BPS And BBA Warn Of ‘Romance Scams’
The Bermuda Police Service [BPS] and the Bermuda Bankers Association [BBA] are advising Bermuda residents to be aware of “romance” scams.
A spokesperson said, “Romance scams begin with a criminal and victim meeting virtually, through an online dating or social networking site. The criminal will try to develop a relationship, sometimes making the victim feel they are in a romantic relationship. This could happen over a period of days, weeks or even months. The criminal will then ask for money or confidential personal information such as bank account or credit card details.
“Often the scammer will say that they are in another city or country and that they eventually want to meet the victim in person. Around this time, the criminal will note that they can’t afford to travel and will seek assistance from the victim in covering travel costs.
“A variation on this theme includes the criminal noting that there’s an emergency, a sick family member for example, and that they need financial help from the victim to visit the sick individual. The requests for help are a scam and the money wired by the victim, often in large amounts, is now in the hands of the criminal.
Tips to avoid becoming a victim:
“Always consider the possibility that your recent match on a social media or dating site might be a scammer. Here are some warning signs that your new relationship may be a scam:
- Your new friend moves too fast. Scammers are trying to develop a quick relationship with you so be on your guard when someone professes their love to you.
- If your love interest asks you to send money, or for payments in gift cards, cryptocurrency or through a wire transfer, be very suspicious.
- Does your new friend have an online profile? Look for inconsistencies between what they post, and what they tell you. If you’re suspicious, post their profile picture through your browser’s reverse image search to see if it’s been stolen from the internet.
- If you receive a message from your friend and they use the wrong name, that may be a red flag. Many of these fraudsters are working on multiple victims at the same time.
- Scammers will claim that they live close to you but that they’re working overseas. They do this so that they have numerous reasons to ask for you for money. Be on your guard.
- If you receive a cheque or another form of payment from someone you’ve met online and they ask you to cash it and send a portion of the funds back to them – don’t do it. This is known as the “overpayment” scam.
If you think you may be a victim:
“If you think you may be a victim of a romance scam or any other kind of fraud, it’s important to contact police immediately.
Resources and Additional Information:
“Information about financial crime, and tools that are available to assist consumers and small businesses is available on the BBA website at bermudabankers.org/for-consumers-and-businesses and on the websites and social media channels of Bermuda’s four licensed banks.”
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What is the Bermuda Bankers Association doing to put red flags in place for our bank accounts? How about automatically placing a hold on fund transfers to at least 38 countries on various international lists? Email and CALL the account holder to confirm the transaction is valid! How about working with our handful of Internet Service Providers to block or flag Internet traffic from these 38 countries? (at a minimum)
1. Afghanistan 2. Indonesia 3. Russia
4. Bosnia and Herzegovina 5. Iraq 6. Somalia
7. Brazil 8. Lebanon 9. South Sudan
10. Burundi 11. Libya 12. Sudan
13. Central African Republic 14. Mali 15. Syria
16. China 17. Myanmar 18. Tunisia
19. Crimea and Sevastopol 20. Nicaragua 21. Turkey
22. Cuba 23. Nigeria 24. Ukraine
25. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) 26. Pakistan 27. Venezuela
28. Democratic Republic of the Congo 29. Philippines 30.Yemen
31. Egypt 32. Republic of Belarus 33. (add another)
34. Guinea 35. Republic of Guinea-Bissau 36. Zimbabwe
37. India 38. Romania
“Email and CALL the account holder to confirm the transaction is valid!”
Banks have no duty to protect their customers in Bermuda. That American concept has no place here. It is for the customer to take care not to fall prey to such scams and it is perfectly appropriate for the Bermuda Bankers Association to warn customers of Bermuda banks of such scams.
As for banks restricting what I am allowed to do with my own money, no thank you.
Dude, why do we keep having this dance when you know that you are wrong, have two left feet, and have no rhythm? WHY?
Tell all the pensioners who have been scammed why you have no problem with them being scammed. Seriously, you tell them right to their face that you fully support hackers and scammers who are taking their money, and since they are old, they have no need for their money. You are younger and more intelligent, so tell them. Go for it. Be sure to video your tongue-lashing and post it on YouTube.
Why don’t you give your money to the old folk who have been scammed? You could not possibly be against doing that. Set up a fund in your good name and work with BPS to identify victims of cybercrime and amounts lost through police reports.
Also, cancel any alerts your bank may provide. You do not want any bank telling you about suspicious transactions. It is your money, and if someone has scammed you, the bank has no responsibility to inform you of suspicious activity.
Good grief! Change your name to Contrarian.
I understand that you would like banks to be responsible for the foibles of their depositors. I suggest that you lobby the Bermuda government to change the law to make it the way you want it to be
You admit to not caring about your fellow Bermudians being scammed out of millions of dollars. Shame on you. Shame, shame, shame. You will not step forward and back up what you preach with even one good deed and your own money.
Let’s ignore the fact that the money scammed leaves the island and is not available for banks to invest in the community through loans. Do overlook that the money might be used for funding things like terrorism, human trafficking, illegal drugs, and other criminal activities. Who really cares about such trivial things?
Your support for scammers is not in Bermuda’s best interest. That begs an obvious question, but if asked, my comments may not be posted for legal reasons.
Correct me if I am wrong, but no law requires any bank to implement common-sense security measures or prevents discussing with the ISPs ways to prevent fraud. Why do you not know that? You are the one who knows the ins and outs of Government and laws.
I do not support scammers, nor do I support having to justify my financial transactions to any government or bank.
And love most of my fellow Bermudians, especially my children and grandchildren.
You have your way of thinking the banking system in Bermuda should be. As I said, I suggest that you lobby the Bermuda government to change the law to make it the way you want it to be
The banks already restrict or make it very difficult to move money to these jurisdictions.
I feel like Age Concern and other senior groups should be educating the pensioners more about these types of scams.
I understand that the older one gets, the less sharp their mind becomes. Yes, educating seniors is being done, but things happen.
It behooves banks to step up and reduce risks to customers. Unfortunately, one person here believes otherwise. Money scammed leaves the island, and it is not possible for banks to invest that lost money in the community through loans. Do not overlook that the money might be used for funding things like terrorism, human trafficking, illegal drugs, and other criminal activities.
We need Scammer Payback, Scam Baiters, Triboga or Rinoa Poison to spend a cuople weeks here destroying scammers. I’m all for hacking scammer’s accounts and emptying them to repay their victims, deleteing their stolen data and locking them out of their computers before setting their local law enforcement on them. I regret not having this ability.
With all the compliance regs and digital trails how can these criminals transfer these insane amounts and why can’t authorities track them down?