Romance scams have surged during the pandemic, putting some companies on high alert for suspicious financial transactions, the Wall Street Journal reports.
About 32,800 romance scams were reported last year, up nearly 31% from 2019, per Federal Trade Commission data released last month. Lovesick consumers reported losing a record $304 million to the scams, an almost 51% increase, the FTC added.
Because social distancing has complicated in-person dating, many people are spending more time online and are more open to a ruse, the newspaper says. But some companies are fighting back, including Western Union.
Western Union has managed to stay abreast of fraudsters’ evolving tactics, Tyler Hand, the money-transfer company’s chief compliance officer, told the WSJ. "Improvements in the Denver-based company’s monitoring technology in recent years have led to a decrease in the number of romance scams reported at the company, including in the past calendar year," the Journal added.
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