is not genuine. The person that you’ve been speaking to, it’s a scam. Customer Are you willing to put £20,000 as a bet that it’s not genuine? Lloyds employee Yes, I would. Customer Right okay, well I’ll take your full details then. Then when I prove this is genuine, I can expect £20,000 from you, okay. —— Customer Yeah, the police were involved and everything. They even told me that she never existed. But she does. So, I’ll have great pleasure of walking into Lloyds Bank and introducing her to the manager next week. Lloyds employee Yeah, I mean, I’ll be honest, I would agree with the manager. And I’m not trying to be difficult, I’m not trying to be rude. I’m only just trying to warn you of the risks involved. Customer Honestly, I’m 100% certain this is genuine. She was working out on an oil ship out of America. She’s a chef and she just flown from the ship to Texas and flown from Texas to Paris, where she went to check on her shop and the house that she owns over in in France as well. Lloyds employee So, I’ve heard that they work on an oil rig, that they work in a hospital, it’s all the same kind of story. The oil rig excuse is quite common and that gives them the opportunity to tell you that they can’t contact you or they can’t, you know, FaceTime or anything like that because they are on an oil rig. It’s tricky. It’s not like you know she’s at home and she’d be able to phone you or visit you. There are all these excuses that keep on coming up as to why they can’t call or why they can’t, you know, come visit you. £10,000 is a lot of money and that would be gone if I put this through, which I’m telling you now, I’m not going to be putting that through because I believe 100%.. Customer Please put it through, I will take all responsibility for it. Lloyds employee We can’t do that because that money’s gone. You’d lose it immediately. Well, once you’re down there [in the branch] Customer Well, I’ll show them my driving licence and that is it. I won’t answer any questions, and I will just tell them I want this payment to go through and that is it. Then I’ll just walk out the bank. Lloyds employee The payment wouldn’t go through if you did that. You would need to speak to the colleagues and hopefully get that sorted. Customer Well, as I say all I want is the money to go through, end of story. Lloyds employee Hopefully they’ll be able to do that for you. But at the moment, we would need you to come into the branch. 1. Scammers often profess love very quickly. Be cautious of strangers contacting you on social media and ask yourself if their intentions are genuine. 2. Criminals often make excuses to avoid video calls or in-person meetings. Be wary of someone who has endless excuses for why they cannot meet in person. 3. Scammers ask for money for various emergencies or expenses. Lloyds said people should avoid transferring money to a stranger, particularly one they have never met in real life. 4. Criminals may go “off script” and be inconsistent in their stories. If you suspect someone you are talking to online, no matter how personal it may feel, speak to someone you trust in your day-to-day life to get an outside point of view, Lloyds suggests. 5. Fraudsters will often try to manipulate their victims by piling on pressure with a sense of urgency or trying to make victims feel guilty. If you feel under pressure, take a step back and question their intentions.
