Is she really going out with him?
Romance scams are on the increase and financial adviser clients, particularly those that are widowed, are especially vulnerable as they provide rich pickings for scammers.
Earlier this week a financial adviser had to tell his client that he had been the victim of an online romance scam.
The 75-year old widower, believed he was going to marry an American woman he had met via social media and had been paying different sums of money to the woman over the last few months.
According to data revealed by Action Fraud, there have been 8,210 romance scam-related reports and £78.6m has reportedly been lost in the past 13 months.
Of these victims, the data showed that the most often scammed were aged between 50-59, with 1,800 reports. The age group second most likely to be caught out was 40-49 (1,600) followed by those aged 60-69 (1,200).
The article goes on to praise, Quilter chief executive, Paul Feeney who has written to the Prime Minister asking what more can be done to tackle investment scams.
"We are particularly concerned at the threat of fake investment comparison websites, and scams which steal the identity of regulated financial services firms to deceive investors," the letter said.
Read the full article in Professional Adviser - Romance scam reports jump by 1,000 during lockdown - Action Fraud
As a financial adviser you have a duty of care to help protect your clients from financial scams, and one of the best ways to achieve this, is to ensure that all of your clients’ financial data is kept secure and away from email and post.
We never think that we’ll be the victim of fraud but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen to you and your clients.
For more information on how to secure your communications please click here to arrange a personal demonstration.
