It’s Valentine’s Day and if you’ve caught the love bug online the Utah Department of Public Safety is urging you to be cautious. Tis’ the season for Romance Scams and the tell-tell sign your internet sweetheart is actually a scam artist is if they have asked you for money. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), in 2020 alone, people who experienced romance scams lost over $600 million dollars with victims of romance scams in Utah losing over $6 million dollars. Don’t fall victim! Guard your wallet as well as your heart. A romance scam could look like one of the following: a new love interest who lives far away and asks you to wire them money and they assure you they will pay you back; a new romantic interest asks you to open a joint account or co-sign a loan with them; or a new sweetheart that just straight up asks for access to your bank or credit card accounts. Report in-person romance scams to local law enforcement and report online romance scams to www.FTC.gov/complaint.
